Trent H. Evans author page

I'd like to tell you some insider process things about how I constructed this puzzle. But I can't. Because I don't remember much about making it. To tell the truth, I remember less and less about more and more. Like when I go from the living room to the bedroom with purpose, only to find that seconds later I don't remember why I'm there.

I do remember having the idea of doing a progression theme for a Monday. So there's that. As any constructor knows, you've got to be brutal in rejecting non-Monday material from your grid. I'm generally satisfied with this puzzle in that regard, although KRONA hasn't appeared on a Monday since 2009. Apologies if that gave you any trouble, but getting better at crosswords is a long process of not knowing stuff followed by then knowing said stuff. In that sense, you're welcome.

Where am I? What was I saying?

I'll be an official at the ACPT coming up April 5-7. If you're there, I'd love the chance to say hello. Finally, I'd like to offer Will Shortz my best wishes for a speedy recovery. Puzzles today bear little resemblance to puzzles before Will came on the scene. I offer him my deepest thanks for his stewardship of our beloved pastime.

I'll be at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament this year and I hope to meet as many of you amazing puzzle people there as I can. Please come say hello. I fight against my introverted nature in such situations and a little help is always appreciated.

I beg your indulgence in giving a huge thanks to my wife Beth and my kids Tyler, Trevor, David, Anna, and Chloe. Beth is my heart's center and despite not being into puzzles, she has supported me every step of the way as I Google strange things and torment her with groan-worthy clues. I've got four adult kids and one about to level up to adulthood this summer. They're incredible humans, and getting to know the adult versions of them is a new horizon in parenting that I cherish.

Speaking of parenting, I contributed to a top-notch puzzle pack for charity called Grids For Kids. Donate $10 to a child-focused charity and get a pack of 25 outstanding puzzles. Visit gridsforkids.com to learn more. Also stop by gridtherapy.com and solve my independently-produced puzzles. They come in at a trickle these days, but it's still going. Beyond that, I'm still working my day job as a clinical psychologist. You can check out my practice at trentevans.com for more information.

As far as today's puzzle goes, I hope you enjoyed it. The only thing I can tell you about it is that my aim was to have a pretty wide-open center and try to check off Saturday in my pursuit of hitting for the cycle. Four down, three to go. Have a great weekend!

BETH: Originally from New York, I am a librarian, writer, and artist living in Los Angeles. My puzzles have appeared in Universal Crossword, Crosswords Club, Los Angeles Times, and Spyscape. This is my New York Times debut.

My mom was an avid solver, loved wordplay, and created crossword puzzles for family and friends. After she passed away, I was inspired by her love of crossword puzzles and tried my hand at constructing. I had no idea how taken I would be, but it's become a passion.

This puzzle grew from a library-related theme I was exploring when I noticed that "sad" spanned across the words READERS ADVISORY. I ran the idea by Trent and asked him if he wanted to collaborate. He said yes and suggested the revealer, GUT FEELING. We decided on a 59-letter set which took a few grids to get the fill you see today. I hope that you enjoy our puzzle!

A special thank you to Trent, Imani Tolliver, the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory, my family and friends, and my mom whose life continues to inspire me.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy and healthy new year!

TRENT: It was an absolute delight to work with Beth. Since meeting through the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory, we've had puzzles together in Universal and Spyscape. I'm so happy to see her published in the New York Times. I guarantee you will be seeing her name more in the future.

Since last I was in the New York Times, I've moved full-time into my private practice of psychology. You can check out my website and find out if you live in one of the 25 states where I practice via telehealth. I'd also like to invite you to visit my independent puzzle site, Grid Therapy. New puzzles are posted 2-4 times a month and they're free of charge. I hope to see you there!

I constructed this puzzle almost two years ago in June 2018. At that point, I did not yet have any published puzzles. So I can look at this now almost as if I was evaluating someone else's puzzle. I like that the theme is humor-based. I had no idea back then that there had been a Tom Swifty puzzle or two done already. I'm glad I didn't because I might have abandoned it for fear it would be rejected on that basis. I'm sure there will be others who solve this today who are, like I was back then, new to the Tom Swifty party. If so, welcome!

I'm pleased with the bonus downs: HATE WATCH, TAKE THE RAP, BEAM ABOARD, and PLOT HOLES. Fitting those in with 57 squares of theme material is pretty good, I think. On the other hand, with two years of additional experience, I would try to excise as much of A FLAT, SISAL, INRI, BESOT, and YAH as I possibly could. Also, there are six men and three women in this puzzle by my count. I'd try to improve on that if coming at it again today.

Check out my recent puzzles at gridtherapy.com if you like. They're free and fresh-baked. You can sign up on the site to be notified when new ones are published, which happens every week or so. There are also many other good free indie puzzles out there right now for your pandemic-solving pleasure. You can find those through Matt Gritzmacher's Daily Crossword Links at crosswordlinks.substack.com.

Puzzle people are the best people. Therefore, I like you. Please take good care of yourself. We need as many people like you in the world as we can get!

I don't have much to say about today's puzzle. Except to say, I hope it provides you a few minutes of respite from the painful experience we are all going through together.

In addition to safeguarding your physical health, please remember to take care of your mental health during this time.

If you feel you need individualized help, mental health professionals are continuing to see clients through telehealth platforms. Please don't hesitate to seek assistance.

Taking the time to engage in activities you enjoy is a critical part of reducing stress. Since you're reading this, crossword puzzles are going to be one way you can do that. Matt Gritzmacher recently began offering a Daily Crossword Links website and email service, which lists every puzzle available to solve each day. Most of these crosswords are free, including many indie puzzles you may not be aware of.

I offer a free puzzle site called Grid Therapy. Puzzles go up about once a week, and you can sign up for email notification when new puzzles are posted. I'd love to see you there.

Take care of yourselves and each other. We're all in this together, and I wish you good health and resilience as all of us work toward getting to the other side of this painful time. Finally, I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to all of our medical personnel and first responders. It can't be said often enough that you are heroes.

Happy Monday! I hope you find today's puzzle a pleasant way to start your week.

I submitted the first version of this puzzle in September 2018. The original revealer was HEAVY METAL MUSIC. It was rejected because not all the metals in the theme were considered heavy by the editors. TIN PAN ALLEY was the offender. My extensive fact-checking before submitting the puzzle (the Wikipedia article on heavy metals) had led me astray! The editors pointed out that tin is, in fact, one of the lightest metals on the periodic table. You fine people of the crossword internet will undoubtedly weigh in on this most important of questions. Tin. Heavy? Or not?

In any case, they suggested changing the revealer to METAL MUSIC. I did that, and thus today's puzzle made its way to you.

Some of my clues were a bit of a stretch for a Monday puzzle, so the editors rightly changed them. I will admit to one major disappointment. The original clue for 26-down did not survive: "Rank for Horatio Magellan Crunch." I just giggled and giggled over that one. You know how some things inexplicably tickle your funny bone? Cap'n Crunch is one of those things for me. Did you know the Cap'n was orphaned in World War II and adopted by JFK (who later had his likeness sculpted into Mt. Crunchmore?) I didn't think so.

One more thing. I recently started a crossword blog called Grid Therapy, where I offer puzzles free of charge. Have a look around if you'd like to add something new to your solving routine. I aim to post at least two a month, if not more. You can sign up to be notified when new puzzles appear. I hope to see you there and welcome your comments or emails. Have a great week, everyone!

It's been a great summer. I recently got back from playing trumpet on a concert tour of Europe with a big band made up of a group of old friends from Texas Christian University. Playing with the Curt Wilson Alumni Band and exploring Spain and Portugal with my wife Beth was magical. Thanks, Curt! And now I get to share another puzzle with you in the New York Times on the day after my birthday? Life is good.

Queue times for themeless puzzles are long, so looking at this now is like opening a time capsule from February 2018 when I submitted it. As usual, Will, Joel, and Sam made it better. They deprived you of masterful gems like ARMERS and RENEGERS that appeared in my initial version. Happily, they liked my edits, and now this puzzle has made its way into your hands. They were on the crossword field playing defense for you, dear solver, and I'm glad of that. I've learned a few things since then.

One of the ways I've learned is through the surreal experience of reading comments about my puzzles from hundreds of people across multiple forums online. Those of us who make puzzles do read those comments and reviews. Observing how solvers react to puzzles is a wonderful opportunity to grow as a constructor. Kind comments warm my heart, and critical ones help me improve. My favorite professor when I was a psychology grad student once listened carefully to my thorough analysis of a case and declared to the entire class, "I'm listening to what Trent is saying and thinking to myself, ‘Trent has no idea what the *^%! he's talking about.'" My patients reap the benefit of that man's brutality to this day.

Happy Friday Crossworld! I hope you enjoy the solve, and I look forward to your thoughts. Have a fantastic weekend.

P.S. If you're interested in making your own puzzle, stop on by the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory on Facebook. While the focus of the group is to increase the participation of women, people of color, and other groups underrepresented in the puzzle world, there's something for everyone interested in trying their hand at puzzle constructing. There are lots of us there who would be happy to help you.

Perhaps some will say this theme is OLD NEWS. Others may say it is AWFUL GOOD. Either is a DEFINITE POSSIBILITY. When I sent in the FINAL DRAFT of this puzzle, I thought it had REAL POTENTIAL, but likely faced EVEN ODDS for acceptance. So I was TERRIBLY PLEASED when I got the good news it would be in the New York Times. NOTHING MUCH beats that feeling. I'm FAR CLOSER to where I'd like to be as a constructor thanks to the expert guidance of Will and his team. This is BITTERSWEET for me since my father Ron passed late last year before he was able to see my puzzles published in the Times. GOOD GRIEF was he a SERIOUSLY FUNNY guy.

I like the challenge of constructing Monday puzzles because it's HARDLY EASY to make them clean, interesting, and accessible to new solvers. ONCE AGAIN, it's a privilege to have the chance to give you a moment or two of entertainment as you start your week. I hope you enjoy the puzzle. I have a FEW MORE on the way.

Also, I got a puppy since last you heard from me. His name is Donut. He is far more entertaining than any crossword puzzle could hope to be. My kids are trying to make him Instagram-famous. Follow him if you like! @mydonutlife #shamelessplug

I'm thrilled to have my first puzzle published in the New York Times. One thing I have discovered while learning this craft is that the community of crossword constructors is welcoming and generous. I'd like to specifically thank Jeff Chen, Sam Ezersky, Sam Donaldson, Will Nediger, Sam Trabucco, Finn Vigeland, and Peter Broda. These talented constructors selflessly shared the benefit of their experience with a newbie, and I cannot overstate how grateful I am for that.

I'm a clinical psychologist practicing in Catonsville, MD, and I am fortunate to have found a calling that suits me and gives me the great privilege of helping others as they grow and overcome obstacles in their lives. I live in Catonsville with my wife Beth and four of our five children, all of whom were in middle school and at that AWKWARDAGE when this puzzle was constructed. My oldest is a college graduate and working in his first professional job in environmental science. In my free time, I play piano and trumpet in a local band, and Saturdays this fall I can be found cheering on my alma mater, the TCU Horned Frogs. Whether this will prove therapeutic remains to be seen as of this writing.

Crossword constructing has proven therapeutic for me, and I hope you enjoy the result of my first effort. With the benefit of more experience I look back on this puzzle and wish I had another crack at a few of the fill choices, but I'm happy with the theme, and I learned a lot from reviewing the changes Will and his team made to many of the clues.

I have more accepted puzzles in the queue, and I look forward to sharing them with you. I only began solving crosswords a couple of years ago, and I quickly discovered solving is a wonderful way to clear my mind of all the tasks and worries which might otherwise take me out of the present moment. I hope this puzzle gives you a few minutes of that same peace.