Zachary Spitz author page
6 puzzles by Zachary Spitz
with Constructor comments
| Total | Debut | Latest | Collabs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 11/18/2015 | 2/18/2021 | 2 |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Rebus | Circle | Scrab | Debut | Fresh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 1.63 | 20 | 53% |
See the 20 answer words debuted by Zachary Spitz.
| E | C | H | O | A | S | K | M | E | B | E | E | F | ||
| L | E | O | N | S | K | O | A | L | R | A | R | E | ||
| I | N | T | E | N | T | I | O | N | S | I | T | R | Y | |
| S | T | E | R | E | O | S | S | A | L | T | S | |||
| S | E | L | E | S | U | I | E | A | C | C | R | A | ||
| A | R | S | E | F | I | N | A | M | O | R | A | L | ||
| L | S | A | T | S | R | E | M | O | T | E | ||||
| E | M | T | T | V | S | P | O | T | S | W | E | E | ||
| C | A | R | T | E | R | E | N | I | A | C | ||||
| C | L | E | A | V | E | C | H | E | A | L | E | S | ||
| O | T | E | R | I | G | T | I | I | N | A | W | E | ||
| G | N | A | S | H | A | N | T | I | T | A | X | |||
| C | H | O | I | C | A | R | T | O | O | N | I | S | T | |
| B | U | D | S | U | N | C | U | T | E | S | T | E | ||
| S | E | S | H | M | A | S | S | E | S | H | E | D |
I'm excited to be published again after a three-year hiatus! This puzzle came into existence after a pandemic-induced revisiting of my old theme ideas and a brainstorming session with my parents and siblings.
PSA: please get vaccinated as soon as you're able to.
| T | O | T | A | L | B | A | S | H | P | M | P | M | ||
| E | R | I | C | A | A | L | T | O | L | O | L | O | ||
| M | A | L | T | S | H | A | R | P | I | N | I | T | ||
| P | L | L | U | T | E | M | A | N | T | E | C | H | ||
| P | L | A | R | O | P | P | S | I | T | E | S | |||
| M | A | G | N | E | T | O | P | I | C | |||||
| E | R | S | G | U | L | A | G | T | A | R | P | N | ||
| D | E | P | T | P | O | B | O | X | L | A | L | A | ||
| S | A | T | A | N | S | O | F | A | S | N | I | A | ||
| C | A | P | O | C | T | A | G | O | N | |||||
| S | P | R | T | S | R | E | P | R | T | E | R | |||
| A | M | A | L | P | L | L | O | P | S | S | U | M | ||
| U | P | N | E | I | B | I | S | N | O | O | S | E | ||
| D | U | D | S | S | O | T | O | I | N | S | E | T | ||
| I | S | I | S | E | W | E | S | T | S | A | R | S |
This one came together pretty quickly. Once we came up with the theme, we filled the grid together one night over a year ago.
We wanted to challenge ourselves to include as many PO squares as possible, so hopefully the fill didn't suffer too much! Our original OPOSSUM clue referenced President Benjamin Harrison's pets — he had two, named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection. We're very happy that Will kept our SATAN and CAPO clues!
If any UChicago first years are reading this, try making a puzzle! If you're in Linn-Mathews House, this puzzle was written in room 630, so go sit there for inspiration. And if you're in Wallace House, ask your RA Ori for help.
| B | C | A | R | P | A | D | S | G | O | A | L | P | ||
| S | A | L | E | I | M | E | T | M | A | M | I | E | ||
| E | T | O | N | S | A | F | E | H | A | R | B | O | R | |
| A | N | N | G | A | S | O | V | E | N | I | N | C | ||
| T | A | S | E | R | S | E | E | R | W | A | S | H | ||
| S | P | O | T | O | N | B | R | A | N | D | I | |||
| C | O | R | N | E | R | E | X | C | E | L | ||||
| F | R | Y | M | A | C | L | E | O | D | E | N | D | ||
| D | I | A | N | E | O | F | F | I | C | E | ||||
| A | N | K | A | R | A | L | E | N | I | N | S | |||
| A | S | I | S | P | A | A | R | N | O | N | E | T | ||
| P | E | T | P | E | R | C | E | N | T | L | I | E | ||
| P | O | O | R | E | X | C | U | S | E | P | I | M | A | |
| R | U | R | A | L | E | R | I | C | D | E | A | L | ||
| O | T | I | N | E | D | A | N | K | F | U | N | H |
I don't remember what sparked this, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially around the corners. One change to the grid: in my submission, the PERCENT / NECK crossing was PERCEPT / PECK. I think the team also upped the overall difficulty a bit (probably so they could clue LIE that way).
My to-do list includes reading FUN HOME and making MAMIE's fudge. Looking over the puzzle again, I see my parents' names at 42-Across and 8-Down. See you two in a few days!
| A | M | A | Z | E | B | A | L | L | S | D | I | C | K | |
| T | A | X | E | V | A | S | I | O | N | A | N | O | N | |
| T | R | I | L | A | T | E | R | A | L | T | O | R | E | |
| U | C | S | D | I | V | A | N | L | E | N | D | L | ||
| A | R | S | E | W | I | S | E | S | T | |||||
| S | A | D | A | T | R | O | C | I | O | U | S | |||
| P | U | R | I | N | A | A | V | E | N | G | E | R | S | |
| A | D | A | M | S | O | K | S | H | A | N | O | I | ||
| S | I | G | M | A | C | H | I | C | U | R | S | O | R | |
| R | O | C | K | M | E | L | O | N | E | K | E | |||
| S | T | A | L | K | S | A | N | T | S | |||||
| O | R | C | A | S | B | L | O | C | C | U | L | P | ||
| B | A | I | T | P | L | U | T | O | M | A | N | I | A | |
| A | C | N | E | S | E | X | S | C | A | N | D | A | L | |
| D | I | G | S | T | W | E | E | T | S | T | O | R | M |
I made this puzzle last summer, after watching too much of the Republican National Convention. I don't think I consciously tried to make a Trump-themed puzzle, but let's just say that my seed answers were TAX EVASION up top and TWEETSTORM down below. Given that, I'm especially pleased with the bottom right corner, which turned out very... presidential. 25-Across!
I can only assume that the editors sensed the vibe, because they changed my original clues for 25- and 28-Across and made them both [Deplorable]. I also really like their new clues for TAX EVASION and LIAR. Happy to see that my clues for ARSE and LIRA made it, though I'm still in mourning for my original ROOK clue, which was [Half of a straight couple?].
They also changed some squares in the top right corner, presumably to be able to clue 20- and 21-Across as a full name (my submission had RENDS at 13-Down and TWIST at 14-Down). These changes had the unfortunate and/or humorous effect of juxtaposing 11-Across with the end of 1-Across, not too far from 22-Across.
Overall, I'm excited to be published on a Saturday!
| W | I | S | H | L | A | M | B | S | W | A | M | I | ||
| A | K | I | O | A | L | O | E | I | O | N | I | C | ||
| S | E | C | L | U | S | I | O | N | G | E | N | R | E | |
| P | A | K | I | S | T | A | N | Z | A | N | I | A | ||
| D | E | N | P | H | S | |||||||||
| N | I | C | A | R | A | G | U | A | T | E | M | A | L | A |
| O | K | A | Y | M | O | N | K | R | E | B | A | R | ||
| E | N | C | G | E | N | T | I | L | E | N | Y | E | ||
| L | O | T | S | A | E | I | R | E | D | E | E | N | ||
| S | W | I | T | Z | E | R | L | A | N | D | O | R | R | A |
| O | E | D | T | A | M | |||||||||
| U | N | I | T | E | D | N | A | T | I | O | N | S | ||
| T | A | K | E | N | B | E | A | N | A | N | G | E | L | |
| A | V | E | R | T | A | C | I | D | O | L | I | O | ||
| B | A | S | S | O | Y | O | L | O | S | E | N | T |
Happy Passover!
It's so exciting to share a byline with my oldest son, Zachary. This is my first and his second puzzle published in the Times, and Zach has a few more that have been accepted for future publication. While both our names are on the byline, Zach should get almost all of the credit — it was my theme idea, but the puzzle would never have been created without his guidance and hard work.
The whole family was involved — my husband Steven helped by writing a computer program to spit out all of the possible country combinations (guineabissaudiarabia anyone??), and Zach's three younger siblings all helped along the way with the fill and clues. Maybe someday we'll get a puzzle accepted with the whole "Spitz/Roseman Family" credited!
The idea for this puzzle came to me almost seven years ago — I was taking a crossword puzzle construction class (yes, there are such things!) through the Cambridge Adult Education Program — with the accomplished puzzler Brendan Emmett Quigley. The class was filled with smart, motivated people, and I was very intimidated — they made it look so easy.
The goal of the class was to come up with a puzzle theme and then work on the fill together, and hopefully, submit it to the New York Times by the end of the class. My theme wasn't chosen, though, and I wasn't motivated enough to work on it all by myself once the class was over. So it sat for many years until Zach got interested in puzzles and I begged him for help. We first submitted it almost two years ago, and it was rejected. But before Zach went off for his second year of college he looked at it again and resubmitted it, and it was accepted. Patience was rewarded, for sure.
I first started doing puzzles with my grandfather David Heller, who was a soft-spoken man but showed me a very different side as we sat and did the Sunday puzzle together and he (not so) quietly cursed Eugene T. Maleska. My mother and sister have long been puzzle-doing companions, and Zach also benefits from the rabid Scrabble players on his father's side of the family — they are a ruthless bunch.
In our immediate family, the daily puzzle is divided among various family members — and some of the most amusing fights in the house have happened when Ella, our youngest, has come home from school and saw that someone added words to "her" puzzle day — amusing for the parents, at least! Once everyone has smartphones, I gather they'll be solving alone in front of screens, which seems a little sad. Some families have beach houses or real estate fortunes to pass down, but ours has the love of words, and has lots of fun playing with them together.
Enjoy!
| A | R | E | W | A | R | T | S | R | A | J | A | H | ||
| I | A | N | A | L | O | H | A | A | X | O | N | S | ||
| S | K | I | T | O | X | I | N | D | E | B | I | T | ||
| L | I | G | H | T | N | I | N | G | B | O | L | T | ||
| E | S | M | E | E | E | K | E | N | R | I | C | H | ||
| S | H | A | R | P | O | P | T | O | T | O | E | |||
| B | A | L | D | F | A | C | E | D | L | I | E | |||
| M | P | S | L | O | D | C | H | A | E | N | D | |||
| A | S | T | H | M | A | A | T | T | A | C | K | |||
| T | A | R | O | T | Y | E | H | O | V | E | R | |||
| S | T | I | T | C | H | L | O | G | K | I | T | E | ||
| D | R | Y | E | R | A | S | E | B | O | A | R | D | ||
| A | T | E | O | N | I | V | A | N | A | C | A | D | ||
| R | A | N | D | D | T | I | M | E | R | O | D | E | ||
| T | U | T | S | I | A | V | A | S | T | M | E | N |
Hi everyone!
I'm a first year at UChicago, where a surprisingly high number of my friends do the crossword. Maybe it's a thing here. Still figuring it out.
I blame my mom for my crossword habit. She still knows more words than me, but not for long!
Anyway, I like puns. That's probably the only explanation for this puzzle. If I remember correctly, I came up with the theme while thinking about why the scarecrow won an award. (He was outstanding in his field!) Turns out there are a lot of synonyms for "outstanding" that can be pun-ified. Some other possible theme entries I had considered using include a striking LABOR UNION, an exceptional ASTERISK, and a noteworthy LEGAL PAD.
I'm glad Will and Joel kept my clues for 49-Across (not applicable to my parents, thankfully) and 11-Down (has Dwight Schrute ever been in a puzzle?). I really like their new clue for 58-Across.
Back to puns: David AXELROD recently founded the Institute of Politics here, and he has a podcast called "The Axe Files" (har har har).
I'm excited to be published and I hope you'll see me around some more in the future!