| S | H | A | M | A | N | K | E | E | P | B | I | G | B | E | N | |||||
| O | O | L | A | L | A | M | O | M | M | A | S | O | P | R | A | N | O | |||
| S | P | L | I | T | P | E | A | S | O | U | P | B | O | W | S | E | R | J | R | |
| E | O | S | A | R | G | O | T | L | O | O | E | R | O | S | ||||||
| T | R | O | N | G | I | V | E | T | H | E | S | T | I | N | K | E | Y | E | ||
| D | O | N | N | E | O | R | E | O | O | S | N | A | S | L | ||||||
| E | G | O | A | P | S | E | A | N | N | A | S | U | I | O | R | B | ||||
| L | O | N | G | T | I | M | E | N | O | S | E | E | K | I | L | L | F | E | E | |
| I | D | E | E | N | O | L | I | K | E | Y | N | I | T | A | F | T | S | |||
| N | I | C | K | Q | E | D | B | B | C | A | Z | U | R | E | ||||||
| O | H | B | Y | T | H | E | W | A | Y | Y | E | A | H | W | H | Y | N | O | T | |
| R | O | L | E | S | R | I | B | F | A | A | A | H | A | B | ||||||
| A | U | E | R | B | I | Z | H | A | N | S | O | L | O | U | R | S | A | |||
| T | R | E | S | B | O | N | B | E | I | N | T | H | E | M | O | M | E | N | T | |
| E | S | P | R | A | G | D | O | L | L | S | T | E | M | F | L | O | ||||
| C | P | A | S | W | W | I | A | C | E | A | B | R | A | M | ||||||
| G | R | E | E | N | T | E | A | E | X | T | R | A | C | T | N | O | E | L | ||
| L | E | N | S | F | D | R | I | S | L | A | M | A | S | U | ||||||
| U | S | S | E | N | A | T | E | A | R | E | Y | O | U | W | I | T | H | M | E | |
| G | E | O | T | A | G | S | C | A | R | A | T | A | V | E | E | N | O | |||
| S | T | R | A | P | S | L | E | S | S | H | E | L | D | I | N |
I think this theme spent more time in my Notes app than any other I've eventually completed — I thought of GREEN TEA EXTRACT about five years ago and have been slowly accumulating other themers ever since. Most of my ideas from back then are either bad or geared directly toward the Buzzfeed crossword, but this puzzle has inspired me to try to salvage a few more.
Trivia: what revealer ties together this theme I crafted for Buzzfeed in 2015?
Sadly, I don't think Will Shortz would be interested.
(Answer at the end of Jeff's commentary)
| C | B | S | E | T | C | H | B | S | I | D | E | |||
| H | I | N | T | L | O | R | I | R | A | T | I | O | ||
| E | B | A | Y | A | R | A | P | I | B | S | E | N | ||
| Z | I | P | P | O | L | I | G | H | T | E | R | |||
| O | E | R | O | A | F | I | S | H | ||||||
| S | Q | U | A | T | J | U | M | P | S | N | Y | E | T | |
| K | A | T | E | R | M | A | L | A | M | A | R | |||
| I | T | O | G | R | A | N | I | T | E | P | R | O | ||
| M | A | F | I | A | O | D | O | M | A | S | L | |||
| P | R | I | M | Z | E | R | O | M | O | S | T | E | L | |
| I | T | A | L | I | C | N | T | H | ||||||
| N | O | T | H | I | N | G | D | O | I | N | G | |||
| D | E | L | A | Y | O | D | O | R | C | Z | A | R | ||
| O | M | E | G | A | E | L | S | A | K | E | N | O | ||
| M | O | D | E | L | D | Y | E | D | R | A | W |
As for the puzzle, I got nothin'! (Only kidding)
The earlier versions had LOVE in them and/or ended with NADA. Two themers began with Z, and a third had a Q and J of SQUAT JUMPS. This presented some challenges to making sure the fill would be Monday smooth.
Will Shortz and Sam Ezersky both nudged me to keep trying with different configurations, which is a luxury I'm not usually afforded, but they were treating this specially, which I appreciated. Ultimately, NADA was discarded ... and LOVE was not all you need, contrary to what the Beatles say!
| T | E | S | T | S | E | C | O | L | P | V | T | |||
| S | T | I | R | U | P | L | A | V | A | A | I | R | ||
| A | N | N | I | E | O | A | K | L | E | Y | U | S | E | |
| R | A | S | P | S | R | S | R | E | F | L | E | X | ||
| O | M | I | T | S | H | R | U | B | ||||||
| G | A | S | L | I | T | G | O | E | S | N | U | T | S | |
| E | M | A | I | L | B | O | A | R | K | N | E | E | ||
| T | O | N | A | L | R | O | K | E | R | Y | A | W | ||
| A | U | T | O | O | A | F | S | A | B | A | S | E | ||
| T | R | A | V | E | S | T | Y | S | T | O | N | E | D | |
| C | A | R | E | S | G | W | E | N | ||||||
| Y | E | L | L | A | T | C | U | E | F | E | T | A | ||
| A | V | A | S | I | M | O | N | E | B | I | L | E | S | |
| L | I | U | E | M | I | T | P | A | R | I | A | H | ||
| E | L | S | S | E | X | Y | G | E | E | K | Y |
This puzzle sprang from a totally different idea, which had sat around forever and ever. I'd jotted down SHOOTING STAR as an answer for John Wayne, thinking I'd use other nonhuman phrases that could apply to real people. I never got anywhere with it. Then one day, coming across my "shooting star" note for the umpteenth time, I suddenly wondered if maybe there were other stars that would work. Right away I decided that ANNIE OAKLEY was a better fit than John Wayne, and from there it was a piece of cake.
I do remember trying to fit in a dog star like Rin Tin Tin or Lassie, but to no avail. I submitted this pretty recently, in early December. And I'm rather amazed to see mighty few clue changes. I guess the crossword stars were finally aligned!
| V | A | P | O | R | G | E | A | R | F | O | I | L | ||
| A | G | A | M | E | A | N | D | Y | L | I | M | E | ||
| C | O | N | G | A | Z | O | D | E | F | E | N | S | E | |
| M | I | E | L | E | B | A | K | E | R | |||||
| S | S | E | G | I | A | N | T | S | S | T | Y | |||
| S | W | A | N | S | O | N | D | A | T | A | ||||
| H | O | W | O | A | R | T | H | C | A | R | E | S | S | |
| A | L | E | U | T | O | O | H | T | O | N | K | A | ||
| W | E | D | G | I | E | T | A | T | U | M | O | A | L | |
| H | A | M | A | M | I | S | A | C | T | S | ||||
| P | A | T | T | U | N | E | I | N | S | H | E | |||
| A | G | I | L | E | I | N | L | E | T | |||||
| C | L | A | U | D | E | M | O | T | W | R | E | N | S | |
| T | O | R | N | M | A | K | O | O | N | E | U | P | ||
| S | W | A | G | O | L | I | N | S | A | L | T | Y |
I am thrilled to have a puzzle published in the NYT during the "March for Women" week of Women's History Month. Many thanks go out to Rebecca Falcon for proposing this wonderful idea and to Will Shortz for his invitation to contribute a puzzle and for working with me and editing my puzzle.
My concept was to have the letter string O-N-E going up in random spots throughout the theme entries, and E-N-O* words (not etymologically related) going down. I tried to find phrases where ONE was embedded in a single word, but with a completely different pronunciation than ONE, such as the word ONE in TONER or CLOONEY, or spanning two words such as CLINT(ONE)RA.
I very much appreciate Will's willingness to publish my puzzle as I had requested — without circling or shading the upward O-N-E letters — so that solvers could suss out the ONE's on their own. In several of my recent puzzles with circles, some solvers commented that the circles made the aha moment too easy, and I wanted this puzzle to be appropriately Wednesday-difficult. Your thoughts?
Hope you enjoy!
| D | E | F | A | C | E | S | W | E | B | S | T | E | R | |
| O | C | A | N | A | D | A | A | M | I | L | A | T | E | |
| N | O | T | A | B | I | T | G | I | G | O | L | O | S | |
| N | R | A | E | T | C | O | W | E | N | |||||
| A | P | L | U | S | E | S | T | A | T | E | ||||
| S | E | S | S | I | O | N | D | R | A | W | ||||
| C | L | A | R | E | T | O | T | B | E | R | A | |||
| S | T | I | F | F | S | L | A | D | I | E | S | |||
| A | R | C | S | A | D | S | E | L | I | N | A | |||
| C | L | E | F | M | E | T | H | R | E | E | ||||
| A | M | E | L | I | A | R | U | B | I | N | ||||
| A | L | D | I | O | R | D | E | S | O | |||||
| S | T | A | I | N | E | D | P | A | N | G | R | A | M | |
| T | O | W | N | C | A | R | E | M | P | O | R | I | A | |
| L | I | N | G | E | R | S | I | N | R | O | A | D | S |
This puzzle had a revision. I goofed big in the filling process. I accidentally changed 1A to DEFACED and 40A to SNIFFS. Grateful to the editing team for giving me the second opportunity.
Thanks for including me in this special week.
| P | A | D | S | T | E | M | P | M | I | M | I | |||
| C | O | U | R | T | H | A | I | R | T | O | N | I | C | |
| A | L | T | A | R | E | R | R | O | R | C | O | D | E | |
| L | O | O | F | A | C | L | O | S | E | K | N | I | T | |
| T | I | N | A | S | E | X | T | |||||||
| O | H | M | Y | G | O | S | H | A | I | M | S | |||
| M | A | O | H | A | B | I | T | B | I | N | E | T | ||
| I | D | O | N | T | H | A | V | E | A | L | L | D | A | Y |
| T | I | R | E | S | H | E | A | V | E | I | L | L | ||
| S | T | E | W | S | T | I | N | K | E | Y | E | |||
| A | H | A | B | O | D | D | S | |||||||
| S | T | A | G | E | C | R | E | W | E | T | H | E | R | |
| O | R | D | E | R | H | E | R | E | D | A | I | L | Y | |
| P | O | O | R | D | E | V | I | L | I | T | S | M | E | |
| S | U | S | S | S | E | E | S | N | E | S | S |
I'm always elated to have a puzzle in The Times, and this one is certainly no exception. Moreover, I'm delighted and honored to be included in this celebration of women constructors.
As for the puzzle itself — this one was a long time in the making! I think I began with the grid-spanner and had the top half of the grid for months before settling on the rest. Sometimes when I'm struggling with a particular section of a puzzle, I'll try setting it aside for a while and revisiting it (sometimes much!) later. Such is the case here, and when I did finally take another crack at it, the bottom stack very easily took shape. I have no idea why that works, just that it sometimes does! And go figure, I think that area ended up being one of my favorites in the puzzle.
I thought that "Help to set the scene" clue was pretty cute, and I was glad to see the editing team kept it. I've also been wanting to sneak in a "small arms" clue, groaner as it may be, for T-REX for a while now — happy to see that one made the cut too. On the other hand, I'm never happy to have to include awkward plurals like ADOS and MIROS and the partial-ish INON and HADIT, but you win some, you lose some. Above all, I hope it makes for a fun solve!
| M | A | C | Y | W | R | A | P | S | D | A | F | T | ||
| A | G | U | E | H | O | L | E | Y | I | S | A | O | ||
| G | O | T | A | S | E | C | O | N | D | S | K | I | P | |
| M | O | T | H | E | R | H | E | N | S | C | A | R | ||
| A | D | O | S | E | E | S | S | P | O | N | G | E | ||
| P | A | W | T | W | O | Y | A | K | ||||||
| H | O | M | E | S | W | E | E | T | H | O | M | E | ||
| P | A | P | E | R | A | I | R | P | L | A | N | E | ||
| C | A | S | E | S | E | N | S | I | T | I | V | E | ||
| S | Y | N | E | W | E | A | G | E | ||||||
| A | P | O | G | E | E | B | A | S | H | E | N | E | ||
| H | I | N | D | F | I | S | H | T | A | C | O | S | ||
| C | O | D | A | J | E | L | L | O | S | H | O | T | S | |
| C | N | E | T | R | E | B | A | R | E | L | I | E | ||
| S | E | A | S | S | T | O | N | E | M | I | N | X |
I typically fall back on a few basic grid designs, but this triple-stack layout is a new one for me — though in keeping with my usual style of packing in many long multi-word entries. Don't be surprised if you see it again (and again) from me. No quibbles on the clues; many are mine, and those that aren't are an improvement over what I submitted. The only one I'm disappointed that didn't make the cut was my clue for PAYPHONE: "Anathema of free speech advocates?". Free speech/pay phone… get it? Ok, I admit it, some of these jokes are just for me.
This is my 25th puzzle in the New York Times. Reflecting on this quadranscentennial (yes, I googled it) milestone, I realize that what began for me ten years ago as nothing more than a whim and an intellectual challenge is today a central part of my identity. I'm so glad to be part of the wonderful community of crossword constructors, solvers, and editors, and I look forward to many more years of arranging black and white squares and moving letters around for the amusement of others.
Finally, it's an honor to be included in this week highlighting women constructors. Thanks to Will and the team for making it happen, and three cheers to my fellow constructors whose puzzles ran this week. And to all the women who might now be inspired to begin constructing: I look forward to solving all your puzzles in the years to come!
| C | R | O | W | S | A | R | T | H | U | R | O | P | A | L | S | |||||
| B | A | A | B | A | A | M | O | R | O | S | E | L | A | D | L | E | ||||
| R | U | B | N | I | N | T | H | E | W | O | U | N | D | D | R | E | A | M | ||
| A | G | R | O | D | I | O | S | T | R | A | F | F | I | C | N | I | P | |||
| I | L | E | S | R | O | I | L | S | L | E | E | D | E | S | I | |||||
| S | E | R | E | P | E | K | O | E | T | S | A | R | P | E | R | O | N | |||
| E | R | A | S | M | U | S | W | I | T | H | A | G | R | A | I | N | O | F | N | |
| E | A | T | S | A | L | A | R | Y | I | N | N | S | T | E | ||||||
| S | P | I | C | E | S | U | P | A | X | E | I | S | N | T | ||||||
| W | A | C | O | O | A | R | S | C | A | P | N | O | O | D | L | E | S | |||
| I | R | O | N | N | W | A | T | E | R | T | A | F | F | Y | R | A | V | E | ||
| G | A | N | D | H | I | T | U | N | E | T | A | R | A | I | M | A | X | |||
| O | N | E | S | D | D | T | N | O | N | E | V | E | N | T | ||||||
| I | A | M | V | I | M | D | R | I | E | S | T | C | U | E | ||||||
| N | L | A | K | E | C | I | T | Y | U | T | A | H | P | E | R | U | S | E | S | |
| U | L | C | E | R | L | I | E | N | S | O | D | A | S | P | U | R | L | |||
| M | O | L | Y | B | I | N | M | E | W | E | D | A | T | N | O | |||||
| P | T | A | C | R | A | Y | O | L | A | O | U | T | S | W | U | S | S | |||
| T | I | T | L | E | T | H | E | N | O | F | T | H | E | E | A | R | T | H | ||
| E | N | S | U | E | I | T | S | E | L | F | A | N | G | L | E | S | ||||
| D | E | K | E | D | M | O | S | S | E | S | I | D | O | L | S |
In an effort to reference both the periodic table and the dining table, I had titled this "On the Table," but I love the editors' more playful choice! I also like how "What's Shaking?" echoes an early theme entry idea, namely, Jimmy Buffet's "lost shaker of salt." As I worked to cobble together a set of appropriate length theme entries though, this fatefully morphed into "long lost shaker of salt" (which--I'm just saying--will turn up for you if you Google "Margaritaville"). Upon test-solving the first version of the puzzle, my spouse said he didn't think "long" was part of the lyric, but I ignored him, foolishly choosing to believe the internet instead. I'm grateful to the editors for their careful fact checking, which put them squarely on my spouse's side. Happily, they liked the theme enough that I had a chance to try again.
The down themers ended up getting substantially more revision than the across ones in the remake. Entries that had to go included SARANAC LAKE and CHINA CLOSET. Though I had hoped to work in TORN ACL, it wasn't to be, and I don't much like that I couldn't find a better option than 80-Down, but there were some difficult symmetry constraints there. On the plus side, I'm quite happy with 35-Down, and it's nice to see a few of my favorite clues (55-Across, 86-Across, and 118-Across) in the final puzzle.
Last, but far from least, it's great to be part of this week of women!
| B | A | R | H | A | R | E | F | O | R | A | G | E | ||
| A | W | E | O | P | E | L | R | O | U | T | E | S | ||
| L | A | D | G | R | A | I | N | O | F | S | A | L | T | |
| M | Y | H | A | T | P | T | A | T | R | E | E | |||
| A | R | I | D | I | T | S | A | L | I | E | ||||
| O | U | N | C | E | O | F | S | E | N | S | E | |||
| O | L | D | S | L | E | T | A | T | S | T | U | D | ||
| P | E | E | P | L | Y | G | P | A | A | S | A | |||
| S | E | D | E | R | S | C | O | O | E | K | E | S | ||
| P | O | U | N | D | O | F | F | L | E | S | H | |||
| D | R | I | P | P | E | D | F | E | M | A | ||||
| A | R | E | S | A | R | E | A | S | P | E | N | |||
| T | O | N | O | F | B | R | I | C | K | S | E | R | E | |
| R | O | A | D | I | E | V | O | I | T | E | L | O | ||
| A | L | L | E | G | E | E | N | D | S | K | E | N |
I originally submitted this puzzle in reverse order, moving from the heavy to the light, using CRASH DIET as the revealer. Will suggested eliminating the revealer and reversing the order to make a Monday-suitable grid with cleaner fill. But my original idea still works! Just solve from bottom to top, and you will lose weight—guaranteed!
| M | I | C | E | H | E | A | D | C | O | O | L | |||
| O | R | A | L | B | A | R | G | E | A | L | O | E | ||
| J | O | S | E | F | E | R | R | E | R | M | A | Z | E | |
| O | N | S | C | E | N | E | A | S | E | V | E | R | ||
| T | A | G | B | R | I | A | R | |||||||
| O | S | E | R | A | F | A | E | L | N | A | D | A | L | |
| F | A | R | O | L | O | T | S | E | M | I | L | Y | ||
| F | R | A | N | C | I | S | C | O | F | R | A | N | C | O |
| E | D | S | E | L | S | A | L | A | N | E | O | N | ||
| D | I | E | G | O | R | I | V | E | R | A | D | A | S | |
| A | S | A | L | E | L | E | T | |||||||
| L | A | D | L | E | S | H | E | R | E | I | A | M | ||
| O | P | A | L | C | A | L | I | F | O | R | N | I | A | |
| G | O | T | O | A | P | A | R | T | M | I | D | I | ||
| O | P | E | N | L | U | X | E | S | T | A | N |
This note fittingly comes to you from San Diego, where I'm visiting my daughter Lesley. And where I thought of the idea for this puzzle the last time I was out here.
No great insights to share about the puzzle itself, but wow, what great weather!
| P | E | C | A | N | H | E | A | T | C | O | B | R | A | ||
| A | R | U | B | A | A | L | T | O | I | D | E | A | S | ||
| L | E | T | U | P | T | E | L | E | T | E | E | N | S | ||
| M | A | I | E | Y | E | C | A | N | D | Y | F | L | U | ||
| E | D | E | N | A | S | T | R | A | Y | S | C | A | M | ||
| R | E | P | O | P | O | R | G | I | E | T | A | P | E | ||
| R | I | C | A | N | O | E | L | A | R | K | S | ||||
| E | A | R | P | A | L | O | E | ||||||||
| S | T | U | D | M | U | F | F | I | N | ||||||
| B | L | A | H | M | E | A | N | E | R | G | A | G | S | ||
| O | A | R | A | N | G | E | L | O | R | A | T | ||||
| U | T | E | P | S | T | E | A | L | S | H | I | Y | A | ||
| G | I | N | U | P | I | N | T | O | M | I | A | M | I | ||
| I | N | T | R | O | S | T | E | W | I | N | N | E | R | ||
| E | X | I | L | E | T | A | N | S | S | T | A | R | S |
Periodic reminder: the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory is a resource for puzzlemakers from underrepresented groups. If you're interested in writing crosswords (or other puzzles) and would like some tips on getting started, someone to critique your work, or someone to collaborate with, give it a look.
| C | A | N | A | S | T | A | S | P | I | L | L | E | D | |
| A | B | O | R | T | E | D | H | E | R | O | I | N | E | |
| F | O | R | S | A | L | E | R | A | I | S | E | U | P | |
| S | O | I | L | G | U | T | S | S | R | O | ||||
| U | P | E | N | N | B | A | B | Y | S | H | O | E | S | |
| R | U | M | S | P | A | R | S | C | O | N | D | E | ||
| G | R | A | S | I | T | D | M | A | A | |||||
| E | R | N | E | S | T | H | E | M | I | N | G | W | A | Y |
| I | C | Y | N | O | D | Y | E | T | I | |||||
| A | S | A | N | A | L | E | O | I | X | N | I | P | ||
| N | E | V | E | R | W | O | R | N | B | U | T | T | E | |
| S | R | I | L | A | O | S | T | O | N | S | ||||
| W | E | A | S | E | L | S | S | I | X | W | O | R | D | |
| E | N | T | I | T | L | E | K | N | E | E | L | E | R | |
| R | E | E | N | T | E | R | I | T | S | D | O | N | E |
I don't know when I first became aware of Hemingway's 6-word story, but I was in awe that such heartbreak could be expressed in so few words, and the story stayed with me. Sometime years later, I thought to count the letters of this famous ultra-short story, and I was delighted to discover that it broke tidily into segments that fit a puzzle's symmetry, and that ERNEST HEMINGWAY just happened to be 15 letters long!
When I got the acceptance note for this puzzle, Will, Joel, and Sam told me that they were planning to run it on a Thursday as a "straightforward" change-up to the usual Thursday offerings. I was pretty surprised since I had thought of it as Tuesday fare. I had figured it was indeed straightforward and that for solvers who were already familiar with the famous short story, it would be an overly easy puzzle. (I had thought I was getting pretty good at correlating my themes with the day of the week, but I clearly still have much to learn!)
I had, therefore, submitted the puzzle with easy clues, few of which would have been appropriate for a Thursday puzzle. Will and his team would have had to rewrite practically all of them to make the puzzle Thursday-worthy. Mentioning this to Will, he kindly offered me the opportunity to rewrite the clues myself so that the published puzzle would feel more like my work than his. (Of course, he and his team always add their editorial polish to make my work shine more brightly!) I'll be interested in seeing how solvers with Thursday expectations respond to this puzzle.
My clue for 58-Across had referred to SIX-WORD as what is now an actual genre, probably inspired by Hemingway's brief opus. As a genre, it seems to combine drama with poetry. People have been quite creative, dealing in six words with all sorts of issues: from romance and gender transitioning, to violence and war injuries. They aren't my stories to reprint here (though I'm tempted, since they're so short!) but googling "six word story" will lead you to some good examples.
| V | E | R | I | S | M | O | ||||||||
| N | O | T | E | N | O | U | G | H | ||||||
| B | O | W | A | N | D | A | R | R | O | W | ||||
| P | L | U | S | F | E | N | E | S | A | S | ||||
| L | E | A | N | P | A | N | D | A | E | S | P | N | ||
| E | S | C | I | T | S | H | I | E | ||||||
| A | C | K | O | R | E | O | S | I | R | A | ||||
| S | E | A | I | V | E | R | S | O | N | N | I | P | ||
| A | T | N | I | N | E | L | O | N | G | T | O | |||
| L | A | D | D | E | R | D | I | S | T | A | L | |||
| O | R | W | O | R | S | E | M | A | R | C | O | N | I | |
| N | I | H | T | E | A | R | O | S | E | N | I | T | ||
| G | A | I | N | E | C | O | L | I | O | Z | M | A | ||
| A | N | T | I | S | H | O | E | S | J | O | A | N | ||
| S | E | X | S | O | L |
I'm excited to complete my cycle +2 (publishing at least one regular crossword on each day of the week plus two variety puzzle types). Next up is probably a double cycle +2, but it might be a cycle +3. We'll see. ;-)
My original submission used PANDA reparsed as a revealer for two-word phrases starting with P and A (PARTY ANIMAL, PENALTY AREA, and PUTTERS AROUND). Some of the other phrases left on the cutting room floor included PENNY ARCADE, POLICE ACADEMY, and PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
While Will & crew liked the gird art, they didn't like the theme and suggested a redo keeping just the PANDA revealer. After seeing the result, however, Will decided that that guidance went too far and requested a new grid that included some thematic material related to PANDAs.
My next grid was almost identical to the final one, featuring BLACK AND WHITE and WASHINGTON ZOO. The only difference was at the top of the grid, where I had HARISSA at 1-Across. Will didn't like HARISSA in that slot and suggested some alternate fill headed by VERISMO. That left the VERISMO/MUR crossing, which I find less elegant than HARISSA/SUR. But, I trust Will to know his audience!
Finally, I really, really hope this puzzle gets published with circles on the P and A of PANDA. They make perfect eyes to complete the grid art. The preview version I saw didn't have them, but hopefully that will change by the time it runs!
| C | A | N | D | O | R | B | O | O | T | U | P | |||
| P | I | E | R | R | E | C | A | T | E | R | T | O | ||
| A | R | R | E | S | T | J | A | N | E | D | O | E | S | |
| J | V | S | O | C | C | E | R | R | I | N | S | E | ||
| D | O | E | S | H | A | S | A | S | I | P | ||||
| A | R | B | Y | S | D | U | M | P | U | S | G | A | ||
| H | D | L | O | H | I | S | E | E | S | E | R | B | ||
| L | A | O | B | E | L | L | L | A | P | T | A | U | ||
| I | N | C | A | F | L | I | C | K | R | T | V | S | ||
| A | S | K | S | T | A | Z | O | Y | A | L | I | E | ||
| K | E | Y | C | A | R | D | P | E | T | S | ||||
| A | X | M | A | N | M | R | N | O | B | O | D | Y | ||
| S | T | E | N | O | P | A | D | B | U | G | O | F | F | |
| I | R | E | C | K | O | N | B | R | E | W | E | R | ||
| F | A | K | E | I | D | S | P | E | N | D | Y |
I listened to a fair amount of The Jesus Lizard in college, but had always figured that a broken up indie rock band didn't quite have the national name recognition to support their entry in a crossword. It wasn't until embarrassingly recently that I realized their name came from an actual "thing," which could also function as a grid's centerpiece. I'm usually not the type of guy to seed a grid from a single entry, but all the surrounding pieces fell into place, so who was I to fight it.
Let me give my usual props to the editing team for helping make this one shine. I never would have thought to parse 56-Down as PO'D. Feels like there might be theme idea in there somewhere... I call dibs.
In the meantime, enjoy today's puzzle!
| A | B | B | A | I | C | U | S | C | A | D | S | A | P | C | A | L | C | |||
| D | E | E | D | F | O | P | O | A | K | E | N | H | O | O | R | A | H | |||
| A | L | L | H | A | I | L | H | A | L | L | A | L | E | A | R | M | A | N | I | |
| G | L | I | D | E | L | I | B | E | L | G | A | G | K | A | N | Y | E | |||
| E | Y | E | I | T | A | L | O | R | A | K | E | D | C | A | F | |||||
| B | O | O | B | L | U | R | R | E | D | B | L | U | E | B | I | R | D | |||
| D | E | P | A | U | L | T | E | A | P | O | Y | B | R | A | N | D | O | |||
| I | M | A | N | I | C | E | I | M | O | E | L | I | T | I | S | M | ||||
| S | O | N | E | R | V | O | U | S | N | O | S | E | R | V | I | C | E | |||
| U | T | E | D | E | N | C | H | N | E | M | E | A | N | A | X | E | S | |||
| S | E | R | R | A | C | H | A | N | D | E | N | S | H | U | E | V | O | |||
| E | S | A | U | W | A | R | R | E | D | N | O | I | R | E | D | E | W | |||
| S | T | E | V | E | D | O | R | E | D | I | V | A | S | T | O | R | E | |||
| S | A | L | T | I | N | E | P | A | T | R | E | D | O | U | S | T | ||||
| A | G | E | I | S | T | A | G | E | N | T | S | I | D | O | T | O | O | |||
| D | U | T | C | H | T | O | W | N | T | O | U | C | H | D | O | W | N | |||
| T | I | M | O | R | E | O | S | R | A | I | S | E | S | P | F | |||||
| A | L | E | U | T | R | E | C | S | T | O | N | Y | E | M | C | E | E | |||
| L | E | T | T | E | R | B | C | H | O | R | D | K | E | Y | B | O | A | R | D | |
| E | R | R | A | T | A | I | H | O | P | E | I | R | E | O | N | C | E | |||
| S | A | Y | H | E | Y | T | I | P | S | Y | E | S | P | S | T | Y | X |
NANCY STARK: It wasn't until I had finally finished coming up with all the theme answers and all the clues for all the theme answers that I finally got a decent night's sleep. I'd lie in bed in the wee hours, night after night, as random, not to mention ridiculous non-Spoonerisms would cascade through my head. I found myself trying to create a Spoonerism out of every two-word or two-syllable phrase I'd ever heard in my entire life: BOATING VOOTH; DATER ME; COARSE MODE; POLE GHOSTS. What was worse, I couldn't stop. (If you try it tonight, people, I can guarantee you a night of pure insomnia.) My first thought when Will Nediger said he liked the final 18-letter theme answer I sent to him was: Thank God. Now I can finally sleep!!
The one thing you know working with Will is that, no matter how constraining and challenging the theme and theme answers you give him, he'll find a way to build a grid around them. He's a genius in doing that. He even asked me, after I had sent him about four or five 18-letter possibilities and about four or five 14-letter possibilities, whether I'd prefer him to create a grid with four 14s and two 18s or with two 14s and four 18s? Assuming that the latter would be much harder for him, but also more challenging and interesting for solvers, I requested the latter. "But only if it won't be a problem," I said. "Fine," he replied, and provided it with no further ado and in record time. You can see for yourself how good it is. I do hope you understand that not everyone would be able to do that.
WILL NEDIGER: As always with our COLLABs, Nancy came up with the theme for this one. Spoonerisms have been done before, of course, but I quite like these theme entries, because all of them involve spelling changes, adding a little bit of an element of surprise, and because they all came straight from Nancy's own brain. It would've been easy to just look up lists of spoonerisms and find hundreds of possibilities, but these are all originals. Plus, I learned that STEVEDORE is pronounced with three syllables!
| P | A | W | S | W | O | R | E | A | G | I | T | A | ||
| A | L | O | E | A | P | E | X | K | U | D | O | S | ||
| S | C | R | A | P | H | E | A | P | C | L | E | R | K | |
| T | A | R | S | I | N | C | A | A | F | A | T | E | ||
| A | N | I | S | E | A | T | T | L | E | S | L | E | W | |
| S | T | A | R | R | S | E | A | T | ||||||
| P | O | O | H | I | M | P | S | A | M | M | Y | |||
| I | T | M | E | A | N | S | A | L | O | T | T | O | M | E |
| S | T | E | N | S | Y | E | P | E | T | A | T | |||
| A | H | E | M | G | E | S | S | O | ||||||
| B | A | T | T | E | R | Y | P | A | C | K | R | Y | E | |
| E | C | R | U | R | O | L | L | O | G | R | E | S | ||
| S | C | A | R | S | P | A | P | A | L | M | A | S | S | |
| T | R | I | A | L | E | T | A | L | A | C | N | E | ||
| S | A | L | L | Y | S | O | D | A | N | E | O | N |
| A | W | A | Y | P | A | B | S | T | J | O | J | O | ||
| P | E | S | O | A | L | I | T | O | U | B | E | R | ||
| B | E | A | U | R | E | G | A | L | D | E | N | S | ||
| P | R | I | D | E | A | N | D | J | O | Y | ||||
| E | M | O | Y | E | T | |||||||||
| F | E | A | R | A | N | D | L | O | A | T | H | I | N | G |
| E | T | H | I | C | O | E | D | E | R | N | I | E | ||
| E | C | I | G | A | R | N | I | E | O | T | T | O | ||
| S | H | O | C | K | A | N | D | A | W | E | ||||
| T | I | T | T | L | E | D | E | S | R | E | E | |||
| E | C | O | E | D | I | T | W | A | R | R | Y | E | ||
| N | E | R | O | N | A | H | K | E | E | L | ||||
| M | I | X | E | D | F | E | E | L | I | N | G | S | ||
| C | E | C | E | L | I | A | L | E | T | I | N | O | N | |
| P | L | A | Y | S | O | N | P | A | S | T | U | R | E | |
| A | T | L | E | A | S | T | S | P | A | S | M | E | D |
The original iteration of this puzzle interlocked PRIDE AND JOY and SHOCK AND AWE through the R and H in FEAR AND LOATHING respectively, making them MIXED in two ways. Will thought the resulting grid was a bit choppy, so he asked for the layout you see today.
As you read these words, I'll be socially isolating at home *and* on a pre-planned vacation from work (that is no longer taking place in St. Lucia.) If you're interested in learning how to make crossword puzzles — and especially if you're from a group historically underrepresented in puzzle bylines (womxn, POC's, LGBTQ+ folk) — feel free to reach out to me via my personal puzzle site or via Twitter (@TrudeauRoss) or Instagram (@RossTrudeau). I'd be happy to do what I can to help you get a puzzle published!
| U | S | O | P | E | N | I | M | I | N | P | E | Z | ||
| M | O | R | A | L | E | N | E | R | O | A | M | I | ||
| P | L | A | Y | F | U | L | D | E | A | D | N | I | P | |
| E | A | T | T | O | O | T | O | U | S | T | S | |||
| D | R | E | A | M | E | D | C | A | U | S | E | |||
| C | A | R | E | F | U | L | B | E | A | R | S | |||
| D | A | N | T | E | A | T | A | T | R | A | H | |||
| A | R | E | S | O | F | T | E | N | A | E | R | O | ||
| F | E | W | D | O | R | A | E | N | D | E | D | |||
| T | A | S | T | E | F | U | L | T | E | S | T | |||
| F | O | N | S | I | E | X | C | E | L | A | T | |||
| G | O | L | E | M | T | H | A | I | O | N | A | |||
| A | K | A | A | W | F | U | L | S | H | U | C | K | S | |
| I | R | S | R | O | L | E | T | A | M | A | L | E | ||
| N | A | H | K | E | Y | S | S | T | A | L | E | R |
Firstly, I'd like to apologize to the Spanish-speaking folks out there for using TAMALE as the singular for "tamales." As I'm sure my family will remind me, the proper singular is "tamal"; "tamale" is an English-ism. Maybe if I debut TAMAL, that'll make up for it. Someday.
I'm surprised to see how many of my clues made the final cut. I wrote this puzzle back when I had more trouble writing tough clues. For example, I originally had [Initiator] for CAUSE and [Closes, as a purse] for ZIPS, which aren't exactly Wednesday-level. I'm sad that AT-AT, as originally clued, was reparsed as A-TAT, which I wouldn't personally use. I'm very curious how easy this will skew for solvers.
If I were redoing this puzzle, I'd try removing the blocks above OKRA/below EMIT to keep those corners from being closed-off on top of lacking theme material. I included DORA to add another female name in the mix, but I don't think OOFS was worth losing the alternative of OAFS/DARA. I also wouldn't have been as stubborn about including the X in the southeast. Overall though, I'm satisfied with the fill and the theme, and I hope this is an enjoyable experience.
Lastly, if you're a solver or constructor who uses Discord, we have a server for discussing crossword solving and construction!
| I | C | E | S | S | H | A | P | E | B | B | S | |||
| M | A | M | E | T | U | G | O | N | C | L | A | W | ||
| A | S | I | A | A | M | O | O | D | T | O | M | E | ||
| C | T | R | L | C | R | I | G | H | T | R | O | B | E | |
| R | E | D | B | A | L | L | P | I | T | |||||
| P | E | N | N | E | D | R | E | B | O | X | ||||
| A | V | O | I | D | H | A | L | L | O | W | E | D | ||
| N | A | R | C | S | T | O | R | E | F | E | T | A | ||
| E | N | M | E | S | H | E | D | C | F | L | A | T | ||
| C | R | O | N | Y | E | A | S | T | L | A | ||||
| D | I | S | T | O | R | T | S | T | L | |||||
| O | D | O | R | T | O | O | T | H | C | T | R | L | V | |
| D | I | L | L | C | O | B | R | A | W | O | O | D | ||
| G | O | O | F | U | N | I | O | N | O | K | R | A | ||
| E | T | S | T | E | E | M | S | S | U | E | Y |
We're thrilled to be making our puzzle debut in the New York Times. We're both attorneys who have worked together in various capacities in the Iowa Attorney General's Office since 2004, and at some point, we discovered that we're both long-time puzzle solvers. After several years of working the NYT crossword together during lunch, we decided to try our hand at constructing. How hard could it be, right?
We soon came to realize that crossword constructing is much more difficult than we ever imagined (and our prior submissions, in hindsight, now seem somewhat embarrassing). Throughout the whole process, we gained a new level of respect and appreciation for the veteran constructors who make it look easy, and also for the NYT puzzle editor and staff who have to put up with us rookies.
Wayne initially got the idea for this theme when he heard about a local rock band called "CTRL C," presumably so named because they're a cover band and they "copy" other peoples' music. We first thought about using "CTRL" as a rebus, but ultimately settled on the current configuration.
CTRL-X, CTRL-C, and CTRL-V seemed like the most well-known keyboard shortcuts and obvious choices to include, but CTRL-F took a little more thought. We realize Mac users use the command key, rather than the CTRL key, to execute these shortcuts and may be angry with us because of that, but the internet tells us that something like 90% of all computer users use Windows. (And hey, we kind of threw Mac users a bone at 1-Down, right?)
Anyway, we want to thank Will and the editing team for their suggestions, patience, and edits, and also Jeff Chen for his work on this site, which is an incredible resource. We hope you enjoy the puzzle.
| P | O | W | E | R | C | O | R | D | S | S | C | O | T | |
| A | T | H | L | E | I | S | U | R | E | H | A | H | S | |
| S | T | O | L | E | A | K | I | S | S | A | R | G | H | |
| T | O | W | L | O | A | N | H | U | M | E | R | I | ||
| E | M | O | J | I | R | O | B | P | E | T | E | R | ||
| S | A | R | O | N | G | U | R | L | S | O | A | T | ||
| N | E | A | O | N | S | A | L | E | E | T | S | |||
| I | N | T | R | O | T | O | T | A | L | |||||
| E | S | T | O | D | D | I | T | Y | B | A | D | |||
| G | A | B | D | O | U | R | D | A | U | B | E | D | ||
| G | R | E | C | O | H | E | M | S | T | O | M | A | ||
| W | A | T | U | S | I | S | E | A | T | R | E | V | ||
| A | L | T | O | T | W | I | T | T | E | R | A | T | I | |
| S | E | E | M | Z | A | G | A | T | R | A | T | E | D | |
| H | E | R | O | A | N | N | L | A | N | D | E | R | S |
PAOLO: This grid was the result of our first collaboration; I sent her the NW corner, with the three 10s crossing WHO WORE IT BETTER, to see what she could do with the opposite corner. Hours later, she sent me a fully-filled grid, filled more smoothly than I could ever make it. It's a serious privilege working with Wyna—her work ethic/commitment to quality/singular voice is enviable. Hope you enjoy the puzzle—this isn't the last collab you've seen from us!
WYNA: I had a great time working with Paolo on this one! He was the master architect of this grid. The process was unusually smooth, and we ended up with this grid on the first pass (I think it took one day).
We clued the puzzle together via Google Sheets. Paolo's clues are so good; some of my favorites here are 1A, 23A, 39A, and 14D. Thanks to the editors–I love 21A and 5D, and cluing 25A and 27A together was a great move.
It was a joy to work on this puzzle. Paolo is such a pro. Thanks to Erik Agard--for many things--but in this case, for connecting us. This was my first collaboration with Paolo, and happily, not the last. Hope you enjoy!
| S | O | I | W | A | S | L | I | K | E | U | S | P | S | |
| P | A | R | A | C | H | U | T | E | S | N | C | A | A | |
| C | H | A | R | L | A | T | A | N | S | F | A | C | T | |
| A | U | N | T | D | E | L | T | A | B | U | R | K | E | |
| H | U | E | Y | U | R | T | ||||||||
| I | N | C | O | N | T | R | O | L | S | L | I | N | K | |
| M | E | D | G | A | R | E | V | E | R | S | S | I | N | |
| P | A | R | E | L | I | T | E | S | E | E | ||||
| E | L | O | P | E | A | N | U | T | S | A | U | C | E | |
| L | E | M | M | A | Y | E | S | I | N | D | E | E | D | |
| D | O | U | P | C | O | M | ||||||||
| P | U | R | P | L | E | H | A | Z | E | I | M | A | C | |
| O | N | I | T | P | A | L | I | N | D | R | O | M | E | |
| T | I | V | O | S | W | I | T | C | H | E | R | O | O | |
| S | T | E | P | I | N | F | I | E | L | D | E | R | S |
Five puzzle fun facts:
| P | A | P | A | S | C | O | M | B | A | T | S | L | I | M | J | I | M | |||
| T | B | I | L | L | B | L | U | E | C | A | P | P | E | N | T | O | D | E | ||
| A | C | Q | U | I | R | E | A | C | H | O | I | R | I | N | C | E | N | S | E | |
| S | T | U | M | P | E | R | H | E | R | F | C | C | A | T | B | A | T | |||
| V | E | N | O | M | A | N | O | I | S | E | A | N | N | O | Y | S | ||||
| I | N | S | I | P | I | D | S | R | I | I | T | A | N | |||||||
| L | S | U | V | I | M | P | U | M | M | E | L | S | J | A | W | |||||
| A | P | P | A | L | L | A | P | A | U | L | I | D | S | P | O | N | Y | |||
| R | E | D | B | E | A | N | S | N | A | S | S | A | U | D | E | V | I | L | ||
| S | W | O | R | E | T | O | A | U | N | T | E | M | C | E | R | I | S | E | ||
| A | R | I | V | A | L | S | A | R | R | I | V | A | L | S | ||||||
| A | F | G | H | A | N | T | E | E | H | E | E | O | U | T | O | F | I | T | ||
| C | R | O | A | T | D | E | E | D | E | E | M | I | L | A | N | E | S | E | ||
| D | E | E | M | P | E | A | A | T | T | A | C | K | S | A | T | A | X | |||
| C | D | S | T | O | Y | L | A | N | D | E | N | E | T | O | T | |||||
| P | A | S | O | I | R | E | C | A | N | D | I | E | S | |||||||
| A | V | O | W | E | L | A | V | O | W | A | L | K | L | E | I | N | ||||
| B | A | S | A | L | D | E | M | B | O | S | L | E | A | R | N | E | D | |||
| O | N | T | R | I | A | L | A | P | A | T | C | H | Y | A | P | A | C | H | E | |
| R | C | A | D | O | M | E | S | A | T | H | O | M | E | S | P | A | I | N | ||
| T | E | L | S | T | A | R | P | E | S | T | O | S | E | E | N | S | Y |
If you had no idea about rock history at all, and only listened to the Boston classic rock radio station, you'd think AC/DC was the greatest band of all time.
| A | M | O | K | H | G | T | V | S | K | I | F | F | ||
| B | O | R | E | E | R | I | E | C | A | S | I | O | ||
| E | T | S | Y | A | I | N | T | R | H | I | N | O | ||
| H | O | P | E | L | E | S | S | C | A | U | S | E | ||
| A | N | T | S | O | W | N | ||||||||
| H | O | L | D | T | H | E | A | P | P | L | A | U | S | E |
| E | R | A | S | E | S | A | T | S | H | A | M | |||
| A | T | L | R | A | Y | K | R | O | C | U | N | C | ||
| T | H | A | I | Q | U | E | H | O | R | D | E | |||
| H | O | W | C | O | U | L | D | I | R | E | F | U | S | E |
| E | P | A | S | E | R | F | ||||||||
| A | H | O | U | S | E | D | I | V | I | D | E | D | ||
| S | L | A | V | S | M | I | N | I | U | Z | I | S | ||
| T | E | H | E | E | T | E | T | E | T | R | O | U | ||
| Y | E | A | R | S | S | T | O | W | Y | A | R | N |
| O | R | C | A | S | T | A | T | I | C | B | R | O | ||
| C | O | O | L | T | A | C | O | M | A | R | A | W | ||
| T | V | R | E | C | E | P | T | I | O | N | A | C | E | |
| E | E | G | A | R | I | D | E | S | K | S | ||||
| T | R | I | E | D | O | N | J | E | A | N | S | |||
| T | R | I | G | F | U | N | C | T | I | O | N | |||
| S | I | G | H | E | D | A | L | T | E | R | E | G | O | |
| I | N | E | W | R | Y | R | R | R | ||||||
| A | G | N | O | S | T | I | C | E | S | T | E | E | M | |
| M | E | D | I | C | I | N | E | B | A | L | L | |||
| E | L | I | T | E | I | R | E | C | K | O | N | |||
| M | A | R | Y | S | G | T | E | O | T | S | ||||
| O | M | G | S | E | A | R | C | H | P | A | R | T | Y | |
| S | P | A | O | R | D | E | A | L | T | E | E | N | ||
| T | S | P | R | E | A | L | T | Y | M | A | R | C |
As happens so often, the "seed entry" for this puzzle didn't end up in the final product. This started with AVOCADO TOAST, clued as "Celebration of a healthy fat source?" but as I found more puns in the celebratory area, it became clear that I needed to stay in a strict party-synonym place for the theme to work cleanly. Huge thanks to Andrea Carla Michaels for her advice on this theme set last summer! Great to see it come to fruition here.
Hope you enjoyed the puzzle, and got a kick out of the TRIED ON JEANS row :)
| R | A | C | E | C | A | P | O | B | R | A | G | ||||
| P | L | U | M | R | O | M | A | N | S | R | E | D | O | ||
| M | A | R | M | E | E | M | A | R | C | H | I | M | H | O | |
| L | A | R | V | A | T | A | U | T | E | N | E | D | |||
| T | E | S | S | A | F | I | L | C | H | A | R | P | |||
| I | C | U | A | P | R | I | L | K | E | P | N | E | R | ||
| C | O | P | A | P | L | E | A | T | A | T | S | ||||
| M | E | L | I | N | D | A | M | A | Y | ||||||
| L | E | I | A | I | M | I | S | S | Y | O | U | ||||
| J | U | N | E | C | L | E | A | V | E | R | U | P | S | ||
| I | N | T | H | O | R | S | E | M | A | L | I | A | |||
| C | A | R | R | Y | O | U | T | E | A | G | L | E | |||
| A | B | A | T | S | P | R | I | N | G | R | O | L | L | S | |
| M | A | N | E | E | T | A | L | I | A | N | O | E | L | ||
| A | R | T | S | S | L | E | D | E | G | G | Y |
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is about sacrifice, not for you or me, but for the greater good." — 35-ACROSS
I suppose we might all consider ourselves part of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division right now. A crazed 28-ACROSS screaming, "All right, people are dying. It is your job to save their lives" would sort of fit right in. I'm deeply grateful for all the medical professionals and first responders who don't need 28-ACROSS to tell them this. It might help the rest of us to realize that her message is at least as much for us: If you're not doing something that people need to subsist, just stay home. That's our job. That and whatever other job we're trying to do from home (assuming we're lucky enough to have such a job).
I'll never be nearly as put-together as 45-ACROSS, but I'll do my best to look presentable when, coincidentally, I connect with my students by video for the first time on the day this puzzle is published. (Shout out to all the students, teachers, and school administrators who are learning so much so quickly about how to teach and learn in unfamiliar circumstances.)
And, finally, a bit of advice for our times from 17-ACROSS: "Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well."
I am always grateful for spring.
| L | E | S | S | E | R | R | O | R | A | T | O | R | ||
| A | L | A | N | Y | O | U | P | E | A | R | C | E | ||
| W | N | B | A | T | E | A | M | I | S | S | U | E | S | |
| F | I | E | R | O | R | O | G | U | E | E | L | I | ||
| U | N | R | E | P | S | R | O | M | A | N | G | O | D | |
| L | O | S | G | U | M | A | S | T | A | R | T | E | ||
| E | U | R | A | I | L | K | I | S | S | |||||
| I | N | N | E | R | P | L | A | N | E | T | ||||
| O | H | N | O | C | O | I | N | E | D | |||||
| S | O | A | K | A | G | E | N | Y | E | B | B | S | ||
| M | U | S | I | C | I | A | N | A | D | V | E | R | T | |
| O | D | E | C | L | U | E | S | T | A | H | O | E | ||
| S | I | N | G | E | D | A | U | T | O | M | A | K | E | |
| I | N | S | I | D | E | R | I | O | O | V | A | L | ||
| S | I | E | G | E | D | S | T | Y | S | E | W | S |
ROMAN GOD makes its NYT crossword debut today. Interestingly, it almost debuted back in 2018 in this puzzle. There, my original submission had the dual revealer of ROMAN GOD and PLANET. Continuing to think about that connection probably contributed to arriving at today's theme (my jumping-off point was the Mercury/Mars pairing).
Having a central 11-letter theme entry (INNER PLANET) forces either vertical triple stacks of 7+-letter words in two corners or a bunch of 3-letter words (if those longer entries are broken up). I chose the former. Another decision point was how to orient the two Utah blocks breaking up the sides. I chose the configuration needing words matching ????G??T and I??S???? rather than ??B????I and T????A??. ??B????I is very limiting, which means fewer options for smooth and interesting fill.
Of course, combining those decisions with the 8-letter themers in rows 3 and 13 creates large swaths of open space in the NE and SW corners. With only a couple of 3-letter words interspersed between the 6s, 7s, and 8s, solvers may have a hard time getting a foothold there.
That layout, plus the low word count (72) and perhaps some hard vocabulary, is likely what bumped this puzzle to Thursday instead of Wednesday, where it was initially slotted. Hopefully, solvers aren't disappointed that the trickiness factor is less than a typical Thursday offering!
| S | N | I | P | S | A | L | P | O | L | A | S | |||
| P | O | P | U | P | S | T | O | R | E | L | O | C | H | |
| I | H | O | P | E | T | O | G | O | D | A | N | T | E | |
| N | O | D | C | A | N | E | M | A | G | G | I | E | ||
| S | I | N | E | N | A | N | O | B | O | T | ||||
| T | H | R | E | A | D | B | I | R | D | S | O | N | G | |
| R | A | O | U | L | C | A | G | E | Y | A | I | L | ||
| O | V | A | L | P | A | T | H | S | S | R | T | A | ||
| L | E | D | L | U | M | E | T | N | U | D | E | S | ||
| L | I | T | T | E | R | E | D | S | E | I | S | M | S | |
| E | T | E | R | N | A | L | J | U | S | T | ||||
| Y | E | S | E | S | H | A | U | N | T | R | E | I | ||
| B | A | T | S | B | A | L | L | R | E | T | U | R | N | |
| U | S | E | S | M | I | L | E | A | G | E | L | O | G | |
| S | Y | D | W | R | A | P | G | E | E | S | E |
I began constructing this puzzle with THREAD and BIRDSONG, knowing I wanted to clue both identically with references to tweets. I'm happy to see my clues at 16A, 4D, 12D, and 35D made the finished product, and I'm grateful to the editors for their clues at 37A and 8D.
I hope you enjoy the puzzle and find it a welcome respite in these anxious times.
| H | O | P | A | C | A | B | E | D | U | C | D | C | ||
| T | H | A | T | O | N | E | C | E | N | T | A | U | R | |
| S | O | L | O | A | C | T | H | A | I | R | S | P | A | |
| E | I | T | H | E | R | O | R | A | E | O | N | |||
| P | R | O | S | O | L | E | O | V | I | N | E | |||
| C | O | L | A | C | O | M | M | E | N | T | S | |||
| S | T | I | L | E | T | T | O | H | E | E | L | S | ||
| I | T | S | R | A | I | N | I | N | G | M | E | N | ||
| H | A | U | D | E | N | O | S | A | U | N | E | E | ||
| S | U | I | T | C | A | S | E | G | S | I | X | |||
| O | P | C | I | T | C | R | A | G | I | N | T | |||
| A | L | D | A | B | E | T | A | T | E | S | T | |||
| P | A | I | N | M | E | D | B | O | O | H | I | S | S | |
| E | T | E | S | I | A | N | A | N | D | O | V | E | R | |
| D | E | T | A | K | A | T | E | E | P | E | E | S |
This was the last of my 2018 puzzles on file, and in retrospect, I'm excited to turn over the new leaf. I try to keep my puzzles free of the contrived and the obscure — ideally I want everything that's in there to feel like I want it to be there — but a few answers in this one fall short for me: 18a, 41a (spelled out like that), 42a, 52a (in the singular), 57a, 61a (as opposed to the two-i spelling), 4d, 56d, and especially 32d.
Looking at the clue changes, the editing team did a tremendous job pulling this puzzle into shape from the original submission - thanks, folks!
| K | O | D | A | K | R | U | B | S | C | O | B | L | I | C | I | T | ||||
| A | L | I | E | N | E | R | A | T | E | N | O | F | U | T | U | R | E | |||
| Y | E | S | N | O | A | G | R | E | E | D | T | O | L | I | S | T | E | N | ||
| T | E | L | L | L | E | F | T | F | R | O | M | R | I | G | H | T | ||||
| S | Q | U | A | L | I | D | T | I | P | O | P | I | O | I | D | S | ||||
| O | U | R | S | V | E | A | L | S | C | O | L | D | T | N | U | T | ||||
| B | I | B | T | E | A | R | E | D | F | E | I | N | T | G | N | U | ||||
| D | I | S | H | L | A | G | U | N | A | S | N | O | W | D | E | N | ||||
| B | A | P | E | S | B | O | D | I | C | E | S | W | O | O | D | W | ||||
| L | A | M | E | S | L | E | X | E | M | E | S | H | O | G | H | |||||
| A | G | R | A | N | A | D | A | I | N | A | D | A | Z | E | I | |||||
| C | E | T | S | C | O | N | C | H | E | S | T | O | N | I | T | |||||
| K | T | A | S | K | A | D | V | E | R | S | E | A | D | E | S | E | ||||
| B | O | N | E | S | A | W | S | N | A | I | L | S | E | S | P | N | ||||
| A | R | F | S | U | S | A | N | S | O | L | O | E | D | O | O | F | ||||
| W | I | F | I | C | Y | A | N | S | N | A | L | A | I | N | T | O | ||||
| S | O | A | N | D | S | O | K | O | N | A | V | E | N | G | E | R | ||||
| S | P | O | T | T | H | E | D | I | F | F | E | R | E | N | C | E | ||||
| B | A | H | A | M | A | I | D | I | T | A | R | O | D | D | O | B | B | Y | ||
| A | D | O | R | E | R | L | L | C | D | A | N | A | E | M | O | T | E | |||
| M | O | T | T | S | L | Y | E | E | T | S | Y | D | E | B | U | T |
I love crosswords that implement another game in the grid, but often there's the hangup of requiring a notepad to explain the gimmick. I'm fine with coming across them in other puzzles, but for my own puzzles I'm a purist; if it can't be done without a notepad, it's not worth it for me to construct. So going into this, I wanted to make sure the whole thing was self-contained, which was a success.
The big change the editing team made theme-wise is that the differences are already circled, which is a bit of a let-down, but probably for the best, as the clues I wrote to explain BLACK and WHITE felt convoluted. Seeing as those squares are shaded and circled, I'm eager to see if the intended format will be present in the .PUZ file, which doesn't do shaded squares.
I'm very happy with the fill in this puzzle; if I were redoing it now, though, I'd redo the shaded areas and make them sparkling; as the first areas filled, I could've done better than SEN/DOA/DO AWAY/KSU, as much as they pass. Clue-wise, I like the edits that Will and co. made, and I'm delighted to see the gaming-adjacent clues that survived the edit. I'm stoked to have my first Sunday puzzle in the Times; I hope it's enjoyable for everyone.
Also, I'd like to re-extend the invitation to join the Crossword Discord Server, where we talk about solving and construction. I'm considering adding roles and channels for mentorship and collaborations soon, especially if there's a demand for that in the Discord-space.
| A | L | P | S | A | J | A | R | R | E | A | C | T | ||
| W | O | O | L | P | O | L | O | A | L | L | A | H | ||
| N | O | N | O | B | L | O | O | D | Y | M | A | R | Y | |
| S | K | Y | P | E | L | E | S | A | G | E | ||||
| P | R | A | Y | S | Z | U | R | I | C | H | ||||
| G | E | Y | S | E | R | S | E | N | T | A | I | |||
| H | A | D | J | R | O | A | N | S | L | A | N | T | ||
| E | R | G | O | O | G | L | E | S | A | L | T | O | ||
| A | R | I | E | S | E | S | A | U | Z | I | O | N | ||
| L | E | E | A | P | R | K | E | N | Y | A | N | |||
| S | T | R | A | T | A | G | Y | R | O | S | ||||
| M | I | S | H | A | P | D | U | T | C | H | ||||
| E | V | E | N | S | T | E | V | E | N | S | A | L | E | |
| S | E | R | I | F | R | I | T | A | A | X | I | S | ||
| L | E | R | O | Y | O | N | E | G | N | I | P | S |
| A | B | B | A | B | A | S | M | A | K | E | D | O | ||
| D | R | A | B | R | I | O | E | X | I | T | E | D | ||
| D | I | S | C | G | O | L | F | N | E | T | T | E | D | |
| S | E | E | S | A | W | A | H | S | T | A | P | S | ||
| U | N | O | A | C | H | E | ||||||||
| R | O | L | L | I | N | G | T | H | U | N | D | E | R | |
| B | O | D | E | E | L | L | E | R | H | I | N | O | ||
| A | S | I | A | S | O | A | M | I | E | N | D | S | ||
| L | I | S | P | S | O | R | A | N | E | G | O | S | ||
| L | E | T | S | T | A | K | E | I | T | S | L | O | W | |
| E | A | S | E | L | I | L | ||||||||
| G | U | A | C | I | R | A | M | A | I | T | A | I | ||
| A | C | T | O | R | S | C | L | A | P | B | A | C | K | |
| B | L | A | N | C | A | D | O | T | I | C | E | E | ||
| S | A | D | D | A | Y | C | U | E | S | O | D | A |
CHRISTINA: I reached out to Ross early last year when I saw his offer to mentor newbies. He provided great mentorship and really helped me up my construction game. I'd highly recommend finding a mentor if you are interested in construction! This was the third puzzle we made together, and my second acceptance in the NYT.
ROSS: ROSS is by far the worst friend.
If you're looking to get into crossword constructing, and especially if you identify as non-male, LGBTQ+, or as a person of color, 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).