F | A | K | E | M | A | T | E | V | I | C | H | Y | ||
O | P | A | L | O | V | E | N | A | C | H | O | O | ||
P | E | R | S | O | N | A | L | B | A | N | K | I | N | G |
L | E | M | O | N | L | A | W | A | K | A | ||||
U | S | B | A | N | T | N | O | R | U | N | S | |||
C | H | E | R | R | Y | P | I | C | K | I | N | G | ||
L | I | N | E | M | O | N | E | M | T | |||||
A | N | Z | A | C | P | U | P | S | A | J | A | K | ||
S | R | O | S | A | W | C | A | N | E | |||||
D | O | U | B | L | E | P | A | R | K | I | N | G | ||
S | U | N | D | A | E | I | R | E | L | E | S | |||
I | N | N | M | A | I | L | S | L | O | T | ||||
B | A | C | K | W | A | R | D | L | O | O | K | I | N | G |
I | F | E | A | R | N | E | O | N | A | M | I | E | ||
D | U | S | T | Y | T | A | N | G | Y | E | L | L |
The inspiration for this puzzle came from Carl Larson's Queen puzzle from 2021. I solved it just after 10 p.m. the night it came out and recall thinKING that I might be able to develop a theme around a different sort of monarch. I wrote a Python script to find words ending in -KING that become nouns if you remove KING and sifted through the stems to search for viable entries. By 11 p.m., I had nailed down the theme set you see in today's crossword.
Why did this one come together so quickly? Frankly, there weren't that many other options to choose from. If you have suggestions on how you would have clued MOUNTAIN BI KING, feel free to DM me on Twitter.
C | O | L | T | A | T | T | A | P | L | U | C | K | ||
O | D | I | E | M | A | A | M | G | O | P | R | O | ||
S | O | L | A | R | S | Y | S | S | A | S | T | E | R | |
T | R | Y | C | O | L | A | E | A | S | E | ||||
P | T | A | O | K | S | V | O | L | T | A | ||||
B | L | A | H | R | E | T | H | I | N | K | S | |||
R | I | D | E | R | S | R | A | I | S | E | ||||
B | U | S | L | A | N | E | G | H | O | S | O | J | I | |
A | S | I | D | E | O | R | P | H | A | N | ||||
I | T | S | P | T | I | N | G | E | R | R | S | |||
S | N | A | P | S | E | T | A | A | R | E | ||||
E | S | T | E | I | V | E | R | A | P | U | ||||
R | E | T | R | O | S | T | E | M | C | E | L | L | S | |
B | R | O | O | D | A | L | U | M | G | L | U | E | ||
S | T | O | R | E | P | E | P | A | G | Y | M | S |
I got good at making crosswords through (1) making a lot of them, and (2) reading detailed constructor's notes on XWord Info. So here's my attempt to provide (2) to other constructors.
The version of this puzzle I submitted had four rebus squares, resulting in a few dud themies (MISS TEMPLE) and a layout with 26 three-letter words. I am grateful to the Times for letting me submit a revamped grid with just three rebus squares.
Here are some stats:
-- I submitted this on August 10, 2021. Grid revisions took from November 5, 2021, through December 17, 2021, and then I received an official acceptance on January 7, 2022. It ran on March 2, 2023.
-- The themed puzzles I typically write are published for USA Today, and have around 35 cells of theme content. This puzzle had 62 cells of theme content, and the gridding process was eye-wateringly painful. Four layouts went back and forth with the Times' editing team, but I went through about twenty before submitting, even experimenting with 15x16 and 21x21 grids. (Rest In Peace THE TOOTHPASTE MILLIONAIRE.)
-- There are 76 clues in this puzzle. Twenty-four (32%) were kept identical. Twenty-one (28%) were updated slightly. Thirty-one (41%) are new. I'm glad they kept my references to the Baudelaires and "Let's Talk About Sex," and I'm sad that my clues about ESTE Haim and INS Choi were cut.
R | I | B | T | I | C | K | L | E | R | C | F | O | S | |
O | C | E | A | N | O | L | O | G | Y | L | I | N | E | |
B | E | E | R | F | R | I | D | G | E | O | R | C | A | |
E | S | P | R | E | N | E | W | S | W | E | A | T | ||
T | O | R | E | H | I | P | N | E | S | S | ||||
C | A | P | O | N | S | C | I | N | E | M | A | S | ||
O | D | I | S | T | B | A | T | H | W | A | T | E | R | |
B | I | A | S | C | E | D | E | D | K | E | T | O | ||
B | O | N | E | H | E | A | D | S | C | E | R | T | S | |
S | O | S | O | R | R | Y | C | A | U | S | E | S | ||
K | A | T | A | N | A | S | C | A | R | P | ||||
A | M | U | S | E | P | L | A | N | A | B | A | L | ||
M | I | N | I | B | R | A | I | N | C | E | L | L | S | |
A | G | E | D | C | A | R | N | E | A | S | A | D | A | |
L | O | R | E | C | Y | B | E | R | S | Q | U | A | T |
Z | E | T | A | G | A | P | S | U | N | C | L | E | ||
O | N | E | S | U | N | D | O | S | A | R | A | N | ||
N | C | A | A | F | I | N | A | L | E | G | Y | P | T | |
K | A | C | H | I | N | A | O | E | D | P | E | R | ||
O | N | H | I | R | E | C | A | R | T | I | T | L | E | |
U | T | E | M | A | J | O | R | R | O | L | E | S | ||
T | O | R | I | B | E | N | T | O | B | O | X | |||
S | P | I | T | F | I | R | E | S | ||||||
C | L | A | S | S | I | S | M | T | A | S | K | |||
P | R | E | S | S | E | N | T | E | R | V | A | N | ||
B | A | Y | S | T | A | T | E | S | O | R | A | R | E | |
A | G | O | R | U | T | I | S | S | A | R | A | E | ||
S | O | N | J | A | E | S | S | A | Y | M | I | L | L | |
I | D | I | O | M | R | I | N | G | I | C | E | E | ||
C | A | C | T | I | S | A | T | E | N | E | E | D |
B | U | S | P | A | S | S | A | R | C | H | E | R | S | T | A | M | E | |||
I | F | O | R | G | E | T | R | O | S | E | T | E | A | S | U | G | A | R | ||
G | O | T | O | A | R | E | S | T | A | U | R | A | N | T | A | R | E | N | A | |
P | R | E | P | A | I | D | I | T | S | V | E | N | T | S | ||||||
E | O | S | N | U | K | E | C | O | L | A | B | E | E | T | L | E | ||||
D | U | C | T | T | A | P | E | P | O | R | E | C | L | E | A | N | S | E | R | |
A | T | A | R | I | A | S | T | E | R | O | I | D | S | |||||||
M | O | R | E | L | L | E | I | A | P | B | S | A | H | A | B | |||||
F | E | N | D | O | U | R | R | A | D | E | M | O | T | E | ||||||
T | O | D | D | Y | A | R | D | S | A | L | E | S | B | R | A | W | L | S | ||
W | R | Y | B | E | F | O | R | E | P | I | C | T | U | R | E | D | O | E | ||
I | D | C | A | R | D | S | O | L | I | T | A | I | R | E | R | A | N | T | ||
N | E | A | T | O | P | A | D | D | E | N | T | E | R | G | ||||||
E | R | T | E | M | A | E | M | E | S | S | A | C | E | L | A | |||||
M | O | R | T | G | A | G | E | S | M | A | Y | A | N | |||||||
B | A | K | E | I | N | T | H | E | S | U | N | L | A | M | P | P | O | S | T | |
E | V | E | N | S | O | E | T | S | Y | S | A | R | A | U | T | E | ||||
S | E | R | G | E | I | R | S | C | O | W | E | R | E | D | ||||||
I | N | N | E | R | M | E | A | T | S | U | B | S | T | I | T | U | T | E | S | |
D | U | E | L | S | P | A | N | C | A | K | E | H | A | N | S | O | L | O | ||
E | E | L | S | S | L | A | M | M | E | R | A | N | A | T | O | M | Y |
This idea first came to me during a brainstorming session with Jeff Chen back in 2018. We were tossing around concepts for puzzles to collaborate on, but the phonetic substitutions here struck Jeff as "probably a bit too out there." Fifteen months later, I was flying home to California from England just as Covid hit. Probably somewhere over Canada, I finished my work, but I still had plenty of laptop battery. So I dusted off the old idea and had a draft grid by the time LAX came into view. Life got in the way, and it was another couple of years before I could polish it up and send it to the NYT.
The themer set in the published puzzle is the same one from 2018 — I later thought of MAS(TERKEY) but it didn't fit, and never found something workable for "chicken" (maybe someone reading this will discover one!).
I dedicate this puzzle to my late father, Michael Levin, who passed away after it was completed. Over the past couple of years, he couldn't solve on paper due to vision problems but could still complete puzzles just from hearing the clues and visualizing the whole puzzle mentally. Incredible!
B | O | W | E | D | T | A | P | A | S | J | A | W | ||
F | R | I | A | R | E | B | E | R | T | E | C | O | ||
F | I | N | G | E | R | L | A | K | E | S | S | O | W | |
E | E | L | O | L | S | O | N | S | U | R | E | |||
I | N | S | E | A | M | H | E | A | D | W | I | N | D | |
S | T | A | T | U | E | S | S | E | A | T | S | |||
A | S | P | T | R | I | A | L | P | B | S | ||||
F | O | O | T | H | I | L | L | S | ||||||
S | A | M | S | A | M | O | A | S | R | O | ||||
C | A | R | A | T | B | U | N | G | L | E | R | |||
P | A | L | M | T | R | E | E | D | E | R | I | V | E | |
A | R | T | S | O | L | L | I | E | A | P | E | |||
S | K | I | H | U | M | A | N | N | A | T | U | R | E | |
T | E | N | U | P | E | N | D | L | I | P | I | D | ||
A | Y | E | N | E | R | D | Y | A | S | S | E | T |
I have stacks and stacks of scribbled theme ideas, the vast majority of which never become puzzles. Most of those sit around for years until for no particular reason, one of them beckons. Such was the case for my notion of "human nature."
My original thought was things like MOUTH OF THE RIVER, EYE OF THE STORM, NECK OF THE WOODS. But I couldn't get a symmetrical set that would work. So I switched gears and ended up with the shortish answers and rather unusual grid you see here.
It seems the majority of clues were my own, with some of the changes clearly meant to make them easier. Yes, it's Monday.
OMG, I was just reminded that this is my 100th NYT crossword. That means a lot of years have flown by! I'm constructing far fewer puzzles these days, but as I've said before, it remains a great alternative to cleaning or shopping or decluttering.
E | A | R | S | K | I | S | L | A | T | C | H | ||||
G | L | O | W | H | A | R | T | S | A | G | A | M | E | ||
O | F | F | O | N | A | L | A | R | K | T | O | M | E | I | |
S | A | L | M | O | N | Q | U | I | E | T | E | R | R | ||
B | I | G | L | I | T | T | L | E | L | I | E | S | |||
E | R | S | R | H | O | M | A | A | M | ||||||
S | A | U | D | A | F | R | O | S | R | U | P | E | E | ||
O | P | P | O | S | I | T | E | S | A | T | T | R | A | C | T |
S | T | E | N | O | S | C | O | U | R | A | L | O | T | ||
R | O | U | T | N | A | H | A | N | A | ||||||
L | E | F | T | R | I | G | H | T | A | W | A | Y | |||
I | T | O | B | A | L | O | O | L | L | A | M | A | S | ||
T | H | O | S | E | O | U | T | I | N | F | R | O | N | T | |
U | N | D | U | E | B | R | A | C | E | D | A | T | A | ||
P | O | S | E | R | S | L | I | T | N | I | X |
MATTHEW: The general idea behind this theme has been explored before, but I still thought this iteration was a worthy addition to the mix. I'm so glad Enrique wanted to hop on board for the collab. His grid layout got this one over the finish line, and with two long NYT debut entries at 10- and 30-Down to boot. I hope this puzzle brightens your Tuesday!
ENRIQUE: The theme for today's crossword came from Matthew's brilliant puzzle mind, while I contributed a grid structure that lent itself to some nice long fill slots. My favorites are the pair that ended up as SUPER FOODS and SOUR BEER; I'm partial to kriek (cherry) lambic, a delicious way to get both in one glass!
E | C | O | G | E | N | I | U | S | P | S | A | T | ||
E | O | N | A | L | U | M | N | I | H | A | J | I | ||
L | U | I | R | I | B | A | L | D | A | L | A | N | ||
S | P | O | O | L | C | I | L | A | N | T | R | O | ||
E | N | R | I | C | H | K | E | N | T | |||||
S | C | H | E | M | E | D | O | D | G | E | ||||
L | O | C | O | E | R | A | O | S | M | O | N | D | ||
A | A | H | A | V | O | C | A | D | O | P | A | Y | ||
C | H | E | N | E | Y | A | S | I | M | E | W | S | ||
E | U | R | O | S | T | W | I | S | T | Y | ||||
T | O | G | O | A | T | O | N | C | E | |||||
J | A | L | A | P | E | N | O | M | A | U | V | E | ||
A | B | I | T | R | E | G | I | N | A | M | I | A | ||
M | E | M | E | M | U | L | L | E | T | I | T | S | ||
S | L | E | D | S | P | E | E | D | O | N | A | Y |
I love all kinds of puzzles and clever wordplay. Catering typically combines heart-racing panic with mind-numbing monotony, like when you have to prep 300 tiny Lobster Eclairs in the next two hours. One's mind tends to wander and wonder whether words like PROFIT-EROLE could work as a clue for a Robin Hood actor who doesn't give to the poor? Or how to work PANDOWDY into a puzzle about Shabby Chic Kitchenware? It helps to get this stuff out of one's head, just as it does to clean all the ancient condiments out of the back of your fridge.
My sister Jessica in New Zealand is my primary solver — all puzzles must pass her muster (and mustard).
L | E | S | S | J | P | O | P | S | L | A | W | S | ||
A | C | L | U | L | A | C | E | T | O | N | A | L | ||
P | R | I | N | T | O | U | T | S | A | G | I | T | A | |
D | U | M | B | O | L | E | T | I | N | M | E | T | ||
A | R | M | T | O | O | L | B | A | R | S | ||||
C | A | S | T | S | O | N | N | E | O | N | S | |||
A | L | E | H | O | U | S | E | S | E | Z | I | N | E | |
D | O | C | E | F | L | A | T | A | A | A | ||||
S | T | R | A | T | W | I | N | G | B | A | C | K | S | |
T | E | C | H | S | D | E | E | P | S | E | T | |||
H | O | T | H | E | A | D | S | L | A | P | ||||
O | L | D | Y | O | U | U | P | T | R | I | B | E | ||
H | O | O | K | S | F | L | I | P | S | I | D | E | S | |
U | S | O | F | A | F | L | E | E | S | E | E | P | ||
M | E | R | C | Y | S | Y | S | T | E | A | S | Y |
Tons of compound words can be "flipped" to make a new unrelated term. HANG.OVER flipping to become OVER.HANG, say. The components --HANG and OVER — are unchanged, so it's not super interesting. I went looking for terms where the space between the components has to shift for the flip to work, so that one of the components is brand new to the equation. Adding an /s/ turned out to be the most reliable, consistent approach: TOOL.BARS flips to BAR.STOOL, and I liked how "stool" just shows up unexpectedly.
I was surprised at how few good candidates I could find with this property. Some from the discard pile included: HOT.POTS, HOT.BLOODS, WAY.SIDES, PACE.MAKERS, and WING.CHAIRS. Sometimes an extra /s/ suffix is needed to make a grid work; too many can feel like extra fluff in lieu of meatier vocabulary.
For this puzzle I liked how the added /s/ is the key to the gimmick. My original submittal greyed one side of each compound answer, as an option to make it easier to see the "sides". The editors went with no greyed squares; a bit harder, but hopefully fun and not frustrating.
T | R | A | G | I | C | F | L | A | W | A | B | I | T | |
H | O | L | Y | T | O | L | E | D | O | P | O | O | H | |
U | P | A | N | D | L | E | A | V | E | I | O | W | A | |
D | E | N | T | V | E | N | I | B | A | K | E | D | ||
W | I | T | S | C | A | N | T | Y | ||||||
A | N | T | M | A | N | L | O | R | D | I | O | N | ||
L | O | H | A | N | O | R | A | L | T | U | E | |||
P | R | E | G | N | A | N | C | Y | P | I | L | L | O | W |
H | E | R | A | M | O | K | A | G | E | N | T | |||
A | L | E | B | E | T | S | E | R | A | S | E | S | ||
A | T | H | E | N | A | G | U | S | ||||||
E | T | H | O | S | P | O | O | R | J | E | E | P | ||
L | I | E | S | M | E | L | L | O | Y | E | L | L | O | |
M | O | R | E | L | E | G | O | P | E | R | S | O | N | |
O | N | E | D | S | P | A | W | E | E | K | E | N | D |
O | H | H | E | L | L | A | B | B | A | C | Y | |||
C | O | O | L | I | O | B | R | I | O | C | H | E | ||
T | U | R | I | N | G | C | L | A | P | T | R | A | P | |
E | S | C | G | O | W | H | O | L | E | H | O | G | ||
T | E | R | I | H | I | C | D | E | B | R | A | |||
D | U | N | K | T | A | N | K | S | R | A | I | N | ||
X | R | A | Y | T | E | C | H | S | T | N | T | |||
E | L | I | A | S | H | O | W | E | ||||||
B | A | S | E | N | D | E | A | R | I | N | G | |||
F | L | A | P | G | O | T | I | N | T | O | I | T | ||
F | O | V | E | A | W | E | N | S | M | O | G | |||
H | A | N | G | O | N | A | S | E | C | M | O | O | ||
M | A | N | C | A | V | E | S | R | E | T | I | N | A | |
I | O | N | I | Z | E | R | O | N | A | C | I | D | ||
D | E | A | L | E | R | S | T | O | K | E | S |
As much as "GIMMICK puzzle" and "a puzzle's GIMMICK" are common Crossworld parlance, I'm surprised GIMMICK has never appeared in a NY Times puzzle before today, especially since it's such a fun word!
This puzzle's GIMMICK, I suppose, is the big blob of white squares in the center. Ryan McCarty, who gets my vote as the best at building puzzles with wide-open middles, makes it look so easy that I thought I'd take a stab at it. Thirty hours into it, I realized he only makes it look easy.
Shout out to my beloved 95-year-old mother-in-law, "Honey B," for all the fun we had playing OH HELL over the years.
Hope something in the puzzle brought as big a smile to you as OH HELL brings to me!
R | E | P | E | L | S | W | A | P | B | O | P | J | A | B | A | T | ||||
I | R | U | L | E | P | O | C | O | C | U | B | A | O | L | L | I | E | |||
G | I | R | L | S | C | O | U | T | L | E | A | D | E | R | S | T | O | R | E | |
I | C | E | E | M | I | N | I | A | N | D | S | O | H | O | O | F | ||||
D | A | B | F | O | L | D | I | N | G | T | H | E | L | A | U | N | D | R | Y | |
R | A | I | N | S | A | L | I | A | E | R | A | B | A | O | ||||||
L | E | I | F | F | I | N | E | B | E | E | B | A | N | D | ||||||
W | E | D | D | I | N | G | C | R | A | S | H | E | R | A | T | O | N | C | E | |
R | O | D | E | O | R | C | A | S | O | P | A | H | U | R | K | E | L | |||
A | N | O | D | Y | N | E | C | R | E | V | A | S | S | E | ||||||
P | E | G | H | E | A | V | E | N | O | N | E | A | R | T | H | H | O | T | ||
G | E | T | S | E | V | E | N | P | A | Y | H | I | K | E | ||||||
C | O | C | O | A | E | R | I | N | A | S | S | E | T | A | G | R | A | |||
A | B | H | O | R | S | B | L | A | C | K | F | O | R | E | S | T | H | A | M | |
B | A | R | N | A | B | S | A | R | O | D | P | E | A | S | ||||||
A | M | Y | O | I | L | P | E | S | O | I | B | A | R | S | ||||||
L | A | S | T | P | L | A | C | E | F | I | N | I | S | H | E | S | A | L | I | |
C | L | O | T | S | E | T | I | N | N | E | E | R | A | K | O | N | ||||
T | R | E | K | S | T | A | B | L | O | I | D | M | A | G | A | Z | I | N | E | |
M | A | R | Y | I | I | S | E | E | M | U | I | R | C | U | T | E | R | |||
I | T | S | O | N | T | E | D | P | S | S | T | A | L | E | R | T |
Excited to have another Sunday crossword in the New York Times! Hopefully having circled words AND shaded words in the theme entries was a nice Sunday bonus and avoided turning into too much of a mosaic. While none of the eventual theme entries had either word in one piece, my favorite entry that didn't make it in did: PRIM and PROPER in (PRIM)E (PROPER)TY, which had to be cut because ‘proper' and ‘property' rather expectedly share an etymology.
The final draft of the puzzle was partly assembled in Google Slides, which for me is a return to my roots, as Slides is where I first started making puzzles. However this time I only used it to get the circles and shading right, and not to try and fit the year BC IIII into a 78-word themeless.
P | E | T | E | T | S | C | L | O | M | P | S | |||
A | A | H | Y | A | K | D | A | N | I | E | L | |||
P | R | I | M | E | R | I | B | S | P | A | R | T | A | |
A | N | N | A | G | R | A | D | S | T | E | A | K | ||
M | O | V | E | T | H | E | N | E | E | D | L | E | ||
S | P | I | R | I | T | S | R | O | S | A | ||||
E | E | N | I | E | O | E | R | R | S | V | P | |||
A | R | T | W | H | I | Z | K | I | D | P | E | E | ||
M | U | S | S | O | T | S | A | D | A | G | E | |||
C | O | O | S | P | E | L | I | C | A | N | ||||
T | A | K | E | N | F | O | R | A | R | I | D | E | ||
E | D | E | N | S | N | I | N | E | I | B | M | S | ||
C | R | I | T | I | C | M | O | C | K | T | A | I | L | |
H | E | R | E | T | O | U | T | E | R | C | A | |||
S | P | A | D | E | S | T | S | A | S | E | W |
SAM: I used to write novels. Hours and hours each day, sitting in front of a computer, moving words around, so when it became clear that I had gone past my expiration date in that field, constructing seemed like a good fit for my particular, if peculiar, set of skills. And I've done a bunch of these now — all co-constructed with Jeff Chen, who I see as the Ted Lasso of crossword puzzles (knowledgeable, supportive, encouraging) — but "Mocktails" was an especially valuable learning lesson: solving should be a fun, enjoyable experience! Challenging, sure, but no showing off, forget the snark — keep it light, playful, and ultimately satisfying. Which, whatever day of the week we're aiming for, is not an easy task. Hope we achieved it here.
As a side note, how fitting to see that one of the entries is [Top-selling Girl Scout cookies]. It's that time of year, after all, and there are four boxes of these in the freezer and another at my ... wait, make that half a box .... Nope, sorry. Hey, did you know that you can also eat them frozen?
Anyway, my wife buzzes through these crosswords every day and is the one who first got me interested. Next big challenge for me is to one day beat her in solving. Or in tennis. Or pickleball. Scrabble. Ping-pong....
F | A | T | F | E | M | M | E | P | A | G | E | S | ||
E | L | O | I | R | A | I | L | S | W | E | E | T | ||
Z | I | P | N | I | C | K | I | A | G | O | N | Y | ||
B | R | A | C | K | E | T | O | L | O | G | Y | |||
G | M | A | I | L | E | L | M | O | ||||||
R | A | N | G | S | A | D | D | I | N | I | N | G | ||
A | L | A | I | C | R | E | E | D | S | N | I | A | ||
C | I | N | D | E | R | E | L | L | A | T | E | A | M | S |
I | G | A | N | E | A | T | L | Y | A | P | B | S | ||
E | N | S | U | R | E | A | S | S | R | I | L | E | ||
P | I | C | A | A | N | G | E | R | ||||||
M | A | R | C | H | M | A | D | N | E | S | S | |||
R | I | C | O | H | P | L | E | A | T | E | L | M | ||
A | N | I | S | E | L | E | N | I | N | Y | O | U | ||
T | I | D | E | S | E | X | T | R | A | E | G | G |
M | U | T | T | P | E | A | R | L | B | O | O | P | ||
I | D | E | A | A | L | G | A | E | A | U | R | A | ||
D | O | N | K | E | Y | K | O | N | G | S | T | A | R | |
I | N | D | E | X | G | U | S | M | O | L | E | |||
S | E | A | S | P | I | L | A | F | ||||||
S | O | N | I | C | T | H | E | T | E | T | R | I | S | |
E | B | O | N | M | O | A | T | D | I | E | G | O | ||
T | A | T | S | T | R | O | P | A | L | F | ||||
U | M | A | S | S | S | T | Y | E | S | C | O | T | ||
P | A | C | M | A | N | H | E | D | G | E | H | O | G | |
H | O | P | E | S | D | I | R | E | ||||||
T | E | A | L | V | A | L | A | D | I | E | U | |||
R | E | N | D | A | N | G | R | Y | B | I | R | D | S | |
O | N | C | E | D | E | B | R | A | N | O | N | E | ||
D | Y | E | R | A | R | T | S | Y | G | N | A | R |
For one glorious year of my early childhood, I went to daycare in a bowling alley. When we weren't perched on stools watching Sesame Street on the bar's TV, we got to hang out in the arcade and play all the classics.
Just a few decades later, I have my own kids and not just one, but two full-sized stand-up arcade machines in our house. This puzzle began with thoughts of Donkey Kong, one of my all-time favorites from those early days. The phrase, "over a barrel" occurred to me as a fun way to clue it, and the puzzle grew from there. Funny enough, that clue didn't even make the final cut.
Much appreciation goes out to my deeply supportive friends and family, especially my friend Dan who texts with me about the NYT crossword just about every single day. I hope that Marjorie Pedersen, who taught me crossword puzzle construction (for credit!) at Tufts University 29 years ago, will be proud of this debut.
M | E | M | E | G | A | M | M | A | I | L | S | A | ||
A | X | E | D | A | R | O | A | R | F | E | U | D | ||
S | P | E | W | A | L | K | I | N | G | S | A | H | L | |
S | E | T | I | N | S | N | O | B | D | W | I | |||
I | D | U | N | N | O | T | A | N | G | L | E | E | B | |
V | I | P | E | A | R | A | I | R | E | S | ||||
E | A | S | T | H | O | W | E | M | A | S | T | |||
W | O | U | L | D | E | V | E | R | ||||||
R | O | I | L | O | S | L | O | S | T | I | R | |||
S | E | E | R | S | S | O | B | A | N | A | ||||
T | W | D | L | E | D | U | M | M | I | D | G | U | T | |
A | R | I | N | A | S | A | L | A | T | T | E | |||
Y | I | P | S | T | U | M | B | L | E | W | E | E | D | |
U | T | A | H | E | R | I | E | S | G | A | R | P | ||
P | E | L | E | S | P | E | N | D | S | M | O | G |
At some point (before seeing one rolling across the highway somewhere between Sedona and Phoenix), TUMBLEWEED became a common phrase in my household. At some other point, I realized it might make a good revealer by parsing TUMBLE as an anagram indicator for WEED. To elevate a standard hidden anagram theme, I used this mechanism so that the WEEDs are rolling not only within their entries, but also visually throughout the grid. Happy Thursday!
Please check out These Puzzl3s Fund Abortion (TPFA3), a pack of crossword puzzles created around the belief that everyone should have access to safe and affordable abortion care. Constructed by an all-star group of puzzlemakers and editors who are passionate about Reproductive Justice, TPFA3 contains 16 original, brand-new puzzles centered around social and reproductive justice themes. Presale is open, and puzzles will be available on March 28 — visit https://fund.nnaf.org/tpfa3 to donate now.
J | U | M | P | S | C | A | R | E | S | P | L | E | B | |
P | H | A | R | A | O | H | A | N | T | D | A | V | E | |
G | O | C | O | M | M | A | N | D | O | A | R | E | A | |
S | H | E | M | I | S | T | A | K | E | G | N | U | ||
B | I | C | N | E | A | T | E | S | T | |||||
M | E | D | I | C | R | I | G | T | E | S | T | Y | ||
E | A | R | T | H | T | O | N | E | S | A | C | E | R | |
T | R | A | M | A | L | F | R | E | W | A | V | E | ||
A | L | G | A | B | L | U | E | W | H | A | L | E | S | |
L | Y | M | P | H | A | N | D | A | R | E | N | T | ||
P | R | O | S | A | I | C | T | R | E | |||||
L | I | T | S | N | I | F | F | E | D | H | U | B | ||
A | S | H | Y | A | G | O | R | A | P | H | O | B | E | |
T | E | E | D | P | A | R | A | S | A | I | L | E | D | |
E | R | R | S | P | R | E | T | E | N | D | E | R | S |
This puzzle started with the grid layout — I really like the look of 90-degree rotational symmetry, and I figured the relative separation of the four corners would make it easier to fill each of them independently. The top left stack was the first one I settled on, and I worked my way through the rest of the puzzle from there.
If I were remaking this puzzle today, I'd probably try harder to replace some of the more boring, neutral long entries like LARGE-SCALE, METAL PLATE, and ENDANGERED. I also wish I had been more mindful of space limitations when writing my clues. Still, I'm happy with this as a first effort, especially DRAG MOTHER, BEAUTY REST, and GO COMMANDO.
Lastly, I want to thank my mom and my sister for test-solving. Hope you enjoyed!
L | I | L | T | G | A | M | S | B | I | N | G | O | ||
O | M | A | R | E | T | A | L | A | M | O | U | R | ||
B | I | G | I | F | T | R | U | E | S | M | I | L | E | |
O | N | S | T | E | R | O | I | D | S | O | S | L | O | |
E | R | I | C | S | E | R | V | E | S | |||||
L | I | M | N | C | I | S | M | A | A | M | ||||
S | P | A | R | H | O | T | D | O | G | B | U | N | ||
D | O | Y | O | U | Q | U | A | R | R | E | L | S | I | R |
D | I | S | G | U | S | T | E | D | E | I | N | E | ||
C | A | L | I | S | A | N | S | C | A | P | ||||
T | O | P | I | C | S | M | I | T | E | |||||
M | O | M | A | K | E | T | T | L | E | D | R | U | M | |
B | I | E | R | S | C | H | E | A | P | D | A | T | E | |
A | L | I | K | E | T | R | A | P | I | S | N | T | ||
S | E | N | S | E | S | U | M | S | E | P | E | E |
I don't know how to structure these notes, so I've written them as a parody of "Tessellate" by Alt-J:
"White blocks in a grid
You're a solver and you're solving
My clues still stump as you read
And all your friends... are solving
Squares are my favorite shape
One point where two words meet
Clue to clue, back to back, let's go
My puz, it's very late
'Til Sunday comes
Investigate"
Check out my Patreon: patreon.com/luckyxwords
L | A | R | E | D | O | A | D | S | P | A | C | E | S | O | C | C | E | R | ||
S | C | A | R | A | B | F | E | E | D | L | O | T | A | G | L | A | R | E | ||
D | E | P | A | R | T | M | E | N | T | A | L | L | Y | G | L | A | S | E | R | |
S | C | R | E | W | Y | S | O | M | E | E | S | P | N | U | ||||||
T | A | B | Y | U | T | Z | I | N | T | R | O | V | E | R | S | I | O | N | ||
O | M | A | N | D | A | S | M | E | A | S | L | E | S | M | A | W | S | |||
S | P | R | I | T | E | T | H | O | R | O | R | P | H | A | N | |||||
S | U | P | P | O | S | I | T | I | O | N | M | G | S | I | T | S | M | E | ||
E | L | I | A | S | Z | E | N | K | A | Y | F | R | E | E | L | Y | ||||
S | E | N | T | H | O | M | E | U | P | O | N | H | O | T | S | A | K | E | ||
K | I | N | E | S | T | H | E | T | I | C | ||||||||||
M | O | B | S | T | E | R | R | E | A | L | I | D | I | O | T | T | A | X | ||
P | U | R | E | E | D | I | R | S | O | D | E | N | O | R | M | A | ||||
G | R | O | P | E | B | F | S | M | A | L | E | F | A | C | T | I | O | N | ||
K | I | D | N | E | Y | B | A | R | E | L | E | A | P | E | D | |||||
P | L | E | A | I | N | O | R | O | U | T | G | O | B | L | U | B | E | |||
C | O | N | T | E | X | T | U | A | L | L | Y | O | V | U | M | P | A | R | ||
C | O | N | O | R | O | L | D | S | B | L | A | M | E | D | ||||||
A | S | O | N | I | A | I | N | T | E | R | R | E | L | A | T | I | O | N | S | |
R | E | S | E | E | N | K | E | E | P | M | U | M | R | O | O | M | B | A | ||
D | R | E | S | S | Y | E | R | R | A | N | T | S | T | O | N | G | A | N |
I don't know Python (yet), so to find words that could potentially be split to invent new two-word phrases, I reverted to Stata, the only coding language I know, thanks to my day job as an economist. It produced quite a lot of potential matches, but most of those had to go in the bin for being uninteresting, clunky, lacking in good symmetrical partners or (in the case of "sacredness") unlikely to pass the ick test no matter how you clue it.
My notes on the puzzle over on Wordplay have a few that were closer to making the submission. My favourite clue that didn't make it was [German for kindergarten, say?] for ETYMOLOGY, but I like the replacement [Word has it!] too. I was glad that [More than just a sec?] survived for BRUT.
One point of trivia that came up in the cluing discussion was whether XANDER was Buffy's best friend. We opted for "friend" out of deference to Willow. But Buffy fans can debate!
A word to the wise — the puzzle actually got accepted in July of 2022, but I was none the wiser for six months, thanks to an overzealous spam filter!
T | A | C | T | G | A | T | E | S | F | D | A | |||
U | H | O | H | S | A | L | A | M | I | L | A | P | ||
B | A | N | A | N | A | S | P | L | I | T | U | R | L | |
T | O | F | U | S | C | R | A | M | B | L | E | |||
T | W | O | S | T | E | P | R | O | B | I | N | |||
H | A | N | O | I | M | E | S | S | T | E | N | T | ||
E | Y | E | C | O | H | O | S | T | E | D | G | Y | ||
L | E | M | O | N | P | E | E | L | ||||||
T | R | E | E | I | M | D | O | W | N | D | A | M | ||
R | E | P | A | R | T | E | E | F | W | O | R | D | ||
A | D | O | R | E | O | B | O | I | S | T | S | |||
C | I | N | N | A | M | O | N | R | O | L | L | |||
H | A | Y | D | I | N | E | A | N | D | D | A | S | H | |
E | L | M | U | N | T | O | L | D | E | X | P | O | ||
A | S | S | P | E | O | N | S | R | E | A | P |
The idea for this puzzle started with BANANA SPLIT, which got me thinking about two-word phrases that combined foods and synonyms for "leave." When brainstorming themes, I normally jot down anything tangentially relevant, knowing that I can try to tighten the theme later.
My first couple finds included CHICKEN RUN and SUGAR RUSH, but it wasn't until coming up with TOFU SCRAMBLE that I realized I should focus specifically on different foods/dishes. I also considered various DIPs (ONION DIP, TACO DIP, etc.), but I felt like these were more arbitrary and depended on slang that might be less immediately evident to solvers.
A thing I love about creating crosswords is how they present an opportunity to reflect and refract my own experiences. TOFU SCRAMBLE was a dish introduced to me by a vegan friend, and CINNAMON ROLL was suggested by my partner when I was talking through potential themesets with her. And the clue about [What the fish said when it swam into a concrete wall] was appropriately inspired by a joke my dad used to make. (My nine-year-old self's answer to this joke, after hearing Dad further talk about visiting "Hoover shh" during a trip to Nevada, was an earnest "shh it.")
This puzzle experienced a quick turnaround — I submitted the final version on November 8, 2023.
M | E | C | C | A | F | L | A | G | S | P | A | M | ||
A | T | A | L | L | L | A | P | E | L | R | B | I | ||
T | A | B | O | O | B | O | O | B | O | O | O | U | R | |
L | A | T | E | R | M | E | M | B | E | R | ||||
T | R | E | K | T | E | P | E | E | O | S | L | O | ||
B | U | C | Q | A | T | A | R | T | A | R | T | A | R | |
S | N | A | F | U | S | W | E | R | V | E | ||||
P | E | R | I | O | D | Y | E | S | S | I | R | |||
S | T | E | N | T | S | D | O | U | L | A | ||||
D | A | C | H | A | C | H | A | C | H | A | P | L | Y | |
A | L | O | E | A | L | C | O | A | M | E | S | S | ||
P | A | S | S | E | D | U | M | B | E | R | ||||
P | S | I | L | E | M | U | R | M | U | R | M | U | R | |
E | K | G | K | N | A | V | E | G | R | A | P | E | ||
R | A | N | S | T | E | A | D | S | Y | N | C | S |
O | K | O | K | T | I | L | D | A | Z | E | S | T | ||
P | E | P | E | A | D | O | R | N | I | N | T | O | ||
S | E | E | R | R | O | B | O | T | P | S | A | T | ||
P | R | O | F | I | L | E | P | I | C | T | U | R | E | |
A | S | I | F | Q | U | I | E | T | S | |||||
W | A | T | E | R | F | E | A | T | U | R | E | |||
O | L | I | N | E | B | L | E | E | D | C | A | P | ||
O | B | O | E | C | O | I | N | S | M | O | N | O | ||
F | A | N | B | O | O | B | S | B | I | R | D | S | ||
W | A | L | K | I | E | T | A | L | K | I | E | |||
O | F | F | E | N | D | A | L | E | S | |||||
F | L | I | C | K | O | F | A | S | W | I | T | C | H | |
F | A | V | A | P | I | N | E | D | I | R | O | N | ||
A | M | E | N | E | N | T | E | R | M | E | M | O | ||
L | E | S | T | N | E | E | D | Y | E | W | E | S |
The version of this puzzle I originally submitted to the Times had five theme entries and only one movie title for each clue. The editors thought just one title might be a bit too tough, which I think was the right call. They also asked if I could try a version without TRADE SHOW ["Freaky Friday"?], the weakest themer of the original set.
I went back to the drawing board (thesaurus.com page for "movie") and was very happy to realize FLICK OF A SWITCH could work — not only as part of a 14-letter symmetrical pair, but with the exact same clue. Losing TRADE SHOW also meant losing my favorite entry, CLING FILM ["Free Solo?"], but what can you do.
As far as the fill goes, I'm happy about MILE TIME and ZIP TIE. I can't decide if the (unintentional) repeating letter stack in the NW corner is fun or distracting, but it's a bit late to worry about that now. I'm just psyched for this to be published!
S | I | R | E | S | H | E | R | B | H | A | D | |||
T | R | A | C | Y | C | A | N | O | E | E | L | I | ||
O | O | C | O | M | M | A | N | D | E | R | R | C | A | |
D | D | E | P | A | R | K | S | A | D | M | A | N | ||
E | T | A | L | S | T | R | I | P | E | |||||
W | I | S | D | O | M | O | F | T | H | E | O | O | O | |
A | T | E | A | M | L | A | U | D | ||||||
S | T | E | M | G | R | O | O | T | T | A | T | A | ||
C | O | D | A | A | R | A | B | S | ||||||
T | H | E | E | A | S | T | I | N | D | I | A | O | O | |
S | H | E | R | Y | L | B | O | H | O | |||||
P | E | D | A | L | N | I | O | B | E | R | A | E | ||
E | N | G | O | O | O | S | O | U | R | C | I | N | G | |
A | B | E | S | N | E | A | K | E | A | S | Y | A | ||
R | A | D | E | D | D | Y | D | R | E | A | D |
Hello Puzzledom! This one has been in the hopper for a long time. Very excited to see it in print. I've always loved crosswords where the acrosses (usually rebuses) read differently than the downs. I did this in December, 2015 with a DIE/DICE puzzle. Probably my favorite example of this is Francis Heaney's legendary flags Sunday puzzle from 2010.
There was some debate on whether or not to have a revealer or a note that tells you how to unlock this puzzle. I'm pleased that the solver will need to figure out the key phrase. I hope you all find it a challenging and satisfying aha moment!
Construction of this puzzle was not easy. I endeavored to have more ONEs that broke up as O - NE or ON - E, but it was virtually impossible with so much thematic content. The ONE phrases needed to be short and there was a dearth of words that were both short and broke up in such a way. I found the best way to to construct this grid was to isolate those rebus squares. Also, I am quite pleased that I only have a single ONE that I use as the number one (AS ONE).
A small plug: I'll be performing The Enigmatist at the Kennedy Center in June 2023. If you're in the area, please join me for a night of puzzling and magic!
Thanks for solving, everyone!
S | E | L | T | Z | E | R | A | R | L | O | ||||
E | L | A | B | O | R | A | T | E | D | E | T | A | I | L |
A | M | S | T | E | R | D | A | M | A | V | E | N | U | E |
R | I | S | E | K | I | T | E | |||||||
C | R | O | S | S | O | V | E | R | A | R | T | I | S | T |
H | A | S | T | I | M | E | A | B | I | E | ||||
L | I | N | E | D | A | N | C | E | R | S | ||||
M | O | I | S | T | T | O | W | E | L | E | T | T | E | S |
A | S | S | E | S | S | M | E | N | T | S | ||||
I | S | I | S | S | A | T | H | O | M | E | ||||
N | O | T | H | I | N | G | P | E | R | S | O | N | A | L |
L | O | M | O | W | A | R | D | |||||||
L | O | W | T | I | R | E | P | R | E | S | S | U | R | E |
B | O | O | L | E | A | N | O | P | E | R | A | T | O | R |
S | P | E | C | M | E | A | D | O | W | S |
I originally designed this puzzle with only vertical groups of blocks, which I think is more visually striking than the published horizontal groups. But I feared that all the short across entries would make the puzzle play too fast for those who start on the across clues (most people, right?). Those who start with downs might, on their first pass, wonder where all the long entries are (the longest down entry is only six letters). Downs-only solvers should do acrosses-only to make this one tougher.
I hope the puzzle still plays hard enough with the shorter entries running side-by-side throughout the grid — that's definitely a risk with this construction. The horizontal block groups also means that the number of across entries is low — twenty-one. Maybe this puzzle suggests a new XWordInfo stat category (!) — fewest entries in one direction.
As a themeless puzzle solver, I often get stumped by long proper nouns; as a themeless puzzle constructor, I try not to include them. I'm mostly successful here. AMSTERDAMAVENUE doesn't fit the bill . . . but I appreciate the editorial team's revision of my original clue because it includes info (Dutch roots) that points toward the answer even if you've never heard of that particular Manhattan thoroughfare.
I | D | E | A | L | U | N | I | T | Y | A | P | |||
N | O | P | R | E | S | S | U | R | E | O | O | Z | E | |
T | W | E | E | D | L | E | D | E | E | M | U | T | E | |
O | N | E | G | A | T | E | T | R | A | D | E | R | ||
M | E | T | H | B | I | O | N | I | C | S | ||||
C | A | N | I | S | E | E | S | O | M | E | I | D | ||
U | P | O | N | F | I | N | E | S | W | I | T | |||
B | E | L | T | B | O | G | U | S | T | H | A | I | ||
A | X | E | D | O | R | M | S | W | A | G | E | |||
F | L | U | X | C | A | P | A | C | I | T | O | R | ||
M | A | T | I | N | E | E | O | B | I | T | ||||
I | N | T | E | N | D | W | I | I | G | R | E | M | ||
S | N | U | G | S | T | A | N | D | A | S | I | D | E | |
T | I | R | E | E | A | S | T | E | R | E | G | G | S | |
Y | E | N | T | O | P | S | S | W | A | Y | S |
D | O | G | S | P | A | S | G | S | P | O | T | E | A | R | G | A | S | M | ||
I | N | A | P | I | L | E | I | C | O | N | S | G | R | O | U | P | I | E | ||
P | I | E | R | C | I | N | G | S | H | R | E | K | G | R | A | S | P | E | D | |
S | T | A | I | N | T | O | T | O | F | O | E | S | ||||||||
G | I | G | I | O | O | R | I | G | I | N | S | T | O | R | E | S | ||||
T | U | G | C | O | N | S | L | I | D | O | N | T | H | R | A | S | H | |||
U | T | A | H | B | E | A | T | D | E | F | I | B | A | S | P | C | A | |||
F | I | V | E | P | I | L | L | A | R | S | O | F | S | L | A | M | T | O | P | |
T | C | E | L | L | S | I | T | U | H | U | G | M | O | R | E | |||||
A | L | I | A | S | B | I | N | G | E | R | O | B | E | R | T | S | ||||
P | I | C | K | I | N | G | O | N | E | S | B | R | A | N | ||||||
P | A | P | A | D | A | M | S | T | I | N | K | A | N | O | D | E | ||||
E | G | A | D | L | A | S | A | G | A | R | F | R | O | D | O | |||||
T | E | N | C | E | R | T | I | F | I | C | A | T | E | O | F | C | L | A | M | |
E | G | I | R | L | T | O | D | A | D | G | E | A | R | A | L | M | A | |||
R | A | N | O | U | T | D | E | V | I | C | E | L | A | H | S | S | N | |||
S | P | I | T | T | I | N | G | M | A | G | E | P | I | L | O | T | ||||
C | L | O | Y | D | O | I | T | B | A | H | A | I | ||||||||
P | A | N | T | H | E | R | T | H | I | R | D | E | Y | E | B | L | I | N | D | |
E | R | A | S | E | R | S | E | E | R | I | E | T | R | E | K | K | I | E | ||
I | M | P | A | S | S | E | E | X | E | C | S | V | E | S | S | E | L | S |
My first-ever attempt at making a crossword was a themeless with THIRD EYE BLIND plastered across the middle. The Times editors' overly generous verdict: "It's nice work, but the vocabulary wasn't quite flashy enough for Will to say yes." Eventually, I realized it might be fun if I could find ordinary phrases that made silly new ones when their third "I" was dropped.
I'm grateful for the editors' suggestion to drop the underwhelming DINING ROOM CHARS (Arctic fish dishes in a fancy restaurant?), which allowed for cleaner and livelier surrounding fill. Other candidates that didn't make the cut include RISING TO THE BAT (Really stepping up, in baseball?) BOILING PONT (French bridge that's on fire?), and the rather depressing FAIR IS FAR ("We've got a long way to go to reach equality"?).
S | A | S | H | M | A | S | S | F | E | S | S | |||
H | Y | P | E | A | U | T | O | D | E | L | T | A | ||
Y | E | A | R | I | N | O | N | E | A | T | E | N | ||
C | O | U | N | T | I | N | G | C | R | O | W | S | ||
C | R | E | S | T | S | C | E | N | A | N | S | A | ||
O | A | R | A | A | S | T | U | F | T | |||||
S | M | A | S | H | I | N | G | S | U | S | H | I | ||
T | E | C | H | L | L | A | M | A | S | L | O | T | ||
S | N | E | E | R | P | U | M | P | K | I | N | S | ||
D | A | M | P | M | B | A | D | E | M | |||||
B | R | A | C | I | A | O | R | I | B | E | Y | E | ||
R | O | L | L | I | N | G | S | T | O | N | E | S | ||
A | L | I | E | N | O | T | I | S | A | H | E | M | ||
G | O | B | A | G | D | E | L | I | D | O | P | E | ||
A | S | I | F | A | R | E | A | S | W | A | T |
TRENT: As the author of several children's novels featuring puzzles and riddles, I might reasonably be assumed to be a long-time fan of crosswords, but my love for them came late — only a few years ago, really, when Simon first began constructing. Our conversations about the process revealed similarities between what he was doing and I was doing — the wordplay, the misdirection, the pleasure in creating something satisfying to solve — and we agreed it would be fun to collaborate on a puzzle one day.
We made no definite plan, but occasionally I'd have an idea about a theme and ask Simon if anyone had done one like it. If the idea was promising, it inevitably had been done. If it weren't promising (or even feasible), Simon would diplomatically explain why. But eventually, I had an idea with potential, Simon said he'd tinker around with it, and the next thing I knew, we were cluing the puzzle. It was great fun to work on, and I'm delighted to see our first collaboration appear in the NYT.
SIMON: Since they didn't make the cut, I recommend solving to the Talking Heads' This Must Be the Place.
O | P | S | L | A | G | S | C | H | E | A | T | S | ||
R | A | H | O | R | A | L | R | E | N | T | A | L | ||
B | R | O | W | W | I | P | E | I | N | C | O | M | E | |
S | T | O | I | C | S | E | A | M | A | L | P | E | ||
T | N | U | T | K | N | E | E | S | L | A | P | |||
T | R | E | E | T | O | P | C | A | V | E | ||||
H | U | M | S | N | I | G | H | I | D | I | O | T | ||
A | B | U | E | Y | E | R | O | L | L | N | B | A | ||
T | Y | P | E | A | H | E | R | O | A | T | O | I | ||
V | R | B | O | S | A | T | C | H | E | L | ||||
F | A | C | E | P | A | L | M | F | A | T | E | |||
U | D | O | N | D | E | A | D | T | U | B | E | S | ||
R | U | S | S | I | A | F | I | S | T | P | U | M | P | |
L | E | M | U | R | S | I | A | G | O | F | I | R | ||
S | L | O | P | E | S | A | L | T | O | F | L | Y |
With most crossword puzzles, the solved written word or words become the end goal. With this puzzle, the written clues and answers are ultimately subordinated to the unwritten, the non-verbal. It is these gestures that, in the end, look down upon the written word (with an eye roll), reminding us that a simple gesture can communicate so much more efficiently. Yes, the written words are there, but only to serve the non-verbal, the unwritten. We found this idea fun and even funny. After a few go-arounds with the editorial team, we got a thumbs up on a grid and fill that hopefully wouldn't cause solvers too much head scratching.
A | M | U | S | E | I | M | A | C | S | T | A | P | ||
N | O | F | U | N | N | A | C | H | O | R | U | E | ||
D | O | O | R | L | A | T | C | H | E | S | A | G | E | |
F | A | R | H | E | A | P | E | D | U | P | ||||
D | A | T | A | C | A | P | S | P | A | C | E | R | S | |
B | R | A | C | E | L | E | T | I | D | O | S | |||
A | R | C | E | D | R | I | D | E | S | C | P | A | ||
C | O | O | S | P | O | L | I | S | T | H | E | N | ||
K | W | H | C | I | T | E | D | F | R | O | N | T | ||
O | C | H | O | R | O | G | U | E | O | N | E | |||
S | O | L | V | E | N | T | K | N | E | E | L | E | D | |
P | A | D | S | E | E | E | W | A | L | P | ||||
A | R | E | R | E | D | H | O | T | C | O | A | L | S | |
D | E | R | O | R | D | E | R | A | S | Y | E | T | ||
E | D | S | N | S | Y | N | C | N | E | E | D | Y |
Hello everybody! How cool is this?
I am a software engineer who took up crossword construction as a pandemic project, writing my own construction and word list software. Of the ten or so themed puzzles that I submitted to the NYT, this one is the simplest conceptually. With the help of a Python script, I found a few sets of anagrams in my word list of 11 letters or longer, but only sets of three. Luckily, for one of these sets, an online anagram solver uncovered TACO HOLDERS, which was not in my list.
The original version of this puzzle had REMIXED in the center as a revealer, but the editors made a great call to remove it in favor of a circular cluing strategy and better fill. Of course, the circular theme and clueing warranted 90-degree rotational symmetry as well!
I'll leave you a few more long anagrams — I'm sure there are other good ones out there to discover!
COORDINATES, CAROTENOIDS, DECORATIONS
INTEGRATION, ORIENTATING, TEARING INTO
LASTING PEACE, EATING PLACES, SPECIAL AGENT
F | A | C | T | M | E | H | M | I | C | R | O | |||
A | G | U | A | E | A | U | N | A | R | R | O | W | ||
R | I | B | R | O | A | S | T | C | R | E | A | S | E | |
E | L | E | G | A | N | T | S | O | A | P | P | A | D | |
D | E | S | E | R | T | A | H | S | E | S | P | |||
T | S | A | P | R | E | B | A | H | A | I | ||||
E | G | G | S | L | U | M | R | E | T | O | R | T | ||
R | O | O | P | O | T | H | E | A | D | O | K | S | ||
H | I | T | S | A | T | A | V | G | E | T | S | Y | ||
U | N | C | U | T | B | I | S | E | C | T | ||||
G | A | H | H | E | R | R | U | I | N | E | D | |||
Y | O | U | W | H | A | T | T | O | S | C | A | L | E | |
I | N | G | E | A | R | D | R | O | P | K | I | C | K | |
P | C | H | E | L | P | A | I | M | E | V | I | E | ||
S | E | T | T | O | D | M | S | T | E | D | S |
Brooke: I love when I look at the latest NYT byline and see Adam's name because more often than not I'm about to be faced with a theme that wouldn't occur to me in my wildest dreams. I will never forget this Sunday or of course this theme-in-the-clues Thursday. Neither of us remembered this, but it turns out I reached out to Adam to compliment his very first NYT puzzle! I'm overjoyed that one of the cool theme kids was down to collaborate with me.
And what a collaboration! We worked so hard on this puzzle! Every single component was a whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-two-constructors situation. The theme is so different from Adam's original pitch (which we would, obviously, be nowhere without). We considered dozens of options for every corner of the grid, and we clued with exquisite care — clues which have largely been retained in print! The best clue in this puzzle is Adam's 22-Down and my second favorite is Adam's 50-Across. Perhaps related to the latter, I was sad to lose original Adam's DAD clue, which was [Most common job in America for men].
P.S. The third These Puzzles Fund Abortion pack dropped this week. Donate here to receive sixteen puzzles by these amazing constructors.
Adam: Geeking out that I get to share a byline with Brooke, who happens to be the constructor of my personal all-time favorite puzzle. And wow did working with her live up to the hype. Not only did she routinely turbocharge this puzzle with fill (ERHU! RAGEROOMS!) and clues ("Pre-sale alert?"! "The Wasteland"!), she's also just fun to work with. An absolutely ideal collab.
Besides the byline, my other favorite thing about this puzzle is how human the theme is. No code, no ChatGPT, just two friends texting each other messages like "what are words that have ... synonyms?"
P.S. As many of you know, I have a word game called Anigrams. I'm excited to announce that today I'm launching a Patreon for it! Come by for bonus challenges, new games, a playable backlog/archive (coming next week), or just to lend support. I'll also share a few NSFW theme examples for this puzzle that didn't make the cut. Hope you'll consider joining!
S | T | R | E | E | T | M | A | P | A | R | G | O | ||
C | H | E | V | Y | N | O | V | A | S | L | O | O | K | |
R | E | P | E | R | T | O | I | R | E | G | A | L | E | |
U | P | O | N | E | D | A | T | A | E | D | D | Y | ||
B | O | S | E | S | L | U | R | R | E | D | ||||
D | M | V | T | O | Y | P | I | A | N | O | ||||
D | I | S | C | A | J | U | N | H | A | C | E | K | ||
I | N | C | C | L | U | N | G | T | O | E | R | E | ||
E | T | H | E | R | S | I | S | A | L | R | A | Y | ||
T | O | R | M | E | N | T | S | C | D | C | ||||
P | O | O | B | A | H | S | A | I | D | A | ||||
I | D | E | A | L | A | N | A | I | N | N | E | S | ||
L | E | D | S | E | Y | E | C | O | N | T | A | C | T | |
L | E | E | S | R | I | V | E | R | D | A | N | C | E | |
S | P | R | Y | T | E | D | D | Y | B | E | A | R |