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| L | O | G | O | C | A | R | A | W | A | N | E | D | ||
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| W | I | D | O | W | E | N | D | U | P | I | O | N | ||
| S | L | I | T | F | E | R | N | |||||||
| R | E | B | I | N | H | A | L | F | V | E | N | I | ||
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| E | N | O | S | N | O | N | B | O | G | O | T | A | ||
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| A | M | N | O | T | S | E | A | N | O | P | U | S |
John Ficarra was the long-time executive editor of Mad Magazine because "no one else would hire me."
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| O | K | A | P | I | E | L | A | M | ||||||
| R | O | T | F | L | H | O | R | N | B | |||||
| S | T | O | N | E | L | S | T | R | A | M | ||||
| I | S | A | O | B | R | O | N | Z | E | S | T | A | R | |
| N | B | C | C | O | R | A | I | L | A | H | A | |||
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| R | O | T | H | T | I | L | N | E | E | R | ||||
| S | N | O | O | P | M | S | D | O | S | |||||
| W | R | A | P | A | R | T | O | O | ||||||
| F | I | V | E | D | O | L | L | A | R | W | O | R | D | S |
| A | D | O | R | E | F | E | L | L | A | Z | O | O | ||
| B | O | X | E | R | A | S | S | A | Y | O | R | B |
I hope this crossword can be a fun diversion in these troubling times. Stay safe and healthy, everyone!
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| M | O | N | T | A | G | U | E | C | A | P | L | E | T | ||
| S | W | I | M | C | A | P | L | E | T | S | D | R | Y | ||
| M | U | T | T | I | T | I | S | ||||||||
| I | M | A | C | S | T | W | I | T | T | Y | M | P | G | ||
| W | I | T | H | O | R | W | I | T | H | O | U | T | Y | O | U |
| O | D | E | N | O | E | L | L | E | T | A | S | E | S | ||
| P | E | L | E | B | A | S | H | ||||||||
| C | A | P | U | L | E | T | M | O | N | T | A | G | E | ||
| A | L | L | N | E | W | G | I | N | G | E | R | E | D | ||
| P | I | E | C | E | O | F | C | A | K | E | S | O | L | I | |
| R | E | A | L | T | R | O | O | P | E | R | O | N | I | T | |
| A | N | T | E | K | E | Y | E | D | F | A | D | S |
I hope everyone is staying as safe and healthy as possible during this strange and difficult time.
I made this puzzle in autumn 2018, and it was accepted in early January 2019. I had the idea to use WITH OR WITHOUT YOU as a revealer without knowing exactly what that would reveal. I used Excel to develop a list of words from my list that remain valid words when removing a "U". I revisited the list several times over a month or so trying to figure out what exactly the puzzle would be until I noticed both MONTAGUE and CAPULET were on the list. That seemed a little light on theme, so I tried to build a colorful 73-word grid in case the team might want to run it on a Friday.
My original manuscript didn't include *s in the clues or revealer language in 34-Across, leaving noticing the connection as an exercise for the solver. Looks like the team thought this was too opaque — good construction learning for me.
One clue I was sorry to see go (but understand why) was for 15-Across: [One getting laid as part of a ceremony].
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| A | L | P | H | A | N | E | R | D | P | O | D | I | A | |
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| E | M | O | T | E | S | I | A | S | E | R | T | A | ||
| L | A | S | E | U | L | T | R | A | D | E | E | P | ||
| S | S | E | O | N | E | O | F | F | S | S | N | L | ||
| E | U | L | E | R | R | A | M | A | D | A | ||||
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| M | A | A | M | S | O | U | L | S | L | A | R | A | ||
| I | N | F | E | R | A | T | M | B | A | S | I | N | ||
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| M | O | R | O | N | S | E | T | A | T | E | A | S | E | |
| I | D | I | O | T | D | E | M | E | N | T | O | R |
Some puzzle facts:
Thanks to Jeff Chen and Ryan McCarty for providing early feedback and pushing me always to keep improving my fill! And to Erik Agard for helping to encourage me to start making themelesses!
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| G | O | A | H | E | A | D | W | I | T | H | O | U | T | M | E | S | E | L | L | |
| A | N | N | E | M | O | T | E | S | T | I | L | E | T | T | O | E | D | |||
| S | N | O | O | Z | E | R | S | S | C | H | E | M | E | H | A | N | O | I | ||
| M | E | S | A | T | H | E | A | Y | E | S | H | A | V | E | I | T | ||||
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| I | W | A | N | T | T | O | B | E | A | L | O | N | E | L | E | T | S | B | E | |
| R | E | T | I | R | E | I | S | T | P | E | L | L | S | I | C | O | N | |||
| S | A | L | A | X | E | B | U | R | L | A | P | L | I | D | S | |||||
| T | U | R | N | A | B | O | U | T | I | S | F | A | I | R | P | L | A | Y | ||
| G | E | N | E | S | A | P | P | H | O | T | A | R | T | O | T | |||||
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| A | S | H | P | A | N | H | O | W | N | O | W | B | R | O | W | N | C | O | W | |
| R | E | S | A | P | A | C | E | E | A | R | N | |||||||||
| C | O | G | I | T | O | E | R | G | O | S | U | M | S | P | A | R | ||||
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| S | C | R | U | B | B | E | D | U | P | E | I | E | I | O | M | I | A | |||
| T | H | A | R | A | G | E | I | S | J | U | S | T | A | N | U | M | B | E | R | |
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| O | D | D | S | B | L | T | R | A | I | N | Y | E | G | R | E | T |
This puzzle began when I realized I could clue the term THINK FAST as "Catch phrase?" A puzzle with colloquialisms as theme answers is often pretty lively, so I sensed I was onto something. I pulled together a sizable list of possibilities, built my puzzle, and sent it in.
The rejection I got was very nice. Will and team liked the idea fine, but my choices for entries had too many problems. Since they liked the basic premise and I had numerous options for entries, I took a chance and offered an alternative set.
This started off a series of back-and-forth that resulted in the puzzle we have today. Only two of my original seven made it through (I WANT TO BE ALONE and COGITO ERGO SUM). Will and co. came up with GO AHEAD WITHOUT ME and AGE IS JUST A NUMBER (which I looooove). I want to thank them all for being willing to work with me even after the original puzzle was rejected.
A number of my clues made it through, but of course plenty were changed. I'm not too keen on the new clue for NAG, but I was happy to see the new clues for NASA and AMES Research Center. As it turns out, that's where I had my first job many years ago in a summer program for high school juniors. A fun coincidence for me!
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| L | O | O | N | H | E | N | S | D | E | L | H | I | ||
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| A | D | E | L | E | R | E | E | L | M | O | N | O | ||
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| C | O | L | D | O | D | E | T | O | T | |||||
| D | O | E | L | O | L | H | E | M | A | N | ||||
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| S | P | E | E | D | O | A | R | A | C | E | ||||
| O | R | E | N | B | A | V | I | E | D | |||||
| O | L | D | N | I | C | K | A | N | S | E | L | |||
| P | O | O | F | K | O | L | N | E | N | A | C | T | ||
| E | C | O | L | E | B | E | E | L | Z | E | B | U | B | |
| R | A | N | U | P | E | A | R | S | E | L | B | A | ||
| A | L | E | X | A | P | O | D | R | E | A | R |
ANDREA: The original idea was to have all these fun names for the devil (I'm a sucker for funny words like BEELZEBUB or BLATHERSKITE) with the reveal DEVIL MADE ME DO IT 15 spanning the center. But once joining forces with Brian, it evolved into SPEAK OF THE DEVIL with all the theme clues being, "We were just talking about you!" We wrote/clued it for midweek because we had a lot of non-Monday level words like HOLODECK and AEON FLUX (neither of which I even knew! But I wildly appreciated Brian's grid skills).
It's been so long from creation to publication that I just parsed MRSCRATCH as "MRS CRATCH" and wondered who/what that was! Early on, Brian made a cool version with HOT STUFF going down, which fed nicely into the hellish theme ... but it compromised other fill, so I didn't LOSE SLEEP over it.
I hope folks have hella fun solving this!
BRIAN: Like Andrea said, I don't remember too much from the making of this puzzle. I remember being similarly excited about the word BEELZEBUB. Once Andrea hit on SPEAK OF THE DEVIL as a cute revealer, we were off to the races!
We went through a few different iterations before we settled on this grid shape. It's interesting to me how much the relatively short seven-letter themers affected the rest of the layout.
When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was SHEL Silverstein's "The Missing Piece meets the Big O." The older of my TOTs is just getting into "bigger" books, so we will have to break that one out along with "The Giving Tree" soon.
Hoping this is a fun little way to kick off everyone's week!
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| H | A | R | E | L | A | I | L | A | O | L | A | Y | ||
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| H | E | A | D | I | N | T | H | E | C | L | O | U | D | S |
| F | E | T | E | H | O | T | ||||||||
| S | T | E | E | D | S | O | D | W | A | L | L | A | ||
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| F | E | E | T | O | N | T | H | E | G | R | O | U | N | D |
| A | R | M | M | O | R | A | L | U | P | D | O | |||
| S | K | Y | M | A | L | L | M | E | T | E | O | R | ||
| A | N | O | L | A | M | A | ||||||||
| M | I | N | D | I | N | T | H | E | G | U | T | T | E | R |
| O | R | A | L | G | R | O | W | N | I | O | W | A | ||
| R | O | T | I | E | E | R | I | E | M | O | E | T | ||
| K | N | O | B | R | O | A | S | T | E | L | S | E |
I don't have much to say about today's puzzle. Except to say, I hope it provides you a few minutes of respite from the painful experience we are all going through together.
In addition to safeguarding your physical health, please remember to take care of your mental health during this time.
If you feel you need individualized help, mental health professionals are continuing to see clients through telehealth platforms. Please don't hesitate to seek assistance.
Taking the time to engage in activities you enjoy is a critical part of reducing stress. Since you're reading this, crossword puzzles are going to be one way you can do that. Matt Gritzmacher recently began offering a Daily Crossword Links website and email service, which lists every puzzle available to solve each day. Most of these crosswords are free, including many indie puzzles you may not be aware of.
I offer a free puzzle site called Grid Therapy. Puzzles go up about once a week, and you can sign up for email notification when new puzzles are posted. I'd love to see you there.
Take care of yourselves and each other. We're all in this together, and I wish you good health and resilience as all of us work toward getting to the other side of this painful time. Finally, I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to all of our medical personnel and first responders. It can't be said often enough that you are heroes.
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| S | T | R | I | K | E | F | O | R | C | E | S | |||
| B | Y | L | A | W | S | S | H | E | E | P | ||||
| R | A | F | A | B | L | E | U | R | Y | E | ||||
| A | H | A | S | P | L | I | T | S | C | R | E | E | N | |
| N | I | N | E | T | E | E | N | I | O | T | A | |||
| M | A | Y | A | G | U | N | N | E | D | I | T | |||
| S | P | A | R | E | C | H | A | N | G | E | E | C | O | |
| A | R | I | H | O | L | D | B | R | E | W | ||||
| C | O | L | A | S | C | L | A | I | R | E | ||||
| T | U | R | K | E | Y | B | A | S | T | E | R | |||
| P | U | L | L | A | U | E | Y | A | V | I | A | T | E | |
| I | M | S | A | V | E | D | R | E | D | T | A | G | ||
| P | A | U | S | E | D | S | L | E | E | T | S |
Before any notes on the puzzle, as a resident of the Bronx, just want to say thank you to all the healthcare, retail, transit and other essential workers in the city right now that are doing so much to keep the city afloat.
As for the puzzle, I had fun bringing a small twist to a common theme type, and I hope you all enjoy the puzzle. I wanted to have something in the puzzle visually look like a BOWLING ALLEY, so I ran the entry vertically through the puzzle. I then began playing around with having the other entries intersect with BOWLING ALLEY. After many, many (many!) variations, I found a set that would work, while at the same time allowing for a lot of lively other entries in the puzzle.
Some of my favorite non-theme entries include BOO BIRDS, PULL A UEY, I'M SAVED! and FAN MAIL.
Lastly, just wanted to give a thank you to Howard Barkin for testing out the puzzle way back before submission and giving lots of honest feedback on where I needed to improve the puzzle. The end product was better for it.
| U | N | O | L | A | U | R | A | A | S | A | N | A | ||
| M | A | P | A | S | S | A | D | R | E | M | I | X | ||
| P | U | T | O | N | H | O | L | D | T | E | A | C | H | |
| I | T | I | N | A | P | I | N | Z | O | E | ||||
| R | I | M | E | S | C | H | N | O | Z | Z | O | L | A | |
| E | L | I | P | L | O | S | T | A | I | N | E | D | ||
| D | I | S | C | O | E | R | A | S | N | L | ||||
| M | A | D | E | A | C | H | O | I | C | E | ||||
| R | I | P | L | I | F | E | H | A | C | K | ||||
| M | Y | F | A | U | L | T | T | A | R | T | I | E | ||
| R | O | A | D | M | A | R | K | E | R | M | A | C | Y | |
| T | U | T | B | U | N | L | A | L | A | W | ||||
| O | L | I | V | E | M | O | R | S | E | C | O | D | E | |
| A | I | M | A | T | P | L | U | O | T | N | A | S | ||
| D | E | A | N | S | S | L | E | D | S | E | S | T |
Favorite clues rewritten by the editors (answers at the end):
I'm happy to debut eight words/phrases today, including two that are five letters long (debuting short words/phrases is more unusual than long ones). They are CAR AD, DISCO ERA, MADE A CHOICE, MY FAULT, PLUOT, PUT ON HOLD, ROAD MARKER, and SLEEP LAB. Even though the three long ones are thematic, that's still more newness than I can typically cram into a themed 15x15 grid. Eight debuts is quite high for such puzzles. As of today, that's good enough to tie for second place in 2020.
If you're a logophile looking for a good quarantine read, I recommend Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. It paints a vivid picture of the people responsible for crafting our most important reference book (sorry encyclopedia fans!). You'll get humorous anecdotes, interesting trivia, and probably more than eight new words!
One final note — I'm surprised there are non-thematic periods and hyphens in today's cluing. I avoided them in the clues I submitted; they seem inelegant. Perhaps the editors intended them to disguise the theme?
Answers: REMIX, STAINED, UMPIRED, AMAZON, CAR AD, EAT ALONE, and CICADAS.
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| H | O | S | S | T | A | L | L | S | S | P | A | R | ||
| O | R | O | S | E | R | P | E | N | T | T | S | A | ||
| W | I | F | I | P | A | S | S | W | O | R | D | |||
| S | O | F | T | I | S | H | H | O | U | S | T | O | N | |
| S | T | E | M | P | I | P | E | L | I | N | E | |||
| G | A | L | S | T | A | R | T | E | D | N | E | A | ||
| U | T | E | P | S | L | Y | E | R | L | Y | F | T | ||
| S | H | A | R | P | L | A | S | B | E | T | O | N | ||
| T | O | F | O | L | L | O | W | N | O | M | O | R | E | |
| A | M | E | S | I | O | W | A | B | L | O | O | M | S | |
| V | E | R | Y | E | A | S | Y | C | A | N | N | E | S |
Major thanks to Kevin and Finn for putting together Crossword Tournament From Your Couch. It was really fun and a great honor to be part of it.
Most of the time, I make a themeless by starting in a corner and building the grid out from there. With this one, though, I started with WIFI PASSWORD. Since you can't build a conventional corner around a 12-letter entry, I used this pinwheel style that accommodates 12-letter entries nicely. Once you've got the middle part filled, the four corners usually offer a lot of good possibilities independent from one another. As an example, at 36-Down, ON?????? has so many options of the ONE LITER variety. I was very pleased to come up with something fresh there.
Wishing you all a safe and healthy Friday. It's been almost ten years since the last time I, along with my favorite co-constructor, was in the Times on a Friday. That reminds me, I better start looking for a romantic restaurant that delivers candlelit dinners.
| D | E | S | P | A | C | I | T | O | H | I | H | A | T | |
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| W | H | O | L | E | R | E | S | T | L | I | V | E | N | |
| G | O | T | O | W | A | S | T | E | O | V | E | N | S | |
| P | I | T | T | O | R | G | E | A | T | |||||
| R | I | D | O | F | A | L | O | E | H | O | P | |||
| I | N | A | N | E | S | W | O | O | N | E | T | A | ||
| D | O | R | Y | S | T | A | G | S | B | A | H | T | ||
| I | N | N | B | E | R | R | Y | S | A | R | A | H | ||
| N | E | T | A | L | E | E | M | I | T | T | S | |||
| P | O | O | D | L | E | O | R | A | L | |||||
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| A | C | I | N | G | A | T | E | D | I | N | N | E | R | |
| D | E | N | I | S | P | A | S | S | E | D | O | U | T |
WYNA: What can I say? Erik's the best. This was our third collaboration, and first puzzle in the Times. Erik sent me this grid with the NW and SE stacks filled in. I was so happy to see POLO PONY — my dog's name is Polo!
It took two days of back-and-forth revisions and a couple extra black squares to arrive at this grid. Love Erik's clue for 27-Down. Thanks to the editors for 4-Down.
ERIK: I'm happy with how this one turned out! You can always count on Wyna's themelesses for some lively answers and mindbending clues, and she definitely brought it for this one. It's been a pleasure to work with her and see her genius up close, and I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance.
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| E | R | R | A | B | E | Y | U | R | I | S | W | A | R | M | ||||||
| R | U | E | L | A | N | A | I | M | I | S | C | T | E | S | L | A | ||||
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| S | A | P | P | Y | L | A | C | K | E | D | A | F | I | L | T | E | R | |||
| E | B | A | Y | P | I | E | D | H | A | L | S | T | R | U | T | S | ||||
| R | B | I | T | H | A | N | L | A | G | E | R | H | A | M | ||||||
| F | A | R | F | R | O | M | Y | O | U | R | A | V | E | R | A | G | E | J | O | E |
| A | Y | N | A | W | M | A | N | D | O | V | E | U | R | L | ||||||
| H | E | R | O | E | S | L | E | D | I | S | E | E | B | A | L | M | ||||
| R | A | N | O | U | T | O | F | S | T | E | A | M | S | O | N | Y | S | |||
| I | N | D | E | T | A | I | L | M | O | R | O | C | C | O | ||||||
| M | O | I | G | R | O | U | N | D | S | F | O | R | F | I | R | I | N | G | ||
| S | I | N | G | S | G | O | E | R | F | I | D | O | S | T | E | A | ||||
| A | R | E | S | T | M | A | A | M | E | S | S | H | U | M | ||||||
| G | O | T | I | N | T | O | H | O | T | W | A | T | E | R | O | R | A | T | E | |
| R | A | I | N | D | A | T | E | E | E | Y | O | R | E | R | A | C | E | R | ||
| P | R | E | S | S | B | O | X | R | R | A | T | E | D | S | T | A | R | S |
One inspiration for this puzzle was the great Merl Reagle, who used to do a lot of this sort of story crossword in his Sunday syndicate. The theme type isn't done much anymore, but I like that each theme answer has its own separate "aha" to uncover.
On the fill side, I've recently been interested in emulating the style of masters like Lynn Lempel and Patrick Berry. In the past, I'm sure I would have tried to debut some crazy flashy thing in those relatively unconstrained NW and SE corners. But I've come to think that regular words like ATLAS, SCISSORS, STARS and GAMERS lead to better and more fun clues for the solver than answers that might look optically livelier in a grid.
Hope this puzzle gives people an hour or two of fun in a hard time. For my part, since I'm back living at home, I'll be peering over my dad's shoulder as he solves.
| D | R | O | P | S | R | E | S | T | S | H | A | M | ||
| V | E | N | T | I | A | R | I | A | L | E | N | O | ||
| R | E | L | A | X | D | I | L | L | I | D | E | A | ||
| S | K | Y | T | R | I | C | K | L | E | D | O | W | N | |
| M | E | N | U | O | X | E | N | |||||||
| S | T | R | E | A | M | L | I | N | E | I | C | K | ||
| S | T | E | I | N | A | C | E | S | S | H | E | |||
| E | R | R | S | H | A | T | E | S | S | T | O | P | ||
| W | A | R | B | A | T | H | H | O | I | S | T | |||
| S | P | A | R | I | V | E | R | D | A | N | C | E | ||
| C | Z | A | R | E | O | N | S | |||||||
| F | L | O | O | D | L | I | G | H | T | S | A | H | A | |
| A | S | T | O | O | K | R | A | O | P | I | U | M | ||
| D | A | T | E | S | E | A | S | L | A | D | L | E | ||
| S | T | A | Y | S | A | S | H | O | C | E | A | N |
Constructing early-week crosswords is fun. It can be tricky to find straightforward concepts that haven't been explored; this is one of a handful of progression puzzles I was pleased to be able to create. I hope you got a "rush" from solving it! (P.S. Did you notice the little bonuses in the first and last across entries?)
To any crossword constructors — especially newcomers — who have a puzzle to submit to the New York Times, but are out of stamps, are immunocompromised, or just not wanting to risk a non-essential trip to the post office, I'm happy to print and mail in your puzzles for you. I have a postal scale, I have envelopes, and I have lifetimes worth of stamps, so please feel free to get in contact with me. Contact me via Instagram (@thepostlandia) or Twitter (@evanpostlandia).
Definitely follow my Instagram if you want to see hundreds and hundreds of post offices from across America! I've been to 10,000 of them. That's not a typo. I also sometimes post photos of cats. The world can never have enough photos of cats.
| C | A | S | A | A | R | M | A | N | I | A | S | S | ||
| O | M | E | N | B | E | I | R | U | T | W | H | O | ||
| M | I | N | D | B | E | N | D | I | N | G | M | I | A | |
| I | N | T | R | O | O | D | E | O | Z | A | R | K | ||
| C | U | R | E | D | I | L | L | S | A | N | T | S | ||
| S | S | A | Y | O | R | E | A | B | C | |||||
| U | M | P | O | S | L | O | L | I | N | |||||
| G | E | T | S | A | T | F | L | E | X | I | P | O | ||
| A | C | H | E | S | A | T | A | I | D | T | A | G | ||
| I | C | U | S | I | G | H | T | N | O | T | S | O | ||
| T | O | M | I | C | E | E | E | G | A | L | ||||
| B | A | N | K | R | O | A | R | E | P | A | ||||
| W | O | W | E | D | L | O | W | R | I | D | E | R | S | |
| A | W | A | R | E | I | A | N | N | O | V | A | K | ||
| X | E | R | O | X | T | D | S | G | N | A | T | S |
It is an honor to have my Times' debut!
Looking at this puzzle a year later (it was accepted in January of 2019), I want to dig in and re-edit it! But then I remember what a pain it was getting the concept to "work," especially for a novice constructor.
There are several "finger" and "hand" themed crosswords published. Most recently, Evan Mahnken's 7-3-19 NYT puzzle, which is way more clever than this one. In my puzzle, each "finger" phrase is vertical and proportional in length for a human hand. This required making the grid asymmetrical, and having all the entries flush at the bottom.
I submitted several versions of the puzzle. I did not think Will would accept this version, with the unfortunate "EGAL," and the 28 three-letter-words in it! (I am very sorry about EGAL, btw). However, I was hoping, given the difficulty (for constructor) of having five theme entries all flush to the bottom, and the novelty of having an asymmetrical grid, he might overlook these shortcomings. Luckily (for me), he did!
I hope that the difficulty in construction translates to some enjoyment for the solver, since I know this is not always the case, haha.
One last note: the hand dimensions in the puzzle present the index finger as longer than the ring finger. This is the case with many individuals, although, for many other individuals, the ring finger is longer than the index finger.
| A | G | R | E | E | R | A | G | C | L | A | R | O | ||
| F | R | O | T | H | E | C | O | P | O | P | I | N | ||
| F | I | S | T | S | D | E | S | R | O | L | F | S | ||
| A | F | T | A | E | F | R | E | M | T | A | F | T | ||
| B | F | A | A | M | I | B | E | A | T | T | I | A | ||
| L | I | N | E | M | A | N | K | N | I | F | I | N | G | |
| E | N | D | P | I | N | A | V | E | N | G | E | |||
| H | E | A | D | T | O | T | O | E | ||||||
| C | H | A | R | T | O | R | T | E | B | L | O | C | ||
| L | O | G | O | E | L | I | T | E | L | O | L | A | ||
| E | L | E | N | A | M | O | E | T | E | N | D | S | ||
| F | D | R | T | S | A | R | A | H | G | S | T | |||
| S | A | S | H | A | M | E | N | L | O | |||||
| M | O | N | K | E | Y | S | S | I | N | U | O | U | S | |
| D | U | G | I | N | T | O | A | S | S | I | S | T | S | |
| S | T | E | T | S | O | N | W | H | A | T | T | H | E |
JOHN-CLARK: I'm delighted to be making my Times debut today alongside the fantastic Jeff Chen, with whom I've collaborated on several puzzles in other publications.
The idea for this one came out of brainstorming Jeff and I were doing around interesting letter movements—once we settled on HEAD TO TOE, the main challenge was finding pairs that were 1) long enough to be interesting, 2) widely familiar, 3) natural, and 4) pleasantly surprising. Jeff wrote some code to do an exhaustive search, but our choices were limited because most candidates didn't meet all those criteria. The first condition ruled out HEART/EARTH as too short. The second scotched GERVIN/ERVING, since many solvers won't know retired basketball stars. GELATIN is fun, but ELATING is an unusual form that feels a bit like crosswordese. And DEVOLVE/EVOLVED are too similar to each other. When we settled on the themers that made it into the puzzle, we liked that no pair shared any meaningful morphological elements (e.g. VOLV), hopefully increasing that sense of "aha!" on noticing each connection.
A few words of introduction to the NYT solvership ... I'm an Ojai, California native, and currently a Ph.D. student at Cambridge in the UK, studying how governments can do a better job anticipating the impacts of artificial intelligence. I also work as an author and journalist at the intersection of technology, politics, and security. Among more lighthearted pursuits, I've been known to perform stage magic and stand-up comedy, and will take even the flimsiest excuse to sing Tom Lehrer's The Elements. I'm quite new to solving (let along constructing) crosswords — although my dad has been a lifelong fan, and as a kid I enjoyed helping out when he'd announce "Ayyubid sultan, S---D-N" around the breakfast table. But credit to dear family friend and avid cruciverbalist Ivan Roth for giving me the inspiration to finally give it a real try. And big thanks to Will, Sam, Joel, and Andy for their improvements to our puzzle, and being a pleasure to work with!
| O | B | I | S | E | D | I | C | T | P | A | S | T | A | ||
| R | A | N | K | S | O | L | A | R | A | N | T | I | S | ||
| I | S | A | Y | K | E | E | P | I | N | T | O | U | C | H | |
| G | E | N | E | S | E | S | E | M | B | E | R | ||||
| A | M | I | W | R | O | T | E | C | L | A | R | E | T | ||
| M | A | N | N | A | K | I | S | S | K | A | T | E | |||
| I | N | S | I | T | U | S | H | A | M | E | W | A | X | ||
| T | H | A | N | K | L | A | T | E | R | ||||||
| A | L | A | T | H | Y | M | E | P | U | R | E | S | T | ||
| H | A | N | D | D | O | W | N | D | E | C | O | Y | |||
| N | O | T | I | M | E | S | W | A | L | E | R | A | P | ||
| M | A | Y | B | E | G | E | S | T | U | R | E | ||||
| D | R | O | P | M | E | A | L | I | N | E | H | I | E | S | |
| E | A | R | L | E | I | L | I | A | C | E | T | R | E | ||
| E | G | R | E | T | L | E | I | G | H | A | S | S | T |
| J | E | W | E | L | G | O | T | T | A | C | I | D | ||
| E | X | I | L | E | A | D | H | O | C | A | S | I | ||
| D | I | G | I | T | R | O | A | D | A | T | L | A | S | |
| I | T | S | A | S | T | A | R | T | C | O | L | I | C | |
| R | A | G | L | I | P | I | D | S | ||||||
| P | R | O | P | O | S | E | A | T | O | A | S | T | ||
| L | I | F | E | L | E | S | S | O | N | C | A | P | S | |
| O | F | F | A | L | A | S | U | N | O | D | A | T | ||
| W | E | B | B | E | L | E | C | T | O | R | A | T | E | |
| A | R | E | W | E | T | H | E | R | E | Y | E | T | ||
| S | I | L | A | G | E | T | A | E | ||||||
| O | N | A | I | R | A | N | Y | T | A | K | E | R | S | |
| R | U | N | N | E | R | S | U | P | S | I | D | E | A | |
| E | S | C | T | O | I | L | E | O | W | E | N | S | ||
| S | E | E | S | E | A | L | S | N | I | N | T | H |
There are 16 words of 8 letters or more here, and not too much junk (though I recognize that my opinion of junk and your opinion of junk may differ). I've culled many partials and crummy stuff from my word list, but sometimes you need a little partial like AS I to hold the rest of the fun stuff together.
I hesitated about PEABRAIN because I don't like to include negative or insulting words, but it allowed PROPOSE A TOAST, LIFE LESSON, ARE WE THERE YET, LET'S ROLL, OFF BALANCE and RUNNERS UP, and as insults go it's somewhat amusing, so I thought it was a pretty reasonable tradeoff.
That's all from me today. Stay safe. Do puzzles.
| C | H | A | N | E | L | P | R | O | T | I | P | |||
| D | E | L | I | L | A | H | D | A | P | H | N | E | ||
| C | R | Y | H | A | V | O | C | A | P | T | E | S | T | |
| A | D | D | I | N | M | O | S | S | I | F | T | S | ||
| S | E | A | L | R | E | N | T | S | C | O | O | P | ||
| E | R | R | G | A | S | C | A | P | S | R | C | A | ||
| L | O | T | T | E | R | Y | P | I | C | K | ||||
| W | I | N | T | E | R | S | C | E | N | E | ||||
| C | Y | B | E | R | A | T | T | A | C | K | ||||
| D | O | C | R | A | D | I | U | M | S | H | O | V | ||
| R | O | L | F | P | E | N | D | S | D | A | R | A | ||
| A | L | I | E | N | R | A | E | T | R | U | E | S | ||
| I | M | F | R | E | E | S | N | O | B | A | L | L | S | |
| N | O | F | A | I | R | T | E | A | M | U | S | A | ||
| S | M | E | L | L | S | D | R | A | P | E | R |
I'd been eyeing this grid design for a while before finally making an attempt at filling it. It was a long process, particularly with the open middle, and this puzzle was the eventual final output. The plural RADIUMS is the obvious, vomitous blight in the middle of the grid, but I thought the rest of the fill was exciting and colorful enough to offset that.
The inflexibility of the middle necessitated some interesting entries with rarer letter combinations leading into the corners, including CRY HAVOC and John WYCLIFFE (no not Wyclef Jean, though the rapper was apparently named after the theologian.) Overall, given the constraints, I'm happy with the variety of entries I was able to include, especially in the longer intersecting stacks.
The editing team kept a good portion of my clues, though DRAPER was not kept clued as the "Mad Men" character. However, I thought the clue for DELILAH was a brilliant improvement. Hope you enjoy the puzzle and stay safe! Χριστός ανέστη! (a day early)
| N | P | R | A | P | I | A | R | Y | P | I | S | C | E | S | A | P | P | |||
| O | R | E | L | E | S | L | I | E | A | R | M | A | D | A | C | A | L | |||
| M | I | C | R | O | C | H | I | P | S | P | L | U | R | A | L | P | L | O | ||
| A | D | O | U | T | S | E | N | S | E | R | O | M | E | L | A | N | ||||
| D | E | N | G | A | S | T | R | O | K | E | O | F | B | A | D | L | U | C | K | |
| R | A | N | T | S | U | T | N | E | M | I | D | G | E | S | ||||||
| A | S | S | A | N | G | E | P | L | E | A | T | E | V | E | ||||||
| C | A | P | T | A | I | N | H | O | O | K | I | T | S | A | R | F | E | D | ||
| E | K | E | L | E | T | U | P | S | G | R | E | E | D | W | E | A | R | |||
| S | E | E | D | Y | L | E | I | L | A | T | E | N | A | N | T | S | ||||
| D | I | S | T | R | A | C | T | E | D | D | R | I | V | I | N | G | ||||
| B | O | B | S | T | A | Y | E | A | S | Y | A | E | D | S | E | L | ||||
| A | L | A | S | R | A | B | I | D | D | E | N | T | A | L | H | W | Y | |||
| A | E | G | I | S | N | A | S | W | E | D | G | E | I | S | S | U | E | S | ||
| D | O | E | T | A | G | O | N | P | R | E | C | I | S | E | ||||||
| D | O | T | E | L | L | S | A | L | K | G | E | E | N | A | ||||||
| I | R | O | N | D | E | F | I | C | I | E | N | C | I | E | S | R | P | M | S | |
| T | N | U | T | G | A | G | S | N | A | R | F | E | J | E | C | T | ||||
| H | E | P | W | A | L | N | U | T | N | O | T | U | P | T | O | P | A | R | ||
| E | R | E | E | N | C | A | S | E | A | N | E | M | I | A | S | T | U | |||
| R | Y | E | S | T | O | L | E | N | S | E | D | A | N | S | I | S | M |
JACK: Before I say anything, I want to take this chance to wish my sister Margaret a happy sixteenth birthday!!!
With that out of the way, I am very happy to have my first Sunday puzzle published in the NYT! (Of course, this is far from Jeff's first.) Being that this was my first stab at a 21x grid it was tricky getting the fill for this one. With the long themer spanning the middle, we had to make a few compromises especially in the upper half of the grid, but I am still happy with how it turned out. We got some nice stuff in there and I'm particularly proud of debuting the 3 letter entry (!) IRL.
The theme started off broad, but Jeff and I were able to narrow it down to some fun golf themers. At that point we discovered that a similarly themed Sunday puzzle ran in the times in 2012. It was Jeff's idea then to focus on mistakes a golfer — the poor duffer in the clues — might make. This addition made the theme a lot tighter and made me smile at the thought of each theme entry a little bit more.
Finally, a big shout out to my dad, an avid golfer, who I had in the back of my mine as this puzzle got made. I know this doesn't make up for the Masters getting postposed, but maybe this is the next best thing! Hope everyone is happy, healthy, enjoys the puzzle!
JEFF: After a few months playing a little golf, my brother and I decided to get clubs. At the sporting goods store, a no-nonsense salesperson offered to help, asking me to take a couple of practice swings. After what I thought were decent cuts, she pointed me to the cheapest starter clubs available. "The way you swing, you might as well use two by fours," she said.
Twenty years later, her sage words helped shape this puzzle. And somehow, my golf swing has gotten even worse.
| L | A | P | E | L | M | O | J | O | S | T | L | E | ||
| I | C | U | D | E | E | D | U | N | T | I | E | D | ||
| B | A | L | L | G | A | M | E | M | O | U | N | D | S | |
| I | D | S | A | Y | S | O | B | F | F | |||||
| D | I | E | T | H | I | G | H | O | F | F | I | C | E | |
| O | A | S | E | S | R | O | U | T | S | L | A | T | ||
| E | L | S | T | A | R | A | I | R | A | |||||
| B | A | D | N | E | W | S | C | O | W | B | E | L | L | |
| A | L | I | W | A | L | L | N | O | R | |||||
| N | E | S | T | L | O | O | P | L | E | A | K | Y | ||
| S | C | H | O | O | L | P | L | A | Y | E | D | I | E | |
| O | H | O | R | O | M | C | O | M | S | |||||
| O | U | T | L | A | W | B | O | Y | O | H | B | O | Y | |
| A | S | S | U | R | E | I | D | O | L | E | N | O | ||
| R | A | P | P | E | D | N | Y | S | E | S | O | U |
I'm having a hard time remembering much about the construction of this one, which was in June of 2019. I have no recollection of what prompted the idea. However, I think I tried all sorts of combinations and permutations of possible answers and various grids. I see I ended up with something of an unusual one, with that black square in the middle separating two 7-letter answers.
And I'm not seeing any particularly noteworthy clue changes, for better or worse. Sometimes, though, I have to laugh when there's a clue I absolutely don't recognize and then discover it was my own. This was the case for 51-Down. I saw "Bored of the Rings" and had no memory of it whatsoever. It turned out to be exactly what I'd written.
| T | A | P | E | S | P | P | P | Q | U | E | R | Y | ||
| A | T | E | S | T | A | L | E | U | N | D | U | E | ||
| P | H | A | S | E | C | U | R | L | I | C | U | E | S | |
| S | E | R | A | P | H | I | M | O | N | O | ||||
| O | N | L | Y | O | N | A | S | C | O | F | F | S | ||
| N | A | Y | F | R | O | G | E | L | R | O | Y | |||
| W | H | I | M | E | L | L | A | U | R | N | ||||
| T | H | E | G | O | P | P | O | N | T | I | A | C | ||
| K | R | I | S | H | N | A | S | W | E | A | T | Y | ||
| N | I | T | T | E | L | L | T | R | O | T | ||||
| O | B | E | S | E | E | L | I | A | O | R | S | |||
| B | E | S | U | R | E | M | A | D | S | P | O | T | ||
| P | J | S | O | P | E | N | U | P | T | O | ||||
| C | O | M | P | E | T | E | N | T | A | S | I | A | N | |
| A | D | U | L | T | A | D | O | D | A | N | T | E | ||
| M | E | M | E | S | R | E | P | A | N | G | E | R |
I want to thank the NYT crossword staff, and all puzzlemakers out there, who have made this difficult period just a little easier to endure. My family has a group text every morning where we share out the exciting words we found in the Spelling Bee and clues we liked in the crossword. Whatever the day holds, these puzzles are a great way to stay together.
| D | U | M | B | P | A | B | S | T | C | U | B | A | |||
| A | T | E | I | T | O | R | A | T | E | O | P | E | N | ||
| F | A | I | T | H | L | I | B | R | A | R | O | A | D | ||
| T | H | R | E | E | M | I | L | E | I | S | L | A | N | D | |
| M | E | A | T | P | H | I | L | ||||||||
| S | E | V | E | N | H | I | L | L | S | O | F | R | O | M | E |
| A | P | E | D | I | C | E | Y | P | E | E | K | E | D | ||
| D | O | N | S | O | A | R | S | D | A | L | I | ||||
| A | C | T | U | A | L | R | I | T | E | S | P | E | T | ||
| T | H | I | R | T | E | E | N | C | O | L | O | N | I | E | S |
| G | O | V | T | P | L | I | E | ||||||||
| P | R | I | M | E | R | E | A | L | E | S | T | A | T | E | |
| C | R | O | C | R | A | T | I | O | E | T | H | E | R | ||
| P | I | S | A | E | D | E | N | S | E | L | E | N | A | ||
| A | X | E | L | T | E | S | T | S | E | M | T | S |
The idea for this puzzle came while at work, as many others have. I am a letter carrier in Philadelphia, at 63 I'm well into my 30th and hopefully final year with the USPS. I think the focus on name and number throughout the day allows my right brain the freedom to bubble up some theme ideas from time to time.
In this case, being in the midst of a creative drought I remember the exact moment when I reminded myself to look around and speak what I saw. It happened to be the sign of a dance studio with the address 1515 in large font. I said "number" aloud and began to riff, number became prime number (1515 is not one), which led to prime example leading to prime real estate which is a 15! Later at home I found some examples of places that included a prime and started to fill the grid. My submission was accepted in October of 2018, with the need to make some revisions which Sam Ezersky was very helpful with. Thanks to Will and his team for jazzing up my clues as usual.
Getting back to my profession, we are in a bit of a bind right now as you might have heard. I won't get too political here, I would just ask you if you care to, to educate yourselves about the issues, and remember that the Post Office is a public service established under Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The person residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. didn't arrive until Article II.
Be well everyone and keep on solving.
| E | T | T | A | W | A | N | D | S | H | Y | ||||
| B | E | A | N | A | B | O | U | T | C | U | E | |||
| B | A | K | I | N | G | B | R | E | A | D | O | M | G | |
| L | E | M | O | N | Y | C | U | E | R | V | O | |||
| S | E | S | A | M | E | I | N | T | H | R | E | E | D | |
| L | O | I | T | E | R | M | O | I | O | D | E | S | ||
| A | N | G | E | R | P | I | L | E | S | |||||
| B | I | N | C | A | T | E | R | E | D | C | G | I | ||
| M | Y | B | A | D | G | I | L | E | S | |||||
| A | S | I | A | O | L | E | D | E | M | O | T | E | ||
| C | O | M | P | A | R | E | D | O | O | P | S | I | E | |
| T | I | L | S | I | T | A | M | U | L | E | T | |||
| I | R | A | R | E | L | O | C | A | T | I | O | N | S | |
| N | E | T | D | E | L | H | I | E | N | O | S | |||
| G | E | E | E | D | E | N | S | E | W | N |
YACOB: In June 2018, Erik and I were brainstorming themes for a back-to-school themed puzzle for the Lollapuzzoola crossword tournament. In our list of funky ideas, we considered making a puzzle centered around the revealer PASSING NOTES where musical notes (e.g. DO/RE/MI) would move from one theme answer to the next. I wrote up some code to try to find entries that could work for each musical note.
ERIK: Little did we know that Paolo Pasco was already working on a similar puzzle for the tournament! It's always a bummer to be scooped on a theme idea, but it stings a little less when it's by one of the greats.
YACOB: After Lolla, we remembered that we found a lot of promising entries for RE, and we figured sometime down the line, we could find a way to make a cool theme centered around just moving RE. This is that puzzle! Hope you all enjoy :)
| T | I | E | T | A | C | K | G | I | R | T | H | S | ||
| S | O | L | O | S | H | O | T | I | D | A | H | O | S | |
| A | L | L | T | H | E | R | E | B | E | D | A | M | N | |
| R | A | S | H | E | X | P | E | D | I | T | E | |||
| E | S | T | A | T | E | I | S | L | A | |||||
| B | L | U | R | S | T | S | W | O | N | |||||
| G | R | A | B | A | B | I | T | E | T | O | E | A | T | |
| B | R | I | S | T | L | E | C | O | N | E | P | I | N | E |
| C | A | T | T | L | E | R | U | S | T | L | E | R | S | |
| U | P | I | Y | E | T | H | A | N | D | |||||
| P | E | S | T | H | I | S | S | E | S | |||||
| S | H | A | G | B | A | R | K | A | B | B | A | |||
| B | O | R | N | E | O | M | I | N | O | T | A | U | R | |
| A | D | A | G | E | S | A | R | C | H | A | I | S | M | |
| M | A | J | O | R | S | T | O | M | B | O | Y | S |
This puzzle was accepted in January 2019. CATTLE RUSTLERS with its clue was the seed entry. I always spot a few things I'd improve upon rediscovering the puzzle after many months, but I think it holds up well. Thanks to the editorial team for their great work on polishing the clues. Hope you enjoy!
| D | A | C | A | P | O | T | O | M | C | A | T | |||
| O | R | A | T | O | R | R | O | L | A | I | D | S | ||
| T | I | P | T | O | E | S | H | R | A | P | N | E | L | |
| S | A | T | E | L | L | I | T | E | T | V | C | P | O | |
| A | S | S | N | A | T | E | M | I | T | T | ||||
| W | H | I | T | E | D | I | T | P | E | N | ||||
| W | O | N | A | C | E | R | B | A | R | N | I | E | ||
| J | U | K | E | B | O | X | M | U | S | I | C | A | L | S |
| D | R | A | K | E | F | A | T | E | D | T | I | T | ||
| N | E | T | I | S | L | E | P | I | E | D | ||||
| S | A | G | S | A | N | T | E | M | I | C | ||||
| E | P | A | T | I | G | E | R | M | O | T | H | E | R | |
| C | A | R | M | A | K | E | R | U | L | T | I | M | O | |
| T | R | O | O | P | E | R | S | T | E | L | M | O | ||
| S | T | O | L | E | N | K | O | D | I | A | K |
| S | W | E | E | T | O | A | R | E | X | P | O | P | O | N | E | |||||
| H | A | S | B | R | O | F | E | E | X | M | A | N | M | O | T | E | S | |||
| A | S | S | E | E | N | O | N | T | V | M | A | K | E | S | A | L | I | S | T | |
| H | A | I | R | S | A | L | O | N | S | A | S | U | A | S | K | S | T | O | ||
| S | T | E | T | R | I | T | A | P | R | E | L | I | M | S | ||||||
| B | A | N | E | P | A | I | S | A | N | A | F | I | R | E | ||||||
| P | R | A | I | R | I | E | R | E | I | N | T | A | C | O | B | A | R | |||
| T | U | N | N | E | L | F | E | E | D | E | R | H | E | R | E | I | G | O | ||
| A | N | N | U | M | S | L | U | R | R | E | N | E | G | E | Z | E | D | |||
| S | T | E | R | E | O | T | Y | P | I | C | T | A | K | E | A | D | E | |||
| E | N | L | A | I | N | A | G | T | N | U | T | S | ||||||||
| A | L | A | D | I | N | G | R | A | D | I | O | S | H | A | C | K | S | |||
| M | I | C | B | A | D | G | E | S | Y | E | O | W | E | L | R | O | Y | |||
| I | R | E | S | I | G | N | T | U | N | E | I | N | V | I | S | I | O | N | ||
| G | A | L | I | L | E | E | P | E | T | S | C | U | R | A | B | L | E | |||
| A | S | A | D | O | S | C | R | E | W | Y | P | O | L | S | ||||||
| X | L | S | H | I | R | T | D | O | U | G | F | A | H | D | ||||||
| A | R | A | B | I | A | I | C | U | R | O | L | L | A | C | I | G | A | R | ||
| T | O | T | E | M | P | O | L | E | S | A | C | I | D | T | O | N | G | U | E | |
| O | B | I | T | S | S | I | R | E | M | K | T | E | M | A | I | L | S | |||
| M | E | T | A | U | S | S | R | P | S | Y | E | L | E | S | S |
Excited to share my first puzzle with you all!
Will and team contributed significantly: 46% of the clues were completely reworked, 41% left alone or minor edits, 13% were tweaked significantly but retained original gist. Not sure if that's a reflection of relatively good or bad cluing on my part … but it's given me an appreciation for just how much work goes on behind the scenes. Great changes overall, in my opinion.
Was sad to see my clue for ROLL A CIGAR go: "do like one making the money gesture, perhaps". Admittedly clunky. I found this one tough to clue well. However, I'd never heard of a torcedor … likely just my general lack of cigar knowledge!
Will and team opted to overlay arrows on the tunnels. Probably the right call as it makes the puzzle more accessible, but I worry that the a-ha moment went down a bit as a result.
One of my grid constraints was that no two black squares should touch (aside from on the grid border or diagonally). This was to avoid any confusion over what constitutes a tunnel, but it added difficulty, as half the construction battle is using the black squares to spread out the fill constraints equally.
Finally, the 26th of April happens to be my partner's name day — she tolerates me doing far more crosswords then I should, so everyone, please join me in wishing a happy name day to the Marzenas of this world.
Hope everyone enjoys.
| S | W | A | B | A | S | I | A | S | T | A | R | T | ||
| W | I | R | E | A | P | S | E | T | H | R | O | B | ||
| A | N | G | E | L | H | A | I | R | P | R | O | V | O | |
| N | O | O | S | E | R | A | I | D | O | M | E | N | ||
| A | C | E | H | A | R | D | W | A | R | E | ||||
| S | C | L | E | R | A | L | E | A | S | |||||
| C | O | U | P | M | A | G | I | D | O | G | M | A | ||
| A | C | C | I | D | E | N | T | S | H | A | P | P | E | N |
| R | O | Y | C | E | C | O | T | E | E | A | R | N | ||
| H | A | S | H | L | E | N | S | E | S | |||||
| A | R | S | E | N | I | O | H | A | L | L | ||||
| L | A | H | R | P | R | O | P | M | I | D | A | S | ||
| I | D | I | O | M | A | H | A | M | O | M | E | N | T | |
| S | A | N | E | R | G | U | R | U | I | K | E | A | ||
| T | R | E | S | S | E | M | T | S | N | E | W | T |
Before COVID, I was able to volunteer as a patient advocate at one of several hospitals. Often, I would see a newspaper on the overbed table folded to the daily crossword puzzle. Sometimes it was completed, sometimes not. If the patient were asleep, I would set down my card and leave quietly. I construct puzzles probably for the same reason I and many others take a stab at solving them — the box with empty squares presents a problem one can have a reasonable shot at solving (unlike many other problems). The process is a distraction from other more pressing needs (recuperating in hospital, in this example).
All that is important, and I'm blown away by the talent that's out there now writing and editing puzzles. Do solvers see crossword puzzles as mirroring culture? As potential changers of culture? Is that what they want or care about in a puzzle? I don't think so — seeing those bedside crossword puzzles reinforces my opinion.
Stay well and safe.
| C | O | M | B | G | O | L | F | H | A | S | H | |||
| O | P | A | L | S | O | N | I | A | O | L | L | A | ||
| D | E | J | A | L | I | L | A | C | T | I | E | S | ||
| C | O | M | P | A | N | Y | R | E | T | W | E | E | T | |
| R | A | I | N | S | W | A | N | K | Y | |||||
| O | L | D | B | A | G | O | F | T | W | I | X | |||
| W | O | O | L | F | K | A | R | A | T | H | A | S | ||
| L | A | M | E | S | A | T | U | P | T | E | N | T | ||
| S | F | O | P | A | P | A | L | F | O | R | T | Y | ||
| F | A | M | I | L | Y | T | W | E | E | Z | E | |||
| W | R | I | S | T | S | A | I | N | T | |||||
| H | I | G | H | S | P | E | E | D | T | W | A | I | N | |
| U | C | L | A | A | D | M | I | T | I | C | O | N | ||
| P | O | O | R | D | A | I | S | Y | L | A | N | E | ||
| S | H | O | P | E | M | T | S | S | L | O | T |
| H | E | L | L | W | E | L | L | A | M | P | S | |||
| O | W | I | E | S | O | D | O | I | C | A | L | L | ||
| B | A | N | G | T | R | U | T | V | C | R | A | Y | ||
| O | N | E | W | O | O | D | S | E | T | R | A | T | E | |
| A | M | I | S | H | B | R | A | C | E | S | ||||
| A | D | E | X | E | C | A | L | L | A | A | N | T | ||
| B | A | L | I | N | G | L | O | O | P | S | ||||
| C | H | I | N | S | O | F | T | G | P | O | O | H | ||
| G | A | L | O | O | T | T | I | A | R | A | ||||
| I | R | S | B | O | F | F | J | U | N | K | E | T | ||
| T | E | E | S | U | P | F | R | A | N | C | ||||
| S | W | E | A | T | I | T | A | D | A | Y | A | G | O | |
| S | I | N | G | T | I | N | G | E | C | H | O | P | ||
| A | R | I | A | C | R | E | E | D | L | O | N | E | ||
| D | E | N | S | H | E | A | R | E | Y | E | D |
| B | L | E | G | S | A | S | I | F | G | A | S | P | ||
| C | A | I | R | O | C | H | O | O | L | E | I | F | ||
| A | L | T | E | R | T | I | N | E | E | R | M | A | ||
| M | A | H | T | H | I | N | S | K | N | O | C | K | ||
| P | L | E | A | A | V | E | N | E | S | S | I | E | ||
| S | A | R | D | I | N | E | E | I | N | O | T | S | ||
| H | O | G | W | A | S | H | S | L | Y | |||||
| C | O | R | N | E | R | K | I | C | K | S | ||||
| Z | A | C | A | A | M | I | L | N | E | |||||
| F | O | P | F | I | R | M | I | N | E | R | A | L | ||
| A | N | I | M | A | L | I | O | S | T | E | T | E | ||
| L | E | T | A | T | A | S | K | M | E | D | O | M | ||
| L | O | A | N | M | I | N | I | G | O | D | N | O | ||
| S | U | L | U | A | D | O | S | G | R | E | E | N | ||
| F | T | O | P | G | E | T | S | S | A | N | D | W |
My husband is not an avid crossword solver (yet!), but he is a through and through soccer superfan. I like to think he helped inspire this puzzle, and perhaps this puzzle will encourage him to dip his toes in the "crossworld" waters. Although it might be cruel to give him a rebus puzzle right off the bat!
As usual, there were tradeoffs between fun entries and the gluey bits they often require. I was happy to work in a few bonuses like ESKIMO KISS despite the theme constraints. Though I was a little bummed to see that my original clue for it ("Rub one's nose in it?") was changed, I love the editing team's "Knockoff of a Greek sculpture?" for ARM and for the overall polish that they always lend to my puzzles. Thank you Will and Co.!
I hope everyone is well and that this puzzle is a respite in these times. Enjoy!