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| M | A | O | I | S | M | P | O | R | T | E | D | D | ||
| O | N | S | T | A | R | D | R | E | I | N | O | R | ||
| I | N | C | I | T | E | F | E | N | G | D | Y | E | ||
| L | E | A | N | E | D | A | H | N | O | L | D | |||
| R | A | E | S | C | A | T | T | E | R | E | D | |||
| C | I | N | N | I | G | H | T | O | W | L | ||||
| O | S | O | S | A | T | I | T | A | L | O | U | D | ||
| R | A | D | I | A | N | I | D | I | D | S | O | |||
| P | O | S | E | R | F | A | W | N | E | D | E | R | ||
| S | T | R | A | T | E | G | O | O | R | R | ||||
| S | P | U | T | T | E | R | E | D | P | A | R | |||
| C | A | N | A | A | N | D | I | C | E | R | S | |||
| A | N | D | T | T | O | P | U | N | E | V | I | E | ||
| L | S | U | U | T | E | S | S | E | L | E | N | A | ||
| E | Y | E | M | O | R | T | T | R | A | N | K | S |
I'm amazed that Damon managed to find four pairs of theme answers that would work in this puzzle. And the addition of PORT, MORT, CORP and DORR is sheer brilliance.
| J | O | B | A | F | L | A | C | I | N | T | E | L | ||
| A | A | A | C | U | O | M | O | N | E | H | R | U | ||
| R | T | J | O | H | N | S | O | N | T | W | A | I | N | |
| S | H | A | K | E | E | N | F | L | E | M | I | N | G | |
| E | S | P | E | U | R | O | ||||||||
| S | I | A | M | A | W | A | R | D | O | H | M | S | ||
| K | T | C | O | U | R | I | C | A | N | N | U | A | L | |
| U | S | A | M | A | N | I | A | C | S | R | I | O | ||
| A | O | R | T | A | S | D | D | R | A | M | O | N | E | |
| S | K | E | W | A | U | S | S | I | O | N | E | S | ||
| O | B | I | S | S | A | P | ||||||||
| K | C | A | F | F | L | E | C | K | W | E | A | V | E | |
| N | A | D | A | L | R | E | O | N | A | S | S | I | S | |
| U | T | I | C | A | I | D | L | E | S | A | L | P | ||
| T | E | N | E | T | D | E | A | T | H | P | E | N |
Last week Joel finished his third year as my summer intern, while he goes to Pomona College. His constructions are always superclean, and he manages to include some great vocabulary besides. In this puzzle I especially like IT'S OK, TWOFACE, PARASAIL, LUDACRIS, and NEW MOON. That's impressive fill for a puzzle with this much theme material. It takes careful placement of theme answers and black squares — and some serious crossword chops, too — to pull it off.
| W | H | A | T | S | R | A | C | A | R | T | E | |||
| A | O | N | E | L | A | S | E | A | V | A | I | L | ||
| X | B | O | X | R | I | V | A | L | M | I | N | T | S | |
| Y | O | N | A | M | E | B | A | E | A | G | L | E | ||
| F | R | E | N | C | H | F | O | R | Y | E | S | |||
| T | A | H | O | E | S | A | N | Y | ||||||
| A | G | O | G | R | E | M | I | T | N | B | A | |||
| P | E | R | S | O | N | A | L | P | R | O | N | O | U | N |
| S | E | N | L | E | E | K | S | A | S | S | T | |||
| C | D | E | A | S | S | E | T | S | ||||||
| C | R | Y | O | F | D | E | L | I | G | H | T | |||
| L | E | O | N | I | R | E | N | E | E | Q | E | D | ||
| U | S | U | A | L | M | I | N | I | A | T | U | R | E | |
| E | E | R | I | E | A | C | E | S | W | I | S | E | ||
| S | T | E | R | S | A | R | T | O | P | T | S |
This puzzle had been languishing in my files for several years, because I'd run a couple of others with we/wee/Wii/etc. themes. But I thought Dan's treatment was nice — and after a few years the whole idea feels fresh again.
| J | I | M | M | Y | F | A | L | L | O | N | P | B | J | |
| A | R | E | Y | O | U | R | E | A | D | Y | A | L | A | |
| K | I | N | G | S | R | A | N | S | O | M | R | O | C | |
| E | S | S | O | L | B | S | R | E | R | A | C | K | ||
| S | H | A | D | S | I | C | K | T | I | C | K | S | ||
| O | S | C | A | R | S | S | H | A | Q | |||||
| T | I | S | S | U | E | P | I | E | K | U | D | U | ||
| O | T | H | E | L | L | O | S | A | G | E | T | E | A | |
| G | A | O | L | M | A | C | M | O | D | E | S | T | ||
| A | L | O | E | A | T | O | A | S | T | |||||
| P | I | T | C | H | S | N | L | O | M | E | G | A | ||
| A | C | E | T | I | C | S | A | W | A | L | U | M | ||
| R | I | M | M | A | G | I | N | O | T | L | I | N | E | |
| T | Z | U | O | R | I | G | I | N | A | L | S | I | N | |
| Y | E | P | M | E | A | N | S | T | R | E | E | T | S |
Josh is a twenty-something constructor who puts together both a mean grid and clues. Most Friday/Saturday Times puzzles get heavy editing, but this is an exception. Most of the clues here are Josh's, including the very pretty 23A, 27A, 47A, 3D, 12D, 32D, and 55D.
| M | I | C | H | E | L | E | B | A | C | H | M | A | N | N |
| S | T | R | A | T | E | G | I | C | R | O | U | T | E | S |
| T | H | E | L | A | T | E | L | A | T | E | S | H | O | W |
| A | T | T | S | R | I | P | S | E | E | N | ||||
| N | C | I | S | S | I | O | U | X | D | I | A | Z | ||
| C | A | N | E | P | A | U | L | E | T | S | T | E | ||
| O | N | S | T | A | R | S | C | R | A | M | M | E | D | |
| A | S | I | F | O | O | P | S | |||||||
| A | F | L | U | T | T | E | R | X | E | S | O | U | T | |
| D | O | E | S | E | R | A | P | E | S | V | S | O | ||
| O | R | A | L | S | R | T | A | S | B | E | B | E | ||
| S | V | E | N | A | R | I | T | E | R | P | ||||
| H | U | E | V | O | S | R | A | N | C | H | E | R | O | S |
| U | R | B | A | N | D | I | C | T | I | O | N | A | R | Y |
| P | E | E | R | A | S | S | E | S | S | M | E | N | T | S |
PEER ASSESSMENTS running across the bottom row is a little cheap, and I didn't care much for ATTS and EGERIA. Still, overall this is a pretty spectacular construction. I'm impressed.
| T | T | A | D | R | O | L | D | E | M | Y | H | R | ||
| Y | H | T | N | A | M | O | E | L | I | O | T | E | ||
| R | E | T | R | A | C | E | N | A | C | I | R | R | U | H |
| O | S | H | O | E | R | D | N | A | L | O | C | |||
| A | E | L | S | T | O | T | S | T | I | M | O | |||
| E | U | G | E | S | A | N | I | R | T | A | K | |||
| K | R | Y | P | T | O | A | I | G | ||||||
| G | I | M | L | E | T | E | O | F | N | E | W | T | ||
| A | P | O | S | E | I | N | E | S | ||||||
| T | Y | P | H | O | O | N | B | R | I | D | E | |||
| R | E | U | S | E | I | P | U | T | E | L | Y | |||
| A | N | T | G | L | E | N | S | E | W | E | S | |||
| B | R | O | O | K | L | Y | N | C | Y | C | L | O | N | E |
| B | O | R | N | E | O | E | I | R | E | H | O | V | ||
| I | N | S | E | A | M | R | O | T | S | C | H | E |
A longtime solver told me recently that his all-time most-hated New York Times crossword was the one by Elizabeth Long on April 1, 2011, in which all the vertical answers on the right side of the grid ran upward. Of course, at the time he solved it, he didn't realize it was an April Fool's puzzle. I'm thinking he's going to hate this puzzle by Timothy Polin even more.
| B | A | B | E | E | M | I | T | S | I | T | C | H | ||
| I | C | E | S | N | A | S | A | L | S | O | L | O | ||
| T | H | E | S | U | L | T | A | N | O | F | S | W | A | T |
| S | E | R | E | N | I | T | Y | W | O | U | N | D | S | |
| S | I | S | P | A | R | E | ||||||||
| H | A | T | S | T | A | T | U | T | E | H | S | T | ||
| O | A | H | U | E | T | O | N | G | R | A | T | E | ||
| P | R | E | S | I | D | E | N | T | H | O | O | V | E | R |
| E | G | R | E | T | A | G | E | E | D | R | I | P | ||
| S | H | E | A | R | M | A | D | A | S | E | N | S | ||
| A | L | E | S | R | U | B | ||||||||
| H | O | R | R | I | D | M | A | K | E | U | P | T | O | |
| I | H | A | D | A | B | E | T | T | E | R | Y | E | A | R |
| T | I | T | O | A | R | G | O | N | E | R | I | C | ||
| S | O | A | R | T | E | E | M | S | R | U | T | H |
Erik's a pretty good clue writer. I changed fewer clues in this puzzle (about a third) than I do in most. I look forward to more puzzles from him.
| L | E | G | I | T | G | L | O | O | B | A | M | A | ||
| A | L | I | T | O | A | O | L | T | U | D | O | R | ||
| M | A | N | U | P | S | W | E | E | T | T | A | L | K | |
| P | L | A | N | B | S | H | O | V | E | M | E | S | ||
| E | A | S | Y | A | I | R | A | S | ||||||
| F | R | E | S | N | O | N | F | L | R | A | C | E | ||
| L | E | A | A | D | A | G | E | B | I | P | E | D | ||
| A | R | S | O | N | M | I | R | L | A | P | S | E | ||
| S | U | T | R | A | E | N | N | U | I | L | A | N | ||
| K | N | O | B | A | N | G | S | N | E | E | R | S | ||
| R | S | V | P | F | E | E | D | S | ||||||
| O | V | A | N | E | A | R | S | D | P | L | U | S | ||
| C | E | N | T | E | R | C | U | T | A | I | O | L | I | |
| H | I | G | H | C | T | I | E | T | E | N | E | T | ||
| S | L | E | E | K | S | T | S | E | D | G | E | S |
Ian worked as my assistant back in the fall of 2010 and spring of 2011. It was the first puzzle job he'd ever had, beneficial for both of us. He's now at Penny Press puzzle magazines in Connecticut. Ian's constructions are always super clean (like this one), and he's very flexible. Easy, medium or hard — he can construct an elegant puzzle at any skill level.
| C | T | H | E | D | O | G | S | O | F | F | B | A | C | |
| I | H | A | V | E | N | O | I | D | E | A | A | P | B | |
| O | R | I | O | L | E | S | N | E | S | T | T | H | O | |
| P | O | L | A | T | S | E | A | C | R | O | I | X | ||
| E | W | E | S | W | I | S | C | A | A | N | S | |||
| P | R | O | P | H | T | T | P | |||||||
| A | L | G | A | E | O | R | R | S | E | T | A | |||
| D | O | N | T | C | U | S | W | E | L | L | C | Y | O | U |
| S | O | U | L | R | O | E | T | I | E | R | S | |||
| E | M | I | T | D | O | D | O | |||||||
| A | P | S | O | S | H | E | T | N | C | A | R | |||
| C | H | I | E | N | C | A | P | E | S | A | M | O | ||
| A | O | L | G | U | A | D | A | L | C | A | N | A | L | |
| T | R | E | S | T | P | A | U | L | I | G | I | R | L | |
| C | A | S | T | O | O | C | L | O | S | E | T | O | C |
E-mail from Rachel Colangelo, organizer of the Pittsburgh Crossword Tournament: "We had another successful event and 64 participants helped to raise over $2,200 in support of the mission of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In the finals (today's puzzle), the three solvers were stumped for some time, but once they caught on to the rebus trick they flew through the solution. Mike Wilhelm, our winner, was a very impressive solver — he finished the Monday puzzle in 3.5 minutes."
| S | T | A | N | D | A | N | A | T | O | W | N | S | ||
| S | I | N | E | W | D | E | C | O | W | A | A | C | ||
| W | A | I | T | A | N | D | S | E | E | I | S | T | O | |
| R | E | O | U | N | H | A | T | |||||||
| G | O | O | F | F | O | N | A | T | A | N | G | E | N | T |
| M | A | R | A | S | U | R | F | S | S | T | Y | |||
| C | H | A | C | H | A | S | U | R | A | L | ||||
| S | U | L | T | A | N | A | T | E | O | F | O | M | A | N |
| A | R | D | O | R | S | E | N | O | R | A | ||||
| G | I | A | L | O | U | I | S | G | E | A | R | |||
| I | N | S | T | A | N | T | A | N | E | O | U | S | L | Y |
| J | A | P | A | N | A | N | N | |||||||
| O | T | I | S | U | N | A | T | T | E | S | T | E | D | |
| E | I | R | E | Z | I | N | C | I | C | A | R | E | ||
| S | E | E | D | I | T | C | H | L | I | N | E | S |
The large amount of theme material in this puzzle impacted the grid in some unappealing ways. Balancing quantity of theme and quality of fill is always tricky. At 35A, the constructor had SERAL ("Of ecological stages"). I thought SURAL was better, but probably not by much.
| I | N | T | O | R | O | S | A | P | A | S | T | A | ||
| N | O | R | I | O | B | I | S | A | R | N | E | L | ||
| F | I | E | L | D | W | O | R | K | T | R | I | N | I | |
| A | D | A | U | S | E | F | S | T | O | P | S | |||
| M | E | T | O | O | H | O | L | Y | W | E | E | K | ||
| Y | A | Y | S | T | H | E | R | O | D | D | U | I | ||
| K | A | S | E | M | U | N | A | P | T | |||||
| L | A | B | O | R | M | A | R | K | E | T | ||||
| S | T | A | R | S | I | C | E | E | S | |||||
| N | O | B | S | O | N | N | E | T | T | E | R | M | ||
| L | U | C | K | Y | D | O | G | A | S | T | E | R | ||
| S | O | U | S | E | D | R | A | T | U | G | H | |||
| P | L | A | N | T | D | O | U | B | L | E | D | A | Y | |
| B | E | T | T | E | E | V | I | L | M | E | L | D | ||
| A | S | S | A | M | D | O | N | E | I | S | E | E |
(In response to Jeff's comments): What percentage of solvers are tackling a Tuesday puzzle for the first time? It must be a fraction of a fraction of 1%. While I do keep beginners in mind, I'm most mindful of the fact that the vast majority of Times solvers are regulars. That's who I'm trying to entertain.
The real question regarding the KUNTA/ASSAM crossing is...is it fair? For a Times audience, I think yes. Kunta Kinte was the lead character in the most popular TV miniseries of all time — he's a cultural icon — and Assam is a celebrated state of India, with a rich history, famous for its tea and silk. These are things Times readers should know, in my opinion. And if they don't, they have failed the test. I'm not editing crosswords for supermarket tabloid readers. I'm editing for a sophisticated, educated Times audience.
My goal is not to guarantee readers error-free solutions. The Times crossword is supposed to be a challenge. That's part of what makes it interesting. I don't think watering down Tuesday's grid with more of the standard 3-, 4- and 5-letter words — with the loss of ABS SYSTEM, LAB COATS, PATTY DUKE, etc. — would have been an improvement. Easier, maybe. But better? No. Well, (as Jeff says), there's no right or wrong opinion.
| Y | A | K | S | L | E | A | P | E | R | A | M | P | ||
| A | D | A | M | A | L | P | I | N | E | G | E | E | ||
| O | M | N | I | P | O | P | P | Y | S | E | E | D | S | |
| O | G | R | E | S | L | E | A | X | O | U | T | |||
| S | N | A | K | E | E | Y | E | S | R | I | N | S | E | |
| F | I | R | O | D | E | D | O | G | E | A | R | |||
| O | S | O | S | A | E | R | A | T | E | |||||
| H | O | N | O | R | S | T | U | D | E | N | T | S | ||
| O | R | A | T | O | R | T | R | I | M | |||||
| T | R | A | C | E | D | A | S | A | A | D | A | |||
| H | E | R | O | S | W | A | L | L | P | A | P | E | R | |
| E | C | O | N | B | A | G | I | P | O | D | S | |||
| C | A | M | E | R | A | F | I | L | M | R | O | L | L | |
| O | N | A | O | R | E | L | S | E | T | O | I | T | ||
| W | T | S | B | E | R | E | T | S | A | R | P | S |
This is the first of four crosswords used last Saturday at the 4th annual Pittsburgh Crossword Tournament, where all proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You can read about the previous year's tournament.
| W | I | P | E | D | M | V | U | S | E | D | ||||
| A | D | A | M | C | R | U | E | T | N | E | A | R | ||
| R | O | T | C | R | A | N | T | O | P | I | T | Y | ||
| S | E | A | O | F | C | O | R | T | E | Z | ||||
| E | Y | E | O | F | T | H | E | T | I | G | E | R | ||
| C | F | C | R | T | S | D | E | B | D | E | A | |||
| E | F | L | A | T | S | S | E | R | U | M | S | |||
| L | E | I | C | A | M | U | D | R | E | P | O | S | ||
| E | T | N | A | B | A | N | J | O | H | O | T | E | ||
| B | E | E | I | N | O | N | E | S | B | O | N | N | E | T |
| B | A | S | S | E | Q | |||||||||
| S | E | E | Y | O | U | I | N | C | O | U | R | T | ||
| M | A | W | R | M | C | G | E | E | I | O | U | S | ||
| I | G | O | R | E | L | G | I | N | S | A | N | E | ||
| C | A | K | Y | D | A | Y | N | E | T | R | E | X |
I don't know how Jeff thought of the theme examples. They're very cute. My favorite, of course, was SEE YOU IN COURT.
Because the four long answers in the puzzle are essentially unclued, I tried to make the rest of the clues slightly easier than for the usual Thursday.