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PAOLO: This one started with Erik's home-run clue/answer pair at 38A; from there, I filled the right half of the grid, and Erik worked his magic on the left. As always, Erik was a joy to work with. So many things I love about the finished puzzle are his, including the clues for 42A/60A/61D, and sliding the entry A MILLI into 1A. I really miss his clue for 48D: [Apt name for a fan of "Transformers?"].

Also! Hit up the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory, especially if you're a person from an underrepresented group who's interested in writing crosswords.

ERIK: Pretty much everything that I pride myself on as a constructor/collaborator, Paolo is better at, including the being kind part. It would be infuriating if I didn't feel so lucky to be alive at the same time as him. If you haven't solved his puzzles at Grids These Days, fix that.

– puzzle by Paolo Pasco and Erik Agard

This is my first published Sunday puzzle in the Times, which is exciting for me because I've had at least one puzzle appear on every other day of the week, which means I've finally "hit for the cycle."

I had a lot of fun coming up with the theme answers for this one. The first theme answer that I thought of ended up being a great hint to the puzzle's theme, so I decided not to use it in the puzzle, and I made it the title instead. The puzzle originally had the extra theme answer BULLETPROOF MONKEY in the middle of the grid, but the movie "Bulletproof Monk" was a little too obscure, so I had to remove that answer. However, that allowed me to add some nicer long down answers that hopefully improved the overall puzzle.

I tried to be as silly as possible with the cluing of the theme answers, but some were a little too "out there," so Will changed a few to tone down the silliness. Thankfully, he kept my clue for 54-Across, which is one of my absolute favorites. I hope that everyone gets a chuckle today and that they enjoy the puzzle.

– puzzle by Kristian House

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!

– puzzle by Trent H. Evans

This puzzle had its genesis in an older puzzle that was rejected in January 2017. That was back when I did everything by hand on paper. (Oof!) In the hopes it helps newer constructors, I figured I would share and focus on the rejected puzzle!

The marquee answer was LEFT SHARK, which ended up being a large reason the puzzle was rejected. Editors were concerned that the seemingly uncoordinated dancing shark from Katy Perry's 2015 Super Bowl half-time show was too much of a flash-in-the-pan, and would not stand the test of time. While I'm *still* not convinced that's the case, I certainly understand the hesitation! Lesson: while it's okay to incorporate pop culture into your puzzles, make sure it's firmly embedded in pop culture.

I remember having a beast of a time with the Northwest corner of this puzzle; nothing seemed to work, and I was continually tearing out large portions in an attempt to find fill I was happy with. So boy was I pleased when I went out on a limb and tried sliding FIRST LOSER at 5D! Things fell into place (including the lovely NANOTECH answer at 2D) with only a couple of concessions. The phrase "second place is just first loser" was common to *me* (maybe from board gaming?), and I knew the phrase was generally popularized (or at least attributed to) Dale Earnhardt, Sr. But it turned out that editors felt the phrase was not firmly "in the language," and so did not pass muster. Lesson: a phrase (or quote) familiar to you might not be familiar to others.

Besides those two entries, themeless grids are highly competitive. As such, you need to get as much mileage out of your longer entries as possible. UNDERSEA, ALLOWANCE, PREJUDICE, AIREDALES, and SCISSORS are just not terribly punchy answers. Lesson: While mundane longer answers can be elevated to great answers with proper cluing, too many of them drag a puzzle down.

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the puzzle was that I loved SNOOZEFEST in at 30D. I was determined to get that entry into a published puzzle. Unfortunately, I was beaten to the punch, but hey... FIRST LOSER isn't that bad!

– puzzle by Neil Padrick Wilson

GABI: I'm a senior at UChicago, majoring in Chemistry. I write and help edit crosswords for my student newspaper, The Maroon, which is where all of my puzzles have been published to date. I really appreciate this fantastic 22nd birthday (11/11) present from the NYT editing team! Very well scheduled.

JAKOB: I'm a software maker by day and a puzzle maker by night. When I'm not constructing crosswords, I write puzzles for Galactic Puzzle Hunt, an online puzzlehunt that runs each year around Pi Day. Check out some of our puzzles; one I co-wrote is even A Crossword!

Fun fact — we're first cousins. After Gabi started writing crosswords last year, Jakob was at our great uncle's birthday party with Gabi's parents and mentioned over dinner that he'd recently started as well. The rest is history! This was our very first collaboration, which we finished and submitted in May. The theme idea was initially Gabi's, but Jakob helped refine and flesh it out. We brainstormed theme fill together and worked on the grid over VIDEOCHAT. We split the clues by direction and then revised together.

Clues that didn't make the cut… "Alarming comment from the navigator" for UH OH, "What tourists may do at the National Mall?" for BUY AMERICAN; and "New frontier for Grandma, perhaps" for VIDEOCHAT.

Some thank yous: to the editing team for cleaning up our clues and to our test solvers for their useful feedback and copy-editing.

From Gabi: To the members of the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Dictionary Facebook group for the many resources shared, to my fellow Maroon crossword writers for listening to my freakouts about getting emails from Will Shortz and to my mom, who inspired me to start doing the NYT puzzle in the first place.

From Jakob: To my GPH teammates for endlessly test solving my crossword puzzles, and to Sam Trabucco for offering feedback on so many theme ideas.

– puzzle by Gabrielle Friedman and Jakob Weisblat

My originally submitted grid used the revealer FRENCH OPENS and had ETE VACATION, AMI REQUEST, OUI VOTE, and EAU BALLOON as the theme entries. To tighten the theme (and make the puzzle more approachable for non-French speakers like myself), I limited it to three-letter French words that are common in crosswords. Pop quiz: Which one of these four French words (ETE, AMI, OUI, and EAU) has appeared the most frequently in NYT non-variety crosswords edited by Will Shortz? Hint: It's the one that I didn't know when I started constructing crosswords. Answer at the end of this note.

When I heard a couple of weeks ago that I'd have a Thursday NYT puzzle published today, I didn't expect it to be this one. I pitched this puzzle to tie in with the timing of the French Open, and so when Roland-Garros came and went earlier this year I figured it wouldn't see the light of day until 2020. Likewise, when this grid was accepted it was slated for a Wednesday. So I was quite surprised when it popped up on my constructor preview at XWord Info.

Perhaps the French word substitution gimmick played more difficult than excepted for Will's test solvers — thereby bumping the puzzle into Thursday territory. Or maybe running it so far from the French Open made the theme more difficult to grok. Either way, it means that (once again) I've restored balance to the universe by having as many published Thursday grids as I have non-Thursday weekday grids. ;-)

Answer to the pop quiz: As of yesterday, ETE has been used 282 times (vs. AMI at 241, EAU at 155, and OUI at 89). However, none of them can top the most-popular word of the Shortz era, which at 582 uses is ERA (ha!).

– puzzle by Alex Eaton-Salners

This is a milestone puzzle for me — my 50th Sunday NY Times crossword. I thought I'd reflect on this avocation that has given me so much pleasure and has allowed me to meet so many smart and creative people that I may not have met otherwise. Crossword constructing has been a super icebreaker when I meet people for the first time, and having cruciverbalist on my resume has helped me at job interviews more than once. I'm not surprised anymore that in spite of a 50-year career in education doing important things for children for families, people want to talk more about how crosswords are made than how children learn or how we can fix our schools.

I love both the art and craft of puzzle construction. My creative juices flow when thinking of a theme that is hopefully clever, usually punny, and internally consistent. Today's puzzle, for example, of course came from my experience as an educator. Finding appropriate adjectives linked to letter grades is a common task for those of us who have been graders of student work. Using those adjectives in phrases makes for potentially fun wordplay resulting in a set of "Report Card" theme entries.

The craft of fitting those long entries into a grid is my favorite part of constructing. Working within the parameters of symmetry, under 140 words, and fresh entries are like solving a puzzle of another kind. That part of crossword construction has changed over the years with the advances of technology and the liberalization of what is an acceptable entry. My first Sunday Times puzzles about thirty years ago had to be done on graph paper, with hardcover dictionaries and a ton of trial and error. I still get joy out of finishing a tough corner or coming up with a new entry to solve a seemingly impossible crossing. It's hard to explain how when you're stuck and you put a puzzle construction down for a while, how often the solution occurs to you after some sleep or for no apparent reason at all.

The most challenging part of puzzling for me is coming up with good, original clues. I am in awe of my editors and fellow constructors who have that knack and play with words so effortlessly. I especially have admired fellow cruciverbalists like Bob Klahn, Merl Reagle, Rich Silvestri, Mike Shenk , Will Shortz, and so many others who create so much original wordplay for solvers to enjoy. I try to be as eclectic as possible with my word choices. Crosswords appeal across demographic groups. I believe creating and clueing them with one group in mind, whether they are older folks like me or younger solvers who have quite different vocabularies and interests, makes some unhappy but minimizes some opportunities to learn from each other's generational knowledge base.

What fun it is to have this crossword puzzle hobby. I hope everyone enjoys today's puzzle... and to those who like to critique — go to it! But remember, crossword puzzles are entertainment, not to be taken that seriously, just a diversion from the real problems we all face living in a sometimes unfair and irrational world.

– puzzle by Randolph Ross

This puzzle is scheduled to run on the day of my 7th surgery stemming from a rare genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis. The main hallmarks of NF are benign tumors that grow in the nervous system. (It's also a coincidence that the word CYST, near and dear, can be found at 54-Down.) Today's procedure will hopefully be a piece of cake, but like many that suffer from NF, I've had spinal cord surgery and managed chronic pain my entire adult life. If you appreciated today's puzzle, please consider donating to my NF fundraising page. Proceeds benefit the Children's Tumor Foundation.

Also, if you're looking to get into crossword constructing, and especially if you identify as non-male and/or LGBTQ+ and/or POC, I'd be thrilled to offer whatever assistance I can to help you get your puzzles published. Contact me via Instagram (@rosstrudeau) or Twitter (@trudeauross).

– puzzle by Ross Trudeau

This puzzle draws some inspiration from a classic grid pattern, one that caught my attention when Roland Huget used it back in 2017. As a solver, I enjoyed wrestling with the vast expanses of white space, and as a constructor, I had become fond of working with themeless grids heavy on 7-letter entries. So, when I set my sights on constructing a low-word-count puzzle sometime later, a certain layout naturally came to mind, and I started playing around with the grid on Crossword Compiler. Not really expecting much, I tried crossing AQUAMAN with AQUINAS, and miraculously stumbled upon an upper-right corner that stood out to me as particularly clean and lively. I wasn't having that kind of luck with the other quadrants. When I noticed that GARAGES could be extended into PARKING GARAGES, allowing the puzzle to breathe a bit more, I tinkered with the grid pattern, settling on the layout you see today.

I was fortunate to find a nice fill for the symmetrical corner, anchored by HILARITY ENSUES, and moved onto the middle region. Filling both remaining corners well with the middle in place was difficult — I remember trying countless iterations of the lower-right in particular — but I eventually prevailed and came up with something I was happy with. I'm proud that despite the low word count and daunting layout, the puzzle seems pretty clean, as well as being rather free of esoterica and proper names. This allows more of the focus to be on wordplay, which, in my opinion, is never really a bad thing.

Speaking of which, there are several clues I am glad to see in the final version, especially [Who's first?] for SILENT W, as I think it repurposes the innocuous-looking question mark rather nicely. My other favorite clues of mine include the other question mark clues at 17-Across, 10-Down, and 34-Down, as well as the clue for 57-Across, as to my knowledge, this is the first time such a cluing angle has been used for ESSENES, and I think it's an interesting piece of trivia (a crossword has to have at least some trivia, right?)

I hope you enjoy the puzzle, vast expanses of white space and all. Happy solving!

– puzzle by Trenton Charlson

Hello solvers, this is my third published NYT crossword, and my first Monday. You probably won't be shocked to learn that the spark for this one was the realization that SNACK ATTACK and CRACK IS WACK had the same double-rhyme and the same number of letters. Plus, just repeating "ack" a whole bunch of times sounds inherently funny to me, so there was my theme. The original version I submitted was rounded out with BACKING TRACK and RACK AND STACK, and was rejected because it turns out the latter phrase, though fairly common in my line of work, isn't actually something most people have ever heard. However, Shortz et. al. indicated they'd be interested if I could replace that last themer. Couldn't find another 12-letter entry, so it needed a significant rewrite, but it worked out, and here we are.

Since my other published puzzles were a Wednesday and a quite tricky Thursday, I'm excited more people will be able to tackle this one!

A few notes:

• I learned while constructing this puzzle that Haring's "Crack is Wack" mural visible today at Harlem River Park isn't the original, which was initially painted without city permission, later defaced, and then painted over, after which a new version was promptly commissioned by the NYC Parks Department. Lots more to the backstory, it's worth a look. And coincidentally, the mural has been out of sight since 2015 due to road construction, but was restored over the summer of 2019 and unveiled just a few weeks ago!
• The editing team changed a few entries, one of which — ONE NO — I would have needed every single cross to fill in (originally I had CREMA there, clued as "feature of a well-pulled espresso"... as for bridge, I know precisely nothing). The section at 40/41-Down was also replaced in editing.
• 10-Down: shout-out to my lovely wife's home state!
• Of the clues that hit the cutting-room floor, the only one I miss was for 59-Across: "T. ___ (distant relative of a parakeet)" 🦖

– puzzle by Daniel Mauer

So good to be back in the Times!

This theme idea came to me a few years ago, and it went through quite a few iterations before landing at what you see today. This was a 21x21 (Sunday sized) puzzle first - examples of other theme entries include THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM, THE FOOL ON THE HILL, and THE MOON LANDING. I then pared it down to this 15x15 (daily sized) puzzle using the same TAROT CARD READER revealer.

As for cluing — I'm definitely getting better, as evidenced by fewer editorial changes this time around than ever before. I will say that there are a few clues that I was a bit sad to see changed: Modern-day disquietude, for short [FOMO]; "I can't ___!" (overwhelmed cry) [EVEN]; *express oneself like this* [EMOTE]. The emote clue was certainly a long shot, but as a gamer constantly surrounded by gamers I couldn't not clue it that way (maybe if the clue had referenced Fortnite...!). I also noticed I CANT EVEN as an entry in a recent puzzle by Debbie Ellerin, so, I can see why that was changed!

Anyway, a big thank you to Andrea Carla Michaels for catching a horrible in-grid typo before submission and to Patti Varol for her kindness, patience, and understanding.

Hope you enjoyed!

– puzzle by Olivia Mitra Framke