Thumbnails

This is Alan's second crossword for the Times — his last one being the memorable [ONE-ARMED] BANDITS, [TWO-BIT] CROOKS, [THREE-CARD] MONTE, and [FOUR-WAY] STOP puzzle on Nov. 7. Clearly he likes rebuses ... and breaking the "rules"! This puzzle turned out beautifully, I think. I don't know how solvers will indicate the four BACKs in the grid. I guess you'll just have to use your imagination.

– puzzle by Alan DerKazarian

A simple,straightforward theme for the start of the week. Apparently, Adam thought this was geared for a Wednesday or Thursday, as he wrote fairly challenging clues. As a result, most of the clues here are mine, to make them Monday-friendly. Adam owns an antique store called Pastimes in Ithaca, N.Y., which I'm looking forward to visiting sometime.

– puzzle by Adam G. Perl

Besides the theme of equestrian equipment, I liked some of the longer fill in this grid — ODD MAN OUT, LESSER GOD, TOOTHACHE, AIR HOSE, and especially WELL I'LL BE.

– puzzle by Phil Ruzbarsky

In "Wordplay" Trip Payne remarks that "Q" is his favorite letter of the alphabet, and I agree. Q is a fun letter to build a theme around, and the Q-related puns here are all pretty good.

– puzzle by Daniel Raymon

How long did it take you to catch on to this puzzle's theme? Since this sort of theme has appeared several times before, maybe not long. The constructor's clue for 16A was "Stick ___ in the water." My assistant, Anna, suggested what you got, which I thought was pretty clever.

– puzzle by Dan Schoenholz

HARAJUKU GIRLS (51A) were new to me ... but I like the phrase. Other favorite entries here include CREAM AND SUGAR, GLORY BE, TOO BAD, CELINE DION, TUNA ROLL, GOOF ON, and TILT-A-WHIRL.

– puzzle by Elizabeth C. Gorski

Originally this puzzle started as a Friday, but the three test-solvers found it so challenging that I bumped it up to Saturday. My favorite entries here include PROACTIV, BB GUN, HAS NO IDEA, EMMA STONE, OLD GEEZER, JEZEBEL, BOOK-SMART, SANDAL TAN, BUG ZAPPER, GLEE CLUB, USER NAME, and EASYGOING. Very handsome!

– puzzle by James Mulhern

I've held this puzzle for 3-1/2 years, which is an unusually long time for any day of the week, but especially for a Monday. That's because I get a lot of puzzles with "words that go with" sorts of themes, and I try to space them out. This one I thought was pretty nice, because it has five theme examples, in addition to the "explainer entry" at 64A.

– puzzle by Nina Rulon-Miller

This puzzle has an unusually specific theme — familiar phrases in the form MA- MA-, ME- ME-, MI- MI-, etc. I hope solvers don't notice just the M and Ms, especially with the M AND M entry at 55A, which is a little distracting!

– puzzle by Bill Thompson

I don't run puzzles with quote or quip themes very often, as in my experience they're not terribly popular. Once in a while, though, I think they're nice, for variety's sake, and the quote here by Albert Einstein (58A/39D) I thought was pretty amusing.

– puzzle by Steve Savoy

If I were selecting a Puzzle of the Week, this would probably be it. Both the theme idea and execution are beautiful. And most of the clues here are David's. I made the clues slightly easier than I usually would for a Thursday, because of the nastiness of the theme.

The puzzle is still probably pretty hard. Incidentally, the Monday-Thursday puzzles this week were used last Saturday at the 1st Arlington Heights (Ill.) Memorial Library Crossword Tournament. David's crossword, which was the playoff, is probably the first tournament puzzle ever in which empty squares in the solution were counted correct!

– puzzle by David Steinberg

Gary Cee is a radio program director and on-air host for two New York/New Jersey rock stations. One of them is Rock 93.3, billed as the Hudson Valley's Next Generation of Classic Rock — in my neck of the woods. Maybe I should tune in! This puzzle has a lot of great vocabulary. I especially like SNOW JOB, MAN-HOUR, BEN HUR, ONE-OFF, IT'S DONE, MA AND PA, FOUR-COLOR, NOSE-TO-NOSE, BLUETOOTH, and the two 15s. That's a lot of great stuff.

– puzzle by Gary Cee

You get an extra row of solving pleasure in today's 15x16 crossword by Martin Ashwood-Smith. All four 15-letter answers in the middle of the grid are nice, and the crossings are amazingly smooth.

– puzzle by Martin Ashwood-Smith

It is no exaggeration to say that today's puzzle is on par with the discovery of fire. Traveling bards will write epic tales and sing songs about the clever theme, the sublime execution, and the visual elegance comparable only to Baryshnikov at the pinnacle of his career. Jeff Chen is a Feynman-level ubergenius, no doubt possessing the most evolved mind since the inception of the primordial ooze, and has the ability to add comments into the "Will Shortz notes" box at his discretion.

– puzzle by Jeff Chen

The four main theme entries, at 17A, 50A, 11D, and 24D, are nice, but they're not what sold me on this puzzle. It was the bonus themers of CIAO, TA-TA, and GOODBYE that moved it into the special category for me. The nontheme entries I'M YOURS, YOU LOSE, and SKI SLOPES are handsome, too.

– puzzle by Greg Johnson

Some people seem to judge puzzles by the "worst" answers in the grid. For me these would be SAT I (which isn't used anymore), KNT, GE'S, ENT, and NONNA. But to me a puzzle should be judged as a whole. This one has, amazingly, eight theme answers, interlocking no less, plus an "explainer" at 54A. That's pretty fancy constructing. RAIN HAT, SUNBATH, BIG IDEA, and IT'LL DO are pretty nice, too.

– puzzle by Paula Gamache

Ed Sessa lives on Sanibel island, Florida. We had the pleasure of meeting a year ago when I spoke at the local library. Today's puzzle by Ed is simple — just three theme entries — but they're all nice ones, and they make me smile.

– puzzle by Ed Sessa

This puzzle is best appreciated in print form, which I hope most solvers use. We did, however, find a workaround for those who have no choice but to solve electronically. As far as I know this is the first Times crossword ever to use heavy bars to separate words in the grid. The two constructors collaborated on it entirely by email. George lives near Minneapolis, Michael in Baltimore.

– puzzle by George Barany and Michael Shteyman

Ian was my assistant from fall 2010 through the spring of 2011. Over the years he's turned into a crackerjack constructor. Easy, medium, or hard — any difficulty level is fine for him. Superclean constructions, too. In this grid I like MAN CAVE, MUG SHOT, USO TOUR, CROPLAND, SAM ADAMS, HOT TUB, IT WORKS, YES MA'AM, GAS MASK, and ED HELMS. And that's just in the Acrosses!

– puzzle by Ian Livengood

Happy 100th birthday to the crossword puzzle, which first appeared on Dec. 21, 1913! Today's puzzle is a modest celebration of Arthur Wynne's invention. The hollow diamond shape of Wynne's first crossword is retained in today's puzzle — with FUN in the appropriate spot no less (as the first three letters of 16A). In the print version of this puzzle, the original diamond shape is indicated with shaded squares. It's impossible to present shading in Across Lite, and it didn't seem worthwhile adding circles, so if you solve electronically ... you'll have to use your imagination.

– puzzle by Todd Gross and David Steinberg

Andrea Carla Michaels is the most "promiscuous" of New York Times crossword constructors. This is her 20th collaboration in The Times with nine different contributors! The "word that goes with" sort of theme has become overdone, but this one is nicely handled, with a handsome construction to boot. The only entry here I don't like is O-NINE, which isn't too bad.

– puzzle by Michael Blake and Andrea Carla Michaels

David Kahn is the master of tribute crosswords, which he's done quite a few times. He always picks someone worthy of honoring, then manages to pack an incredible amount of theme material into the grid. Because tribute themes tend to be straightforward, I don't care to run this sort of thing too often. But once in a while, for novelty's sake, definitely. TATA (46A) here is a bonus theme answer — an amazing coincidence, I guess. David's clue for TATA did not mention Mandela.

– puzzle by David J. Kahn

I've been saving this puzzle since May, to run on or near Christmas. I especially like that 41A crosses two letters of the center ring — very elegant.

– puzzle by Jacob Stulberg

When I started at The Times in 1993, I was cautioned that ANAL (23D) was not an appropriate word for the paper to run in a puzzle. But times — and standards of taste — change, and it seems OK to me now. Tim's puzzle has just 70 entries, which is two fewer than the maximum for a themeless puzzle, and this puzzle manages five long theme answers. I'm impressed.

– puzzle by Tim Croce

Twice a year for the past few years Ian Livengood has conducted a class on crossword construction for the Jewish Association Serving the Aging in New York City. (Caleb Madison started the class in 2010, but Ian took it over when Caleb went off to Yale.) As with all of Ian's constructions, the grid here is lively and superclean. I wonder how he does a collaboration like this in real time in a class.

– puzzle by Ian Livengood & J.A.S.A. Crossword Class

Years ago Will Weng wrote that in his opinion a crossword was a good one if 10% of the entries were fresh and lively. By this standard, Frederick's puzzle is a wild success. Some of the entries I like in it are JUMBO FRIES, ONION RINGS, BORN TO RUN, LET'S PARTY, SMILEY FACE, ANYONE ELSE, SUGAR-COATED, RIP-SNORTER, JUST PEACHY, and SILLY ME — and not too much GUNK! That's handsome work.

– puzzle by Frederick J. Healy