My original submission actually omitted the shaded squares—I was worried it would be too "hand-holdy" or something. But I think the presentation tweaks they added are pretty cool and do a good job of illustrating the theme. This was a fun one to stitch together, and I hope you enjoy solving it!
For any constructors interested in this type of grid, I have a tutorial on my website here.
– puzzle by Brandon Koppy
Fri 5/3/2024
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Hi everyone, I'm proud to present my NY Times debut puzzle. I'm a Realtor in the Portland, OR metro and have been building puzzles (mostly bad ones) for a few years now.
I built this grid without having any specific seed words in mind; I only knew I wanted four fun and fresh words for the long slots, so I'd go with the best ones that fit. I found GAS STATION SUSHI first and figured that it was basically a pass/fail term for editors, and if it failed, it would take the whole puzzle with it. So once I stopped worrying about that-- I've failed before, and I will again-- I seeded that half of the puzzle with it and seeded the top half with AN HEIR AND A SPARE, which surprisingly had never been used in the NY Times. By the way, the clue I submitted for AN HEIR AND A SPARE was "Two princes?", but the editors changed it presumably so nobody would get earwormed by the Spin Doctors song. I am pretty happy, though, that my GAS STATION SUSHI clue survived. I was batting around different variations of "a little fishy," "fish in a Shell," etc. before my much-quicker wife Nicole landed on the obvious: "Shell fish." Gold.
The lesson I took from this one being accepted is that the best entries for a themeless puzzle are the ones that are the closest to being unacceptable to use. There's a fine line between a clue being fresh and fun and being too narrow, or esoteric, or colloquial, or just plain "huh?" Big thanks go out to the aforementioned Nicole and the good folks on Crosscord, who have helped me improve considerably. I'll be back!
– puzzle by Eli Cotham
Sat 5/4/2024
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Sun 5/5/2024 From the Astronaut's Logbook
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Mon 5/6/2024
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Hope you enjoy today's puzzle from me, my first New York Times Monday! I always think that making easy puzzles is harder than making hard ones, so I hope this was a successful attempt.
Some thoughts on the construction:
I submitted this on October 12, 2023, and it was accepted on January 5, 2024. It ran on May 6, 2024.
There are 76 clues in this puzzle. Twenty-nine (38%) were kept identical. Nineteen (25%) were updated slightly. Twenty-eight (37%) are new from the NYT editors.
My original clue for POET was [Person preoccupied with a scheme?], and my original clue for PECAN was ["Yes ___" (Ben & Jerry's flavor with an image of Obama on the container)]
Other things:
Recently I had the honor of speaking at Crossword Con, and I'm very proud of my talk, which you can listen to here.
If you're interested in more puzzles by me, you can usually find them on Vulture magazine's site.
Or, you can sign up for emails whenever I have a new full-sized puzzle by following this link and clicking "Ask to join the group".
– puzzle by Malaika Handa
Tue 5/7/2024
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Sun 5/12/2024 Pixar Box Set
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Mon 5/13/2024
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O
N
E
T
U
N
E
A
R
T
H
T
O
A
S
T
E
R
S
I
A
M
E
S
E
T
N
T
M
O
T
H
V
A
L
O
R
M
S
G
B
L
U
R
B
E
S
I
D
E
I
F
I
M
A
Y
U
S
E
S
M
D
S
S
O
N
A
R
I
N
H
E
A
T
T
R
A
C
K
S
K
A
L
O
T
T
A
S
C
H
I
S
M
O
D
O
R
S
A
C
E
O
A
T
H
I
N
D
E
E
P
B
A
R
F
L
Y
O
G
R
E
L
E
S
A
N
N
U
L
W
W
I
I
C
O
T
T
I
E
G
A
M
E
B
S
C
H
O
O
L
E
N
S
U
R
E
D
B
E
H
A
P
P
Y
D
E
T
E
S
T
S
S
U
I
S
S
E
Wed 5/15/2024
A
P
T
A
E
S
O
P
D
E
C
C
A
M
O
O
B
R
U
N
O
E
T
H
O
S
B
U
M
B
L
E
B
E
E
B
E
E
C
H
U
N
T
I
E
L
S
A
T
S
K
I
S
C
O
T
B
A
B
Y
B
O
T
T
L
E
H
E
M
H
E
R
C
R
O
N
E
S
K
A
M
A
L
A
G
U
S
T
B
A
S
E
B
A
L
L
B
A
T
C
R
A
B
S
W
E
A
R
S
A
E
R
O
B
E
U
S
A
B
A
R
B
U
B
B
L
E
B
A
T
H
R
U
S
E
I
N
E
A
R
A
L
M
I
D
S
T
N
I
C
A
D
H
A
P
P
Y
B
D
A
Y
E
T
U
D
E
T
R
E
A
T
H
I
P
T
E
E
M
S
S
M
A
S
H
A
L
E
Thu 5/16/2024
I
S
L
E
A
F
R
O
A
C
H
E
S
S
H
U
N
L
I
E
V
T
R
A
D
E
S
O
M
E
N
E
R
V
E
L
A
R
G
E
A
R
P
I
V
S
R
O
A
S
T
E
D
T
O
I
L
E
T
B
R
U
S
H
I
F
S
S
U
I
T
E
B
B
S
C
R
A
G
I
C
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C
R
E
A
M
A
G
O
R
E
D
L
E
A
F
A
D
S
S
P
A
R
K
L
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D
T
O
A
T
K
A
L
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A
L
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C
L
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I
R
O
T
A
R
Y
J
O
I
N
T
I
S
E
E
N
O
W
C
I
N
D
U
B
C
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D
A
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A
L
L
F
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L
I
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R
E
E
F
O
W
E
N
D
O
E
S
T
E
D
D
Y
I
N
S
T
Fri 5/17/2024
N
I
K
E
S
D
A
N
A
C
R
A
M
S
C
I
E
N
C
E
L
A
B
H
O
P
E
F
E
L
L
I
N
L
O
V
E
E
K
E
D
W
E
T
D
O
T
T
Y
F
E
U
D
S
L
E
T
S
C
M
A
S
L
A
H
O
R
E
C
A
B
L
E
C
A
R
E
R
A
S
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T
I
D
A
L
W
A
V
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G
O
D
I
M
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B
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I
N
I
M
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A
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A
D
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L
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A
N
G
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A
M
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M
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G
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A
W
S
K
Y
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A
K
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D
O
L
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C
A
M
P
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D
O
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L
A
L
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L
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O
L
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A
D
S
A
H
E
A
D
D
R
O
P
U
R
N
S
N
E
A
R
S
Sat 5/18/2024
V
I
C
T
O
R
I
A
S
S
E
C
R
E
T
I
M
E
A
N
I
T
T
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I
S
T
I
M
E
C
A
L
L
O
N
T
H
E
C
A
R
P
E
T
U
R
I
E
S
E
E
K
I
L
I
K
E
N
E
B
L
E
A
N
E
D
P
T
A
S
A
T
A
R
I
M
A
L
E
S
S
C
O
F
F
S
S
E
A
L
Y
E
T
I
R
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I
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G
U
L
P
H
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M
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P
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A
T
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P
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P
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D
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W
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A
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T
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C
A
R
D
T
H
E
R
E
A
R
E
N
O
W
O
R
D
S
Sun 5/19/2024 Hold Your Doze
B
A
I
T
D
E
I
A
M
I
S
P
R
I
D
E
U
L
T
R
A
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P
P
O
N
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N
T
L
O
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R
G
O
S
O
L
O
T
E
A
M
G
A
M
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S
H
E
R
S
H
O
U
L
D
T
H
E
D
E
E
D
A
R
I
S
E
Y
A
K
O
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R
S
N
L
T
E
N
O
N
E
S
O
W
L
I
S
H
O
R
E
O
S
I
O
T
A
W
H
A
T
E
L
S
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I
S
D
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I
L
L
T
R
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H
E
R
O
D
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I
L
A
P
S
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P
A
S
A
R
C
H
D
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A
S
I
S
A
Y
D
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A
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D
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P
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A
N
N
S
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O
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I
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A
W
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A
P
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T
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A
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P
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A
H
A
R
D
D
O
C
K
L
I
F
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B
R
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T
M
A
E
A
N
D
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S
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A
M
F
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P
L
A
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D
O
O
D
L
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L
A
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P
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P
O
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C
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A
B
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A
L
T
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H
A
T
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A
D
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U
G
H
B
R
A
I
D
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R
W
A
Z
O
O
O
H
I
D
U
N
N
O
S
N
O
O
P
Y
W
H
O
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P
P
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D
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T
A
L
T
U
B
E
S
W
H
O
S
E
I
D
E
D
S
T
Y
S
O
R
T
Mon 5/20/2024
L
A
B
O
R
W
A
G
S
P
R
A
Y
A
S
A
N
A
A
I
R
L
E
A
V
E
S
H
R
E
K
S
N
A
K
E
E
Y
E
S
S
E
R
G
E
A
N
T
P
E
P
P
E
R
O
N
E
S
I
T
E
B
T
B
I
D
A
S
A
T
S
P
S
C
A
P
T
A
I
N
O
B
V
I
O
U
S
C
H
I
L
I
S
T
D
I
M
A
G
E
C
O
L
O
N
E
L
S
A
N
D
E
R
S
S
Y
S
T
D
A
Y
O
E
R
M
E
N
S
L
O
G
E
M
Y
O
U
A
N
D
W
H
A
T
A
R
M
Y
P
U
B
L
I
S
H
E
R
A
L
I
C
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A
M
E
N
D
O
D
E
P
A
P
E
R
M
A
Y
A
S
P
O
D
E
S
S
E
S
Tue 5/21/2024
A
C
E
D
P
L
I
E
E
A
S
E
S
R
U
L
E
R
I
N
D
S
A
I
N
T
C
R
I
B
N
O
T
E
S
Q
A
N
D
A
T
O
M
P
E
W
F
U
N
U
G
H
B
O
T
T
L
E
G
O
U
R
D
G
U
E
S
S
S
O
L
A
D
L
E
S
G
A
P
E
P
A
S
S
T
O
C
A
R
R
I
A
G
E
H
O
U
S
E
G
E
N
Z
E
R
L
E
T
S
O
H
N
E
A
T
V
E
R
S
A
C
E
M
O
B
I
L
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P
H
O
N
E
T
H
X
E
T
A
R
A
E
Z
A
G
R
A
J
A
S
B
A
B
Y
P
R
O
O
F
T
I
A
R
A
S
T
E
M
I
D
L
E
A
R
M
E
D
T
H
E
E
N
E
E
D
Wed 5/22/2024
H
I
N
D
I
O
B
I
T
A
C
D
C
O
N
I
O
N
N
O
N
E
C
L
E
O
A
L
E
N
E
E
G
G
C
R
E
A
M
S
R
A
C
E
R
A
I
R
A
S
Y
E
T
S
W
E
E
T
B
R
E
A
D
S
P
A
L
E
S
S
I
A
M
T
O
P
L
I
N
E
A
A
S
N
E
W
I
P
O
S
D
O
U
B
L
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M
I
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N
O
M
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R
S
E
R
N
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N
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B
A
D
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N
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M
R
T
M
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N
G
L
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H
H
O
R
N
G
O
R
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N
A
I
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A
V
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G
R
A
P
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N
U
T
S
L
I
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G
E
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I
R
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O
G
R
E
A
F
O
O
T
R
O
M
E
M
E
E
T
M
A
N
N
S
Thu 5/23/2024
P
D
F
T
R
Y
T
A
F
T
T
O
E
S
H
O
E
M
O
V
E
O
N
A
G
R
E
E
O
N
B
A
Y
A
R
E
A
B
R
A
E
S
L
A
T
S
M
R
T
B
E
I
R
U
T
A
N
T
F
E
I
G
O
D
E
S
R
I
S
K
T
O
N
N
E
A
S
S
D
I
M
E
S
L
E
T
G
O
B
O
X
B
R
A
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D
S
A
F
T
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R
A
S
F
O
R
F
B
I
B
I
O
T
A
T
H
E
N
A
R
L
O
U
R
N
S
I
M
O
S
A
V
E
U
S
E
C
G
S
P
A
W
N
R
I
S
E
L
O
A
F
P
A
N
A
T
T
A
C
H
E
A
N
N
I
E
S
L
A
S
S
O
E
S
E
S
T
D
A
N
Y
S
N
L
Look. I know I've gone on record about preferring themes that feel "human." But you have to understand... that was before I knew how to code! Now that I've learned Python's deep magic... I'm happy to be a hypocrite.
For those curious, here are a few other good theme pairs that didn't make the cut:
CORN OIL
HARPS ON
/
CARPOOL
HORNS IN
LA SPARK
POUTERS
/
LOST ARK
PAUPERS
NECTARS
TOELESS
/
NO CLASS
TEETERS
MONROES
BETTERS
/
MENTORS
BO TREES
Lastly, I've got a new daily puzzle game! It's called Order Up, and the idea is to arrange a list in order, like animals by how many limbs they have or foods by color of the rainbow. It's pretty fun — go give it a play!
– puzzle by Adam Wagner
Fri 5/24/2024
I
M
S
U
R
E
C
R
I
S
C
O
M
A
T
T
E
S
T
H
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T
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W
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S
A
T
M
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A
C
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I
C
S
T
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L
I
M
A
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H
A
C
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B
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A
N
I
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A
A
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B
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A
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A
B
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C
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A
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B
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M
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T
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A
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W
A
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C
A
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A
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A
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R
E
E
F
R
I
D
G
E
S
T
O
O
P
S
T
A
H
O
E
S
Sat 5/25/2024
W
A
M
P
U
M
M
A
M
B
A
S
I
G
U
A
N
A
S
A
R
E
O
L
A
F
E
S
T
I
V
U
S
R
E
R
O
L
L
F
O
I
S
T
N
E
S
T
S
B
E
A
L
U
C
Y
A
S
C
I
I
S
I
A
M
E
T
A
B
I
E
R
E
C
I
R
R
I
M
A
S
T
E
R
M
I
N
D
S
P
U
L
L
S
T
R
I
N
G
S
B
A
S
K
E
T
C
A
T
C
H
H
A
C
K
S
R
O
M
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O
G
A
P
I
R
K
S
M
I
D
A
S
T
A
S
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A
M
I
T
A
P
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D
C
R
U
S
T
T
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T
R
I
S
S
R
I
R
A
C
H
A
U
N
I
O
N
S
E
P
O
C
H
A
L
S
U
N
D
A
E
O
C
T
E
T
S
Sun 5/26/2024 Roughly Speaking
A
M
B
I
G
O
N
G
D
A
N
G
C
V
S
C
O
I
N
S
A
W
O
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D
I
G
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R
S
L
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N
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C
K
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W
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A
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Wed 5/29/2024
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Jeanne Breen: Just a little over a year after diving into crossword construction, I'm thrilled to be making my New York Times debut in collaboration with Jeff Chen. I'm an infectious disease physician, an instructor at Yale School of Medicine and a consultant to the biopharmaceutical industry. When not working, there's a good chance you'll find me swimming laps, reading or being amused by my Chihuahua, Griffin.
In April of 2023, after many years of solving crosswords, I decided I wanted to learn how to construct them. I took Brooke Husic and Natan Last's four-session construction course, bought Patrick Berry's Crossword Constructor's Handbook, consulted several online tools, and attempted to create my own puzzles. When I contacted the Times puzzle editors about possibly connecting with a mentor, Tracy Bennett pointed me toward Jeff, who couldn't have been more gracious toward this rookie.
We batted ideas back and forth across the continent via email (I'm in Connecticut, Jeff's in Seattle), testing out phrases that might generate good themes. Jeff mentioned RECIPE FOR DISASTER, and I immediately thought of HURRICANE and MUDSLIDE — and Dairy Queen's Blizzard treat, which didn't end up in the final version. Once we had our final theme set, Jeff let me take the lead in laying out the grid and was both encouraging and patient as I did so. Filling the grid was similarly collaborative.
In addition to serving as a wonderful new hobby, constructing has introduced me, both in person and virtually, to so many inspiring, encouraging, friendly, and witty people from whom I know I'll continue to learn. Gratitude! I'm in genuine awe of the many, many creative constructors whose work is represented on this site and feel honored to join them.
– puzzle by Jeanne Breen and Jeff Chen
Thu 5/30/2024
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Fri 5/31/2024
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Hi! I'm a high school senior graduating next Friday and turning 18 a few days after, so this is a very exciting time for me all around. I will be at Harvey Mudd next fall—but believe it or not, this is not the first NYT crossword made by a then-incoming freshman at Harvey Mudd. (The first ran in 2021.) I'm just here to continue the tradition.
I started with the grid shape, and got lucky by finding a solid center early on. I tried to incorporate as many fresh-but-accessible tech terms as possible, at least one per corner. When the M and S in the left middle lended themselves to MS PAINT, I knew I had to finish the grid. It was actually Christina Iverson of the NYT team who filled the bottom left after I just couldn't get it all the way—thank you, Christina! And thanks to everyone else for solving!