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A | L | A | N | I | S | E | L | W | A | Y | A | B | L | U | S | H | ||||
T | I | T | A | N | I | C | K | O | H | L | S | C | R | E | A | S | E | S | ||
S | M | A | C | K | E | R | E | M | A | I | L | O | T | T | O | M | A | N | ||
I | L | L | E | G | A | L | A | C | E | F | R | E | T | S | A | W | ||||
U | T | A | D | E | S | I | L | A | N | O | P | R | Y | R | O | W | ||||
S | O | N | G | D | H | L | I | M | A | R | O | Y | M | I | R | A | ||||
A | N | T | E | S | I | T | S | N | O | T | F | A | R | W | A | N | L | Y | ||
E | A | T | S | I | N | A | D | L | E | R | E | F | I | L | E | D | ||||
I | N | O | T | P | A | E | S | E | A | R | I | L | ||||||||
T | M | A | N | S | O | A | P | I | D | L | Y | S | E | W | S | |||||
B | I | L | G | E | C | H | I | C | A | G | O | G | A | T | O | R | ||||
S | T | E | E | P | C | H | I | N | A | S | H | O | P | I | N | T | R | O | ||
E | X | A | C | T | A | C | O | M | E | T | O | R | A | T | E | D | ||||
R | O | S | S | I | R | O | C | A | R | E | N | A | ||||||||
A | T | M | T | U | T | T | E | S | L | E | P | T | I | R | A | |||||
S | H | A | G | O | V | E | R | D | U | E | A | N | O | D | ||||||
A | R | C | E | D | G | O | E | X | T | I | N | C | T | B | L | A | B | S | ||
T | O | E | N | A | I | L | R | U | S | T | S | A | P | O | L | L | O | I | ||
E | N | D | A | N | G | E | R | E | D | S | P | E | C | I | E | S | A | C | T | |
A | G | O | C | O | A | R | S | E | Y | O | R | K | E | R | R | O | E | |||
M | S | N | E | R | N | S | T | T | E | S | T | S | M | P | S |
John Rippe, of Silver Spring, Md., works in the Office of Protected Resources at the National Marine Fisheries Service. Jeff Chen, of Seattle, is a writer and prolific crossword collaborator.
John specifically focuses on the 112-/114-Across in his work, and this puzzle is a tribute to its impact.
I | T | S | O | N | C | A | B | O | O | S | E | S | I | Q | T | E | S | T | ||
V | O | I | L | E | O | M | E | L | E | T | T | E | P | U | E | N | T | E | ||
E | O | N | D | O | W | N | T | H | E | R | O | A | D | S | E | A | S | O | N | |
A | C | E | S | I | G | O | R | C | L | A | M | S | C | O | N | E | ||||
T | U | B | A | F | R | O | A | R | K | T | A | B | O | U | R | E | T | |||
E | T | A | R | E | E | B | L | A | C | K | E | Y | E | D | P | |||||
N | E | R | V | E | S | T | A | Y | M | A | N | O | H | I | O | A | N | S | ||
A | Y | E | S | I | R | R | I | P | A | P | O | G | E | E | ||||||
S | E | N | O | R | V | E | S | T | F | O | U | R | D | E | A | N | ||||
B | E | N | U | I | T | O | R | L | O | S | E | I | T | L | I | R | E | |||
E | S | C | A | P | E | E | U | D | O | A | M | N | E | S | I | C | ||||
T | S | A | R | A | W | O | R | D | T | O | T | H | E | W | T | S | A | |||
C | I | N | C | W | R | E | N | Y | O | D | A | M | A | R | S | H | ||||
H | O | T | T | I | E | E | T | C | I | N | T | E | N | D | ||||||
A | N | O | I | N | T | S | W | A | V | E | S | K | I | K | A | S | E | M | ||
C | T | H | E | M | O | M | E | N | T | D | O | E | A | N | I | |||||
A | N | T | I | H | E | R | O | P | E | T | N | E | V | E | M | T | A | |||
Z | A | I | R | E | B | R | I | S | C | O | P | E | F | A | R | M | ||||
T | O | M | C | A | T | A | S | I | G | H | T | F | O | R | S | O | R | E | I | |
E | M | I | L | I | O | L | I | T | T | E | R | E | D | P | A | R | E | N | ||
C | I | D | E | R | Y | S | T | E | E | P | L | E | S | F | L | A | S | K |
Tracy Gray lives in Hunt Valley, Md. She and her husband recently retired after 35 years of owning and operating a lawn and landscaping business outside Baltimore.
This puzzle started with its title, which Tracy then brainstormed themes to fit — the crossword equivalent of putting the cart before the horse.
I | S | A | I | D | T | E | M | P | I | H | E | A | R | C | G | I | ||||
B | A | L | S | A | C | H | R | I | S | T | I | S | L | E | A | R | M | |||
A | L | A | R | M | T | H | E | R | A | Y | S | H | O | T | D | A | T | E | S | |
R | E | M | A | R | I | A | S | A | L | A | A | L | B | E | E | |||||
S | O | W | S | E | A | R | D | A | Z | E | T | H | E | C | O | U | N | T | ||
I | C | K | C | L | O | R | O | X | A | S | T | E | R | S | ||||||
M | E | N | U | T | H | A | T | S | O | A | N | T | E | G | P | A | ||||
C | I | T | E | S | T | H | E | S | E | E | L | U | G | E | D | L | A | S | ||
O | R | A | L | I | N | R | E | Y | A | L | I | E | B | A | C | K | ||||
N | O | S | I | R | E | E | S | E | E | S | I | N | S | O | R | E | S | |||
S | C | R | E | W | S | T | H | E | T | I | T | A | N | S | ||||||
B | E | T | T | A | D | R | I | E | S | T | H | B | O | S | H | O | W | |||
R | A | H | S | O | V | E | R | T | K | N | E | E | L | I | M | O | ||||
I | T | E | S | P | I | N | E | H | O | N | O | R | T | H | E | D | E | W | ||
E | T | D | U | R | L | S | T | O | N | E | M | E | E | V | E | N | ||||
H | E | R | B | A | L | D | E | L | U | X | E | O | L | E | ||||||
H | E | A | T | T | H | E | B | E | E | T | S | G | O | A | L | L | I | N | ||
O | R | D | E | R | J | A | N | P | U | T | T | Y | N | E | S | |||||
P | I | S | S | A | R | R | O | P | R | E | S | S | T | H | E | M | E | A | T | |
I | C | E | C | H | A | R | O | P | T | S | T | O | A | O | R | T | A | |||
S | H | A | T | O | O | K | P | I | E | T | A | H | I | T | O | N |
Spencer Leach is a third-year mechanical engineering student at Virginia Tech. Their engineering background influences how they generate themes — for this puzzle, they used a custom bit of Python code to compare a list of homonyms against common phrases.
Spencer is currently in the midst of a summer internship search and hopes any would-be employers enjoy this puzzle!
P | R | O | B | B | U | S | E | S | A | G | A | S | P | P | E | D | I | |||
D | O | V | E | A | M | U | S | T | J | E | L | L | O | O | N | E | S | |||
F | U | E | L | S | S | P | E | C | U | L | A | T | I | O | N | O | P | A | L | |
S | T | R | I | P | E | S | A | P | E | X | P | I | L | L | A | G | E | |||
E | A | T | S | P | O | T | W | I | S | E | A | S | S | E | S | |||||
H | O | L | D | S | W | A | T | E | R | G | I | L | S | I | R | S | ||||
E | L | O | M | O | N | O | H | O | L | L | A | L | E | A | D | S | ||||
W | I | S | P | S | G | O | E | S | A | L | L | I | N | A | S | N | E | R | ||
E | V | E | L | F | U | D | G | E | S | F | A | C | T | S | O | T | T | O | ||
D | E | T | A | I | L | S | G | A | P | S | I | S | U | Z | U | |||||
R | O | N | C | O | Y | O | N | H | U | T | P | E | R | M | S | |||||
T | E | A | M | O | A | M | I | S | P | E | N | C | A | P | S | |||||
M | E | N | S | T | A | K | E | S | O | R | D | E | R | S | E | S | A | U | ||
G | R | E | E | D | D | O | N | T | S | T | A | R | E | T | S | A | R | S | ||
M | A | U | V | E | D | O | R | I | S | A | P | B | S | L | E | I | ||||
R | I | C | H | N | O | N | S | E | T | S | A | T | E | A | S | E | ||||
H | E | A | D | C | A | N | O | N | R | I | C | O | S | O | N | |||||
O | N | L | E | A | V | E | F | O | N | Z | I | Q | R | A | N | G | E | |||
V | O | N | N | E | X | C | H | A | N | G | E | S | N | U | M | B | E | R | S | |
E | L | E | C | T | U | P | A | C | I | M | A | G | E | L | E | A | P | |||
R | A | T | E | O | S | A | G | E | T | A | X | E | S | E | D | D | Y |
John Kugelman, of Gainesville, Va., is a software engineer and musician. This is his third crossword for The Times — all Sundays.
Crossword construction and music "tickle all the same brain cells," he says, as each is "half-creative and half-technical". He adds: "Sundays are like the progressive rock of crosswords. I love 20-minute songs, and I love 21x21 grids."
B | O | S | C | A | C | D | C | O | T | O | H | D | I | A | L | ||||||
B | A | L | E | R | S | L | I | E | R | L | A | N | E | O | U | T | D | O | |||
M | A | D | E | A | H | O | T | M | A | G | E | N | T | A | F | R | O | D | O | ||
W | T | F | T | R | I | T | E | N | I | A | G | A | R | A | F | A | L | L | S | ||
S | H | A | K | E | O | N | S | T | I | R | R | E | R | V | E | N | D | E | E | ||
I | N | R | U | S | H | L | A | D | Y | L | I | B | E | R | T | Y | |||||
S | T | O | L | E | E | N | C | L | S | O | A | R | T | E | A | R | Y | ||||
S | C | H | W | A | M | Y | B | N | E | M | O | S | K | A | |||||||
O | A | F | K | A | Y | A | S | H | T | O | N | W | A | R | R | O | O | M | |||
S | T | U | D | E | N | T | S | T | O | E | C | A | P | N | Y | E | |||||
O | S | L | O | T | H | E | S | O | U | T | H | W | E | S | T | P | E | D | I | ||
T | E | M | C | E | N | S | O | R | T | O | R | E | O | P | E | N | |||||
J | O | S | H | G | A | D | T | E | E | N | E | R | L | A | V | C | A | D | |||
A | X | E | O | N | I | T | B | A | D | E | B | O | N | Y | |||||||
B | O | L | T | S | S | O | C | A | P | H | I | L | B | R | A | T | S | ||||
F | O | U | R | C | O | R | N | E | R | S | T | R | A | G | I | C | |||||
B | I | S | T | R | O | K | A | T | R | I | N | A | O | I | L | L | E | A | K | ||
A | R | E | A | F | I | F | T | Y | O | N | E | S | I | S | T | A | N | E | E | ||
C | A | R | L | E | L | I | O | N | S | S | H | A | R | E | D | O | T | T | Y | ||
H | I | V | E | D | O | M | N | I | T | U | N | A | S | E | D | E | N | S | |||
S | L | E | D | P | E | S | O | S | H | A | Q | S | E | R | A |
Simeon Seigel is an architect at The Turret Collaborative in New York City. He uses his daily subway commute to "trainstorm" theme ideas — including this one, which has been in the works since 2018.
He writes "The best themes, to me, are the ones that hinge on breaking ‘rules' which I hadn't thought of as rules until they were broken."
C | R | A | T | E | A | S | P | C | A | B | T | S | A | L | P | S | ||||
L | E | T | E | M | M | O | L | A | R | U | S | E | S | P | O | R | T | |||
I | N | A | P | U | R | C | H | A | S | E | T | H | E | H | O | R | R | O | R | |
P | A | R | I | S | H | O | N | E | A | N | I | M | A | L | E | V | E | |||
S | L | I | D | I | M | T | O | L | D | F | O | R | T | H | I | S | N | O | W | |
D | N | A | O | A | T | T | O | A | S | T | ||||||||||
S | M | S | M | O | P | S | A | V | E | A | S | T | E | S | S | A | ||||
H | A | W | A | I | S | L | A | N | D | E | R | S | B | R | E | W | P | U | B | |
E | L | E | C | T | E | R | A | H | E | R | O | N | A | M | I | |||||
S | T | E | E | R | G | L | I | D | E | R | N | U | T | C | O | T | ||||
T | R | I | P | L | E | L | E | T | T | E | R | S | C | O | R | E | ||||
A | B | C | R | A | N | G | A | E | L | I | C | N | O | S | E | S | ||||
B | R | O | D | O | Z | E | N | I | C | H | E | L | U | D | E | |||||
B | A | R | C | O | D | E | C | N | E | W | S | H | E | A | D | L | I | N | E | |
A | N | N | A | N | G | O | A | T | E | E | T | U | G | T | A | P | ||||
M | E | L | E | E | B | A | E | T | S | E | ||||||||||
K | R | I | S | T | I | N | S | C | O | T | H | O | M | A | S | T | H | I | N | |
N | A | M | H | O | T | T | U | B | O | N | T | I | P | H | O | N | E | |||
O | D | D | M | A | N | O | U | T | B | U | S | I | N | E | S | E | N | S | E | |
C | O | U | R | T | M | R | I | C | R | E | D | O | A | S | K | E | D | |||
K | N | E | E | B | E | E | E | S | T | A | R | T | E | S | T | Y |
Enrique Henestroza Anguiano, of Oakland, Calif., is a data scientist. Matthew Stock, of Gainesville, Fla., is a master's student in school counseling.
They met through the online indie crossword community as fans of each other's puzzle blogs. This puzzle was constructed entirely over email, but as Matthew writes, "We're long overdue for a video call!"
A | S | K | S | W | E | T | C | C | T | V | H | E | A | V | E | S | ||||
C | H | I | A | S | I | N | E | O | R | E | O | U | M | P | I | R | E | |||
D | I | D | N | T | M | I | S | S | A | B | E | A | T | H | O | R | N | E | D | |
C | A | D | D | I | E | U | S | E | A | C | E | D | J | E | N | N | A | |||
M | A | D | E | A | R | A | S | H | D | E | C | I | S | I | O | N | ||||
C | I | C | E | R | O | R | E | I | N | E | R | S | E | W | ||||||
S | O | S | O | V | O | I | L | A | N | O | R | I | S | K | ||||||
K | N | O | W | T | H | E | D | R | I | L | L | E | L | I | S | H | A | |||
A | S | S | E | R | T | Y | A | P | E | E | Y | O | R | E | T | O | N | |||
C | R | I | M | P | S | O | N | E | O | N | D | W | E | L | T | |||||
E | P | E | E | L | O | S | T | M | Y | T | O | U | C | H | I | P | A | S | ||
M | O | L | D | S | S | E | O | U | L | G | E | O | D | E | S | |||||
I | R | E | P | R | E | Y | O | N | A | D | A | S | O | N | O | M | A | |||
L | E | S | S | E | E | G | A | V | E | M | E | T | H | E | N | O | D | |||
T | W | O | C | A | R | V | A | L | E | T | R | I | N | D | ||||||
K | I | A | R | O | T | A | T | E | C | O | P | S | T | O | ||||||
S | A | W | R | I | G | H | T | T | H | R | O | U | G | H | M | E | ||||
C | R | A | S | S | N | E | A | R | C | N | N | B | R | A | I | S | E | |||
A | M | N | I | O | S | S | T | A | N | D | C | O | R | R | E | C | T | E | D | |
R | I | N | G | U | P | T | A | C | O | A | M | I | E | H | E | A | D | |||
S | C | A | N | T | Y | S | T | E | M | P | E | G | E | M | M | Y |
Katie Hale, of London, England, is a freelance crossword editor. Her co-constructor Scott Hogan is a patent attorney from Midland, Mich. This is their second Sunday collaboration for the Times.
This puzzle's genesis is owed to Scott's wife, Edith, a podiatrist who came home one day with the joke you see at 120-Across
G | I | S | S | C | R | I | M | P | O | E | M | H | E | A | P | |||||
A | P | P | S | C | A | R | A | F | E | I | N | N | O | C | E | N | C | E | ||
S | L | O | P | O | N | E | P | E | R | P | O | T | R | O | A | S | T | S | ||
H | A | T | E | R | A | D | E | A | L | Y | E | N | T | R | U | S | T | |||
E | N | T | A | I | L | S | G | R | O | O | M | E | R | S | D | I | M | E | ||
A | T | E | K | O | S | H | E | R | T | I | E | R | S | A | T | T | A | R | ||
T | O | R | T | A | L | I | G | N | S | A | A | C | H | E | D | |||||
O | V | E | R | S | T | O | C | K | S | B | I | E | R | |||||||
P | B | S | I | C | K | T | O | O | I | T | E | M | O | R | B | S | ||||
A | I | N | T | S | O | H | E | N | N | A | R | E | S | C | U | E | O | P | ||
I | D | A | H | O | J | U | D | I | C | I | O | U | S | A | G | G | I | E | ||
R | E | F | E | R | R | A | L | N | O | R | S | E | I | N | H | A | L | E | ||
S | N | U | G | I | R | A | Q | R | I | P | D | O | O | L | S | D | ||||
R | I | D | S | U | N | D | E | R | T | O | N | E | S | |||||||
F | R | A | M | E | M | O | O | R | E | E | L | A | I | D | S | |||||
C | L | A | P | S | D | A | T | U | M | Y | E | L | L | O | W | S | E | A | ||
A | I | D | E | R | E | V | E | N | U | E | S | P | O | O | L | I | N | G | ||
T | R | I | V | I | A | L | S | S | N | P | A | T | O | O | T | I | E | |||
S | T | A | I | R | S | T | E | P | C | O | H | O | R | T | G | N | A | T | ||
P | E | N | N | S | T | A | T | E | A | K | I | N | T | O | S | O | L | E | ||
A | R | S | E | A | S | A | P | T | I | D | E | S | T | S | A |
Sid Sivakumar is an M.D./Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis, training in biomedical engineering and neuroscience. This is his 17th crossword for The Times.
Since the theme material appears mostly in the middle, Sid made the grid's sides — and especially the corners — quite open, giving them a themeless feel. "I was very fortunate they turned out so clean and fresh," Sid says. "I'm usually not so lucky!"
D | O | M | P | A | R | T | S | L | O | T | S | T | A | M | B | A | ||||
U | N | I | C | O | D | E | I | H | O | P | E | H | U | R | R | I | E | D | ||
G | A | M | E | L | A | N | B | E | R | R | A | O | N | E | A | C | R | E | ||
U | I | E | S | M | O | V | I | E | C | A | M | E | R | A | O | R | E | L | ||
P | R | O | A | M | W | H | A | T | A | H | O | O | T | Q | U | O | T | E | ||
G | R | A | I | N | S | N | O | P | U | L | P | |||||||||
M | E | R | R | N | S | A | S | S | T | S | F | O | E | H | E | N | ||||
I | V | A | N | I | V | I | M | I | T | A | T | E | W | E | L | O | S | T | ||
R | E | P | I | N | E | N | O | D | U | L | A | R | E | R | E | N | O | W | ||
A | S | H | C | A | N | C | R | E | D | I | T | S | R | E | T | E | S | T | ||
O | R | T | S | A | N | I | S | E | S | P | Y | S | ||||||||
Y | O | P | L | A | I | T | L | O | O | M | S | P | L | E | A | T | E | D | ||
A | S | H | E | O | O | P | T | E | A | K | I | A | T | H | A | I | ||||
W | H | O | O | N | C | E | E | R | N | E | R | N | O | O | V | A | ||||
S | A | N | D | U | S | K | Y | S | A | S | P | I | T | C | H | M | E | N | ||
O | A | R | T | O | N | O | T | T | T | O | A | |||||||||
S | I | G | N | S | I | T | E | S | O | P | H | E | S | T | E | |||||
N | O | R | L | A | C | E | U | P | T | I | N | H | A | T | A | R | M | |||
I | N | A | F | U | N | K | T | U | T | O | R | O | V | E | R | L | I | E | ||
P | I | P | E | T | T | E | E | M | O | J | I | N | O | C | O | V | E | R | ||
S | C | H | M | E | A | R | R | A | M | O | S | E | C | S | T | A | S | Y |
Peter Koetters is a pediatrician in Pasadena, Calif. This is his fifth crossword for The Times since 2012, and first Sunday.
His interest in constructing was piqued by the 2006 documentary "Wordplay," in which he saw Merl Reagle go through the steps of creating a puzzle. He thought "I wonder if I can do that?" Peter says his puzzlemaking is intermittent. "My wife hates it when I wall myself off for days working on these things."
B | I | F | L | A | G | N | A | G | J | O | B | J | O | S | I | E | ||||
A | R | E | O | L | A | E | B | A | R | C | O | D | E | A | P | I | N | G | ||
G | U | I | L | T | Y | A | S | C | H | A | R | G | E | D | C | I | R | C | A | |
E | L | S | A | D | R | E | M | E | G | S | O | K | A | Y | E | D | ||||
L | E | T | C | A | N | T | C | O | M | P | L | A | I | N | T | E | N | |||
J | A | R | S | O | V | A | T | E | D | I | G | E | S | T | S | |||||
E | M | A | I | L | T | O | E | K | A | T | O | S | I | P | ||||||
T | E | L | L | M | E | I | M | P | R | E | T | T | Y | O | L | I | V | E | ||
N | A | I | L | N | C | I | S | M | I | R | O | A | D | O | R | E | D | |||
A | L | A | B | A | M | A | B | E | F | I | T | R | C | A | ||||||
S | I | X | I | N | C | H | O | R | F | O | O | T | L | O | N | G | ||||
D | O | T | L | E | W | I | S | R | I | P | S | O | F | F | ||||||
G | A | M | E | L | Y | A | L | I | T | V | E | E | S | H | A | R | E | |||
L | L | A | N | O | P | L | E | A | S | E | B | E | S | E | A | T | E | D | ||
I | L | K | T | K | O | S | O | R | B | A | R | S | E | S | ||||||
B | E | E | T | L | E | S | T | T | O | P | S | M | A | R | K | |||||
G | A | R | Y | O | U | R | E | T | H | E | B | O | S | S | W | A | R | |||
M | O | W | E | R | S | C | A | S | T | E | T | S | Z | E | T | A | ||||
B | R | I | B | E | G | O | D | S | A | V | E | T | H | E | Q | U | E | E | N | |
A | I | S | L | E | O | N | E | A | W | A | Y | S | T | U | N | K | A | T | ||
S | C | H | E | D | A | N | D | A | X | E | S | E | I | S | M | S |
Daniel Grinberg, of Philadelphia, researches user experience for a utility company. This is his fifth crossword for The Times. It was inspired at a party when he heard someone with a new haircut cry [the answer to 47-Across]. To which he thought [the clue to 47-Across] — which became the seed of this puzzle. Apart from its theme,
Daniel tried to include new vocabulary in the grid. 1A, 116A, 10D, 15D, 36D and 74D are all appearing in a Times crossword for the first time.
S | L | O | T | C | A | R | M | E | S | S | I | P | L | O | S | I | V | E | ||
R | E | W | R | O | T | E | I | V | I | E | S | R | A | N | A | W | A | Y | ||
S | I | L | E | N | T | M | D | E | N | I | S | A | N | E | M | O | N | E | ||
S | M | A | S | H | I | N | G | S | U | C | C | E | S | S | ||||||
H | A | S | A | B | L | A | S | T | M | E | A | T | H | E | A | D | S | |||
F | E | N | N | O | E | S | R | I | O | T | E | T | A | |||||||
A | R | I | A | Y | E | T | S | P | A | E | C | G | G | L | U | T | ||||
C | O | S | M | O | P | A | L | P | I | T | A | T | E | T | A | I | N | T | ||
T | I | T | E | R | Y | E | N | T | L | M | I | L | N | E | ||||||
O | Z | O | N | E | H | G | O | W | H | H | O | G | M | C | U | L | E | S | ||
R | E | N | D | C | O | I | N | S | E | U | R | O | S | S | O | R | T | |||
B | A | R | N | O | A | T | R | A | K | E | ||||||||||
Z | I | P | C | A | R | S | F | U | R | O | R | R | I | C | H | A | R | D | ||
E | F | I | L | E | D | N | O | T | E | P | A | D | N | O | O | G | I | E | ||
E | S | A | U | S | I | X | T | A | U | M | E | M | E | |||||||
B | L | A | C | K | H | H | I | N | O | N | E | |||||||||
S | E | A | S | H | O | R | E | D | O | T | S | I | D | E | S | L | I | P | ||
I | N | S | C | A | L | E | M | U | R | A | L | T | E | A | T | I | M | E | ||
D | O | P | E | S | W | H | A | C | A | M | O | L | E | R | A | S | P | S | ||
E | L | E | N | A | S | E | N | A | T | E | B | I | D | S | T | L | E | O | ||
B | A | N | E | M | E | T | E | R | E | D | E | E | L | S |
Nathan Hasegawa, of Oakland, Calif., is a junior at Harvey Mudd College, majoring in mathematics.
This is his second crossword for The Times. His first was in 2021, during his senior year at high school, when every student had to pursue a year-long project, and Nathan made it his goal to get a crossword published here. This follow-up was two years in the making (on and off) and has a multifaceted theme.
B | U | D | A | T | W | A | R | A | S | S | I | S | T | S | B | I | B | |||
U | T | E | C | H | I | L | I | W | A | T | C | H | I | T | U | N | O | |||
G | O | T | I | T | O | F | F | T | H | E | G | R | O | U | N | D | S | T | Y | |
O | P | E | N | R | E | R | E | A | D | A | N | T | S | C | I | A | ||||
F | I | C | U | S | Y | E | A | R | O | U | I | R | A | N | G | E | ||||
F | A | T | I | M | A | D | I | D | N | T | S | C | A | L | E | W | E | L | L | |
T | A | C | T | D | I | E | T | S | S | I | T | S | I | A | ||||||
E | B | B | S | C | O | T | E | G | O | F | L | I | P | S | O | N | ||||
P | O | A | C | H | E | D | O | U | R | E | M | P | L | O | Y | E | E | S | ||
C | O | R | R | I | D | O | R | S | V | A | L | O | R | R | C | P | T | |||
O | N | E | O | N | E | P | E | W | N | A | V | T | U | S | H | I | E | |||
T | E | E | N | H | O | M | I | E | T | E | A | S | P | O | O | N | S | |||
S | U | F | F | E | R | E | D | F | R | O | M | B | U | R | N | O | U | T | ||
L | A | S | T | R | O | W | E | R | E | E | U | R | O | L | P | S | ||||
A | C | E | A | R | T | G | O | O | D | S | T | I | O | S | ||||||
R | A | N | O | U | T | O | F | R | U | N | W | A | Y | S | T | A | R | T | S | |
K | I | T | E | D | R | U | T | O | N | E | G | S | T | O | O | P | ||||
B | I | D | I | M | A | Y | L | O | C | A | L | E | Y | O | L | O | ||||
B | O | A | C | O | R | N | E | R | E | D | T | H | E | M | A | R | K | E | T | |
O | W | L | A | T | E | C | R | O | W | U | S | A | I | N | I | D | O | |||
P | L | S | B | A | D | S | E | E | D | M | O | N | T | Y | E | O | N |
John Westwig is a software engineer in Seattle. This is his ninth crossword for The Times. His first one appeared in 2015 when he was 17.
John says, "I think I got into constructing because, when I was done solving a puzzle, I would look at the answer grid and wonder how someone could possibly have created such a thing!" Note the long answers at 16- and 50-Down, each crossing three theme entries. Very elegant.
V | O | R | T | E | X | E | S | D | I | S | C | I | P | L | E | |||||
I | N | A | I | L | E | D | I | T | P | I | N | O | T | N | O | I | R | |||
S | U | P | E | R | D | U | P | E | R | J | U | N | K | D | R | A | W | E | R | |
A | S | T | R | O | S | E | E | P | A | G | E | P | E | N | S | |||||
A | Y | E | R | D | E | F | Q | U | E | E | R | |||||||||
A | L | E | C | W | A | N | D | E | R | A | R | O | U | N | D | T | O | W | N | |
S | U | N | K | S | T | O | R | E | R | E | M | A | I | N | F | O | O | |||
P | R | O | S | T | F | B | O | M | B | B | E | S | T | A | C | T | O | R | ||
I | C | K | A | L | I | E | N | O | M | A | N | I | A | W | E | S | ||||
C | H | I | C | K | E | N | T | E | N | D | E | R | S | S | T | R | O | D | E | |
L | E | A | K | E | Y | E | M | A | I | D | ||||||||||
P | I | P | E | I | N | F | L | I | C | K | E | R | O | F | L | I | G | H | T | |
E | L | E | A | A | C | E | L | A | L | A | P | E | L | E | A | R | ||||
C | U | R | R | I | C | U | L | A | M | E | S | S | I | S | E | I | Z | E | ||
A | V | E | C | A | R | E | S | S | N | I | T | E | R | A | C | E | S | |||
N | U | M | B | E | R | O | F | T | H | E | B | E | A | S | T | T | O | S | S | |
P | E | T | E | R | A | S | L | T | E | E | N | |||||||||
V | O | T | E | T | I | M | C | O | O | K | R | O | B | I | N | |||||
A | N | O | F | F | E | R | Y | O | U | C | A | N | T | R | E | F | U | S | E | |
S | T | R | E | A | M | E | R | S | R | O | B | O | C | A | L | L | S | |||
T | O | Y | D | R | I | V | E | W | H | I | T | T | L | E | S |
John Kugelman is a software engineer and musician from Gainesville, Va. He has worked in cybersecurity for many years. John says, "I like anything that's complicated and puzzle-y. Any engineering problem is fascinating to me."
(And what is crossword construction, after all, but the engineering of words?) This is John's second crossword for The Times — both Sundays.
P | A | P | A | E | G | A | D | M | E | D | S | E | D | I | B | L | E | |||
I | R | E | C | K | O | N | S | O | I | D | O | L | V | E | L | L | U | M | ||
P | O | W | E | R | S | U | I | T | S | N | O | O | Z | E | A | L | A | R | M | |
E | M | I | L | Y | H | E | A | R | M | E | R | O | C | K | Y | |||||
D | A | T | A | S | C | R | A | P | E | R | S | O | N | T | A | G | ||||
T | H | E | C | U | R | S | E | I | N | I | D | L | E | |||||||
S | P | I | D | E | R | W | E | B | S | P | R | A | G | E | N | C | I | E | S | |
A | R | M | A | N | I | T | A | E | B | O | S | T | P | |||||||
G | O | E | S | S | F | M | O | M | A | M | U | D | S | E | A | S | O | N | ||
A | M | A | H | L | L | I | L | A | C | S | D | E | E | R | ||||||
O | N | C | E | M | O | R | E | W | I | T | H | F | E | E | L | I | N | G | ||
A | G | E | R | S | T | E | E | R | S | S | K | O | R | T | ||||||
S | W | I | M | S | H | I | R | T | U | P | P | I | S | H | A | R | A | B | ||
O | H | M | S | E | M | I | S | E | R | R | A | T | A | |||||||
S | E | A | C | A | P | T | A | I | N | A | V | I | D | R | E | A | D | E | R | |
O | N | C | A | L | L | C | B | R | A | D | I | O | S | |||||||
T | B | O | N | E | S | L | U | C | K | Y | N | U | M | B | E | R | ||||
A | B | A | S | E | O | X | T | E | A | M | L | O | R | R | E | |||||
G | E | N | E | R | A | T | I | O | N | Z | F | L | U | S | T | R | A | I | N | |
R | E | N | A | T | O | S | K | Y | E | W | E | R | E | S | A | V | E | D | ||
A | N | O | R | A | K | T | E | A | R | D | E | N | T | L | O | S | S |
Michael Schlossberg is an internist in Bend, Ore., who's been making crosswords for The Times since 2020. He got the idea for this one after seeing 68-Across as a title at his local bookstore.
Although themeless puzzles are Mike's favorites to solve, he says he doesn't construct them "because I get decision paralysis — they're too much of a blank canvas. I need to have a theme set to build around."
H | I | M | I | D | L | E | E | S | S | F | E | T | A | |||||||
A | D | A | M | E | A | N | T | S | H | A | K | A | O | R | A | L | B | |||
H | E | R | B | I | V | O | R | E | P | O | W | E | R | B | R | O | K | E | R | |
A | S | I | A | N | S | I | N | N | E | W | Y | E | A | R | S | E | V | E | ||
S | T | E | L | L | A | C | A | P | U | T | O | A | L | E | A | E | R | |||
L | O | T | I | O | N | S | R | O | B | L | A | D | S | |||||||
P | O | P | V | I | D | T | Y | P | E | D | U | P | L | O | H | A | N | |||
S | P | I | C | E | T | E | A | C | O | E | G | R | U | H | O | S | E | |||
H | E | P | A | N | I | G | H | T | F | O | O | T | B | A | T | H | S | |||
A | R | E | N | A | T | R | E | O | L | U | C | I | A | |||||||
W | A | T | E | R | B | I | L | L | S | S | A | T | E | L | L | I | T | E | S | |
K | A | T | I | E | O | T | B | S | L | G | A | M | E | |||||||
T | H | A | T | S | L | I | F | E | C | A | S | A | S | G | H | E | E | |||
M | A | Y | O | L | E | T | B | A | R | G | O | B | E | Y | O | N | D | |||
I | N | C | U | R | S | E | R | A | P | E | S | R | A | Y | E | D | Y | |||
A | R | A | B | D | E | L | W | E | A | S | L | E | Y | |||||||
D | I | R | N | O | R | L | L | B | E | A | N | L | I | S | T | I | C | |||
I | C | A | N | T | D | E | C | I | D | E | O | N | O | N | E | W | T | O | ||
T | I | M | E | S | S | Q | U | A | R | E | A | U | T | O | G | R | A | P | H | |
Z | E | B | R | A | S | E | N | O | R | K | A | T | S | U | I | R | E | |||
R | A | F | T | T | P | S | L | O | O | P | N | O | N |
Matt Linzer, of San Francisco, is a former professional ballet and contemporary dancer who now works in graphic design and art. Rafael Musa, also of San Francisco, is a software engineer at Airbnb.
This is Matt's second puzzle for The Times, Rafa's ninth. After Matt solved Rafa's Pride-themed puzzle in the paper last June, he reached out for help in developing this one's theme.
A | R | C | O | S | T | A | B | C | H | I | S | I | S | L | E | |||||
L | I | A | R | C | A | S | A | R | U | N | T | S | A | N | T | E | S | |||
A | C | R | O | P | O | L | I | S | U | M | B | R | A | S | C | O | O | P | ||
S | H | A | M | E | L | E | S | S | S | E | P | R | O | M | O | T | E | R | ||
M | E | A | D | L | E | A | S | E | D | S | O | N | I | C | S | |||||
F | E | E | O | R | P | R | I | N | T | D | E | A | L | S | E | A | T | |||
I | L | L | L | E | A | N | D | E | R | N | O | T | E | D | L | Y | ||||
A | L | A | G | O | R | G | E | S | R | I | G | G | E | S | P | Y | ||||
T | E | N | R | U | S | E | S | B | A | R | R | E | U | L | A | P | P | |||
F | I | D | O | H | O | T | I | R | O | N | O | S | S | O | ||||||
S | I | L | E | N | T | N | R | A | R | E | S | O | P | E | N | T | O | E | ||
S | N | O | W | I | N | J | U | R | E | D | D | A | R | E | ||||||
N | A | S | H | E | E | L | I | P | S | S | E | C | C | O | O | F | T | |||
H | I | R | E | I | O | N | E | S | P | E | A | K | S | F | O | E | ||||
G | O | N | E | R | I | L | R | E | L | I | N | K | S | F | I | N | ||||
O | L | G | A | S | E | A | L | K | A | N | Y | E | U | S | T | E | D | |||
D | E | A | D | E | N | M | I | N | G | N | A | B | R | U | H | |||||
S | A | N | T | A | S | L | I | T | T | L | E | H | E | L | P | E | R | S | ||
G | E | T | B | Y | S | T | I | L | E | T | R | U | S | S | E | S | U | P | ||
A | C | E | L | A | K | E | E | L | S | A | I | N | T | R | H | E | A | |||
P | O | P | E | L | S | A | T | P | E | T | S | B | E | R | Y |
Drew Schmenner, of Pacifica, Calif., is a technical writer and editor for an education nonprofit. He was formerly an investigative reporter for The Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs.
This is Drew's fifth crossword for The Times and first Sunday. He and his wife have two daughters, ages 6 and 3, who will be angels tonight at their church's Christmas Eve pageant in San Francisco.
J | O | Y | S | H | A | N | D | C | A | R | B | R | A | S | ||||||
A | M | E | N | S | P | A | L | O | A | L | T | O | F | U | E | L | E | D | ||
C | A | M | B | U | N | I | V | E | R | S | I | T | Y | A | R | C | A | D | E | |
O | N | E | O | N | O | N | E | M | A | S | H | I | N | B | U | T | ||||
B | I | N | G | D | O | T | B | O | M | B | E | R | E | A | C | E | ||||
A | S | T | O | U | N | D | S | T | Y | D | O | M | E | S | ||||||
H | A | J | I | I | R | S | U | R | B | A | B | N | A | R | T | |||||
S | O | B | U | L | F | U | L | L | Y | M | O | U | S | S | E | |||||
P | O | D | S | I | M | A | D | E | I | T | L | D | S | P | U | L | P | |||
O | F | T | F | E | U | D | S | R | O | I | L | A | M | P | L | E | ||||
U | S | E | O | F | M | I | B | C | E | A | N | D | M | E | N | T | O | E | ||
S | I | X | T | Y | E | S | P | N | C | O | A | S | T | O | Y | L | ||||
E | T | T | U | A | L | S | R | E | A | R | L | I | T | H | Y | D | E | |||
S | A | L | A | M | I | H | E | L | L | A | G | O | O | B | D | |||||
A | L | A | K | B | A | Z | A | M | E | M | O | O | P | U | S | |||||
M | I | D | S | T | U | N | O | D | E | L | T | A | C | O | ||||||
T | K | O | O | W | L | D | U | D | E | B | R | O | M | A | Y | I | ||||
R | E | P | O | H | I | S | E | E | O | I | L | B | A | S | E | D | ||||
A | N | T | I | F | A | W | A | T | E | R | U | N | D | E | R | T | H | E | B | |
K | E | E | P | A | T | A | S | A | G | U | I | D | E | R | E | E | S | E | ||
W | E | A | R | B | Y | G | O | N | E | S | O | S | H | A |
Jeremy Newton, of Austin, Tex., is an engineering manager for a mobile games company.
This is his 26th crossword for The Times — mostly Sundays, and most of these having visual elements, a bent he attributes to his artistic background. Jeremy attended a magnet high school for visual arts, the Art Institute of Dallas and then an N.Y.U. Tisch graduate program in code-driven art installations. He likes the large "canvas" that Sunday puzzles afford him.
M | U | D | C | A | T | C | A | R | D | I | O | O | V | U | M | |||||
A | C | R | O | N | Y | M | S | A | W | B | U | C | K | O | B | E | S | E | ||
A | L | O | N | G | P | A | R | T | Y | L | I | N | E | S | N | O | N | O | S | |
M | A | P | S | O | S | H | A | S | P | A | A | E | T | N | A | |||||
N | U | B | H | O | T | B | U | T | T | O | N | I | S | S | U | E | S | |||
C | L | A | M | O | R | A | R | I | P | A | S | T | O | R | ||||||
L | A | M | E | D | U | C | K | B | I | L | L | S | P | A | L | E | S | T | ||
I | R | E | B | O | O | R | E | B | B | R | O | D | E | O | ||||||
C | A | S | I | O | M | O | I | U | P | L | O | A | D | O | U | R | ||||
S | P | E | A | K | E | R | S | O | F | T | H | E | H | O | U | S | E | |||
B | R | I | T | A | E | E | L | K | E | N | T | S | ||||||||
G | R | A | S | S | R | O | O | T | S | M | O | V | E | M | E | N | T | |||
L | U | C | P | A | L | A | T | E | E | L | I | S | O | P | O | R | ||||
A | N | I | M | A | T | E | L | G | O | N | G | I | D | O | ||||||
M | O | N | A | M | I | C | A | M | P | A | I | G | N | C | H | A | I | R | ||
G | R | O | V | E | S | B | R | A | C | R | A | N | N | Y | ||||||
C | A | B | I | N | E | T | P | O | S | I | T | I | O | N | U | Z | O | |||
A | G | I | N | G | R | I | M | F | R | O | S | A | S | I | A | |||||
B | A | K | E | S | A | N | A | C | T | O | F | C | O | N | G | R | E | S | S | |
A | V | E | R | T | D | E | N | S | E | L | Y | B | I | O | D | A | T | A | ||
L | E | S | S | E | D | I | T | E | D | P | O | S | T | O | P |
Zachary David Levy is an assistant professor of neurosurgery and emergency medicine at Hofstra's Zucker School of Medicine on Long Island. This is his sixth crossword for The Times, and first Sunday. Jeff Chen, of Seattle, is a writer and longtime crossword contributor.
Zachary initially submitted a smaller version of this puzzle with three theme entries for the daily paper — but the theme idea felt better suited for a Sunday with more examples. He enlisted Jeff to help.
W | H | A | T | E | L | S | E | I | S | N | E | W | C | L | O | N | I | N | G | |
H | E | L | E | N | A | M | O | N | T | A | N | A | A | I | R | A | S | I | A | |
E | S | T | R | O | G | E | N | P | A | T | C | H | D | R | A | G | O | N | S | |
T | S | A | R | S | L | I | E | N | L | L | B | E | A | N | G | E | T | |||
S | E | R | A | P | L | A | N | R | O | B | O | T | S | D | O | H | A | |||
T | E | E | N | M | A | S | E | R | S | T | E | N | O | N | ||||||
O | S | W | A | L | D | S | A | T | I | R | E | P | R | T | A | L | K | |||
D | O | L | I | K | E | I | N | N | I | N | G | M | E | A | S | L | E | S | ||
O | L | I | N | E | T | R | Y | I | N | G | J | U | A | N | ||||||
W | A | C | K | A | D | O | O | D | L | E | H | E | L | L | S | C | A | P | E | |
S | L | E | E | P | A | P | N | E | A | F | O | R | C | E | F | I | E | L | D | |
E | A | R | D | O | C | T | O | R | F | I | R | S | T | D | E | G | R | E | E | |
W | H | E | N | T | O | N | N | E | S | R | A | I | N | N | ||||||
R | A | M | A | D | A | N | C | R | I | K | E | Y | A | R | R | E | T | S | ||
E | L | I | T | E | S | M | A | U | L | E | D | C | L | A | S | S | Y | |||
D | O | N | O | R | T | E | R | M | E | D | T | A | I | L | ||||||
C | O | I | N | S | O | G | L | A | D | J | I | L | T | S | I | V | A | |||
E | G | G | B | E | T | S | O | N | H | U | L | U | H | U | R | O | N | |||
D | O | O | R | O | N | E | R | E | M | I | N | D | M | E | A | G | A | I | N | |
A | B | L | E | I | S | M | F | R | O | N | T | E | N | T | R | A | N | C | E | |
R | I | F | F | L | E | S | F | A | N | T | A | S | Y | S | E | R | I | E | S |
Tracy Bennett is a digital puzzles editor for The Times. She manages Wordle and helps with the crossword.
In this themeless puzzle, she took a bold grid pattern with lots of white squares and, in each corner, positioned a marquee answer — "something new or that had an appealing sound or cluing potential." Then she built out from there. FYI, those starting points were 23-, 48-, 50-, and 87-Across.
B | A | E | S | A | R | C | A | D | I | A | S | B | A | R | R | O | ||||
R | U | N | T | T | O | O | S | O | O | N | B | E | A | N | I | E | S | |||
E | D | D | Y | B | A | I | T | I | N | G | B | E | L | L | Y | F | A | T | ||
W | E | L | L | E | A | R | N | E | D | I | T | S | A | L | L | A | L | I | E | |
S | N | E | E | R | Y | C | R | O | C | A | M | U | S | E | E | R | R | |||
S | I | N | D | H | S | H | O | M | E | T | U | R | F | |||||||
D | I | S | C | O | B | R | A | L | I | C | I | T | P | I | L | L | O | W | ||
A | R | L | O | L | O | C | A | N | K | L | E | S | N | Y | A | S | A | |||
M | U | O | N | U | N | H | I | T | C | H | R | O | T | C | T | H | Y | |||
E | L | I | A | R | E | I | N | H | A | I | D | A | H | L | I | A | S | |||
S | E | N | D | S | D | N | C | I | M | D | B | B | I | E | N | |||||
C | O | P | E | G | A | I | L | E | A | T | N | E | C | C | O | |||||
A | T | H | E | I | S | T | S | N | L | A | B | A | B | A | H | A | R | |||
S | H | O | R | E | U | P | T | A | L | L | Y | H | O | H | E | R | E | |||
T | I | P | P | I | B | I | L | O | X | I | B | I | B | O | S | L | O | |||
I | N | S | O | N | G | N | O | T | I | P | U | T | A | H | U | T | E | S | ||
I | C | O | S | A | G | O | N | A | M | I | E | S | C | |||||||
O | V | A | H | A | I | T | I | G | A | S | P | F | R | E | R | E | S | |||
S | A | N | D | A | L | T | A | N | S | S | K | I | P | A | C | K | A | G | E | |
A | N | T | E | N | N | A | S | I | C | A | N | N | O | T | E | Z | R | A | ||
K | E | I | S | T | E | R | M | O | N | O | C | L | E | Y | E | E | T | |||
A | S | S | I | S | T | S | W | A | T | H | E | S | S | S | T | S |
Adam Wagner, of Oakland, Calif., is a creative lead at Patreon, the crowdfunding site for content creators. Michael Lieberman, of Washington, D.C., is an attorney at Fairmark Partners, a consumer-protection firm.
They're also both dads of fast-growing toddlers, which is what inspired this puzzle. Adam sent the title to Mike, who sent back what became 3- and 13-Down … and they were off and running.
B | A | R | K | H | U | L | A | E | L | S | E | P | A | P | A | W | |||
O | H | I | O | B | R | I | S | N | A | P | A | E | C | O | L | I | |||
B | A | N | K | R | O | L | L | S | G | O | O | G | L | E | A | P | P | S | |
A | S | D | O | I | S | N | I | T | S | I | L | O | B | O | P | ||||
M | M | A | A | S | O | F | L | E | T | S | G | O | |||||||
C | H | O | O | S | E | S | S | I | D | E | S | S | T | A | R | T | L | E | |
H | E | H | H | O | A | X | O | D | E | S | A | B | A | T | E | S | |||
O | L | D | S | O | N | G | O | L | S | E | N | S | R | V | L | O | T | ||
P | L | E | A | T | S | A | N | I | D | E | A | D | E | Y | E | S | |||
S | N | A | G | S | B | L | E | S | S | A | V | A | S | T | |||||
O | R | E | T | A | L | K | T | U | R | K | E | Y | R | U | T | ||||
A | R | E | N | T | S | P | E | E | D | P | A | N | A | M | |||||
E | N | D | I | N | G | I | T | E | A | R | E | L | I | S | H | A | |||
S | T | E | V | E | S | E | W | A | R | D | I | W | A | N | T | I | N | ||
U | N | W | I | S | E | D | A | S | H | P | R | E | Y | O | T | S | |||
N | A | S | C | E | N | T | S | H | E | P | H | E | R | D | S | P | I | E | |
R | E | N | O | W | N | E | R | O | S | S | A | T | |||||||
O | V | A | C | E | O | S | O | R | C | A | T | O | P | A | Z | ||||
K | I | C | K | T | H | E | C | A | N | T | A | B | L | E | W | I | N | E | |
A | S | K | E | W | Z | A | N | Y | A | L | B | A | E | N | Y | A | |||
Y | E | S | N | O | E | P | E | E | L | E | A | D | D | E | A | L |
Rebecca Goldstein, of Albany, Calif., is a research scientist at Merck, developing immunotherapies for cancer. Rachel Fabi, of Syracuse, N.Y., is a bioethics professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
They met via the online crossword community and now hang out on weekly Zoom calls. They both love collaborating. Rebecca says, "Having a second mind can really elevate an idea." Rachel adds that she enjoys having someone to share puns with!
S | O | D | P | L | U | M | B | A | H | E | M | A | H | A | ||||||
E | G | O | T | E | A | S | E | R | R | I | P | E | R | D | U | A | L | |||
A | R | E | H | A | D | A | G | O | O | D | T | I | M | E | U | R | S | A | ||
L | E | S | U | R | L | A | R | E | A | C | O | D | E | M | A | P | S | |||
W | O | N | E | A | T | D | I | R | T | R | A | N | D | |||||||
F | E | N | D | L | I | E | O | N | D | A | D | G | U | M | I | T | ||||
D | O | L | C | E | G | L | E | N | N | S | O | B | A | M | E | N | U | |||
E | L | L | E | R | B | E | E | H | E | L | I | O | C | P | R | |||||
B | I | B | S | E | R | G | E | L | E | E | R | E | R | S | H | U | N | |||
T | O | Y | S | A | M | E | X | C | A | R | D | S | S | P | A | T | S | |||
P | H | D | S | P | O | U | N | D | S | A | A | G | ||||||||
L | M | F | A | O | D | E | A | D | S | E | T | O | N | A | C | E | S | |||
O | I | L | A | S | S | O | R | T | S | D | E | P | T | H | O | R | A | |||
A | M | Y | G | A | M | U | T | C | H | I | A | S | M | U | S | |||||
F | I | E | F | L | A | S | S | S | A | C | H | S | P | U | M | P | S | |||
S | C | R | I | B | B | L | E | G | E | N | I | I | P | R | A | T | ||||
R | E | A | L | D | E | V | I | S | E | S | Y | E | N | |||||||
I | N | D | I | A | N | A | J | O | N | E | S | A | N | N | D | I | P | |||
T | E | E | N | D | R | A | G | O | N | T | A | T | T | O | O | I | K | E | ||
Z | I | N | G | O | M | N | I | A | O | N | V | I | E | W | N | E | T | |||
A | N | T | S | E | E | N | N | O | S | E | S | G | A | S |
Garrett Chalfin, of New York City, is a first-year student at the University of Chicago, taking classes in biology, "Human Being and Citizen" and "Classics of Social and Political Thought."
This puzzle was a long time in the making. He thought of the theme idea over a year ago, then kept coming back to it until he felt he had it just right. Garrett writes, "I love subtle themes that slowly emerge to the solver."
H | E | M | M | E | D | T | R | O | U | P | E | D | I | D | O | K | ||||
A | D | S | A | L | E | A | R | O | U | S | A | L | S | E | V | E | R | E | ||
J | U | N | K | I | N | T | H | E | T | R | U | N | K | K | E | E | N | E | N | |
E | S | S | A | Y | S | S | R | I | R | O | D | A | G | O | ||||||
M | A | R | G | E | M | E | S | A | E | N | T | E | R | S | L | O | B | |||
A | L | O | O | A | S | S | S | T | R | I | N | G | B | I | K | I | N | I | ||
D | A | B | O | M | B | O | P | I | T | I | A | R | A | |||||||
A | M | I | D | A | L | A | V | I | R | A | L | F | R | A | T | B | R | O | ||
M | O | T | T | U | C | K | E | R | E | D | O | U | T | T | E | E | U | P | ||
U | P | S | S | T | O | R | E | D | O | T | E | R | A | S | E | |||||
A | P | S | O | H | I | N | T | S | E | A | L | A | C | E | D | |||||
H | E | S | S | E | D | U | A | V | E | R | M | O | U | T | H | |||||
E | D | I | T | S | C | O | R | O | N | A | T | I | O | N | S | H | E | P | ||
M | I | N | U | T | I | A | E | L | O | P | E | S | E | P | H | O | R | A | ||
R | E | T | R | O | T | I | A | L | S | D | T | A | B | |||||||
S | U | P | E | R | B | O | W | L | W | I | N | S | P | Y | V | E | T | S | ||
I | P | A | D | A | L | L | A | H | G | E | N | A | P | I | L | O | T | |||
E | T | C | I | N | S | D | I | P | G | A | P | P | E | D | ||||||
S | O | K | I | N | D | K | I | N | D | E | R | G | A | R | T | E | N | E | R | |
T | W | E | R | K | S | I | D | E | A | T | E | S | E | R | O | I | C | A | ||
A | N | T | S | Y | P | A | S | S | A | T | P | I | S | T | O | N |
Rich Katz, of Park City, Utah, does freelance work in corporate restructuring. This is his third crossword for The Times — all Sundays. The puzzle started when Rich was ruminating on the expression, "Two wrongs don't make a right." One thing led to another, then another. This punny puzzle was the result. Rich does all his constructing at home on a table overlooking a gorgeous Rocky Mountain vista.
R | A | P | D | U | O | C | T | R | L | Z | E | B | R | A | F | I | S | H | ||
E | L | O | I | S | E | A | R | E | A | A | D | A | P | T | E | D | T | O | ||
G | I | N | G | E | R | B | R | E | A | D | B | I | N | G | E | R | E | A | D | |
A | N | D | E | S | O | R | A | L | B | A | B | E | S | R | A | N | G | |||
L | E | S | S | I | P | A | D | P | U | R | L | S | H | E | S | S | E | |||
T | O | N | I | C | P | E | R | S | E | B | O | T | ||||||||
S | E | N | A | T | E | S | E | A | T | A | S | S | E | N | T | |||||
S | P | A | D | E | R | E | A | R | J | D | A | T | E | M | O | E | ||||
A | R | I | O | M | E | L | E | T | W | A | R | D | S | O | P | T | S | |||
M | I | D | F | O | C | U | S | D | A | L | A | I | P | R | A | T | T | |||
C | U | T | F | R | O | M | T | H | E | S | A | M | E | C | L | O | T | H | ||
D | E | N | I | S | T | P | A | I | N | P | A | U | L | A | H | E | N | |||
E | C | C | E | H | A | I | R | S | M | E | S | S | E | S | I | R | A | |||
C | A | L | T | E | X | A | S | B | A | N | A | M | A | Z | E | S | ||||
O | P | E | N | E | R | E | R | R | O | R | P | R | O | N | E | |||||
I | N | S | G | E | N | I | E | A | R | E | N | T | ||||||||
L | A | C | E | D | P | R | U | D | E | S | T | I | R | I | D | O | L | |||
E | T | A | L | B | L | O | C | S | A | P | T | S | C | H | I | L | E | |||
A | R | M | S | R | E | A | C | H | C | R | E | A | M | C | H | E | E | S | E | |
F | I | R | E | E | A | T | E | R | U | G | L | I | V | E | R | G | E | D | ||
S | A | Y | N | O | M | O | R | E | P | O | L | L | S | W | O | O | N | S |
Alina Abidi, of Pittsburgh (moving to Brooklyn next month), works as a software engineer at Duolingo, an educational software company, where she's a member of its Club Crossword. Every day after lunch the group crowds into a conference room to solve that day's New York Times puzzle together, shouting out answers as the clues are announced. Alina loves her job.
M | G | S | I | G | U | A | N | A | S | S | P | E | C | S | V | I | E | |||
A | R | P | D | O | G | R | A | C | E | H | A | D | A | T | I | M | P | |||
D | O | E | S | N | T | G | I | V | E | A | F | I | G | U | R | E | N | A | H | |
C | U | C | K | O | O | S | T | H | I | N | E | D | E | A | R | M | E | |||
A | C | T | I | A | L | O | O | F | V | I | P | R | O | O | M | |||||
P | H | O | W | A | S | H | I | N | G | T | O | N | P | O | S | T | U | R | E | |
S | O | R | D | I | D | T | A | L | E | E | N | O | S | I | G | O | R | |||
A | I | D | Y | D | E | E | D | S | H | E | E | N | A | |||||||
P | A | S | T | U | R | E | C | A | R | I | N | G | F | E | E | S | ||||
O | B | O | E | R | E | A | D | G | O | A | L | T | E | N | D | |||||
T | E | L | A | L | L | U | R | E | T | O | O | W | E | L | L | C | E | O | ||
S | T | O | O | L | I | E | S | I | N | R | E | E | R | A | T | |||||
F | E | E | D | N | O | M | E | A | N | F | E | A | T | U | R | E | ||||
S | C | L | A | S | S | T | U | B | E | O | L | G | A | |||||||
B | O | O | N | F | A | D | S | C | O | U | R | S | E | L | O | A | D | |||
A | D | V | E | N | T | U | R | E | C | A | L | E | N | D | A | R | R | E | A | |
L | E | E | R | I | E | R | E | R | O | D | E | M | I | R | Y | |||||
O | B | L | A | T | E | D | U | N | N | O | C | E | S | S | N | A | S | |||
A | L | I | E | N | D | U | R | E | O | N | A | H | I | G | H | N | O | T | E | |
N | U | N | R | I | S | E | N | L | E | T | I | T | G | O | C | O | N | |||
S | E | E | S | E | L | L | S | D | Y | E | T | E | S | T | O | R | D |
Robert Ryan, of London, is an economist for the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority. This is his third crossword for The Times — all Sundays.
Although he grew up solving cryptics (and loves their wordplay), he doesn't create them. He has only ever submitted crosswords here. "Once I discovered the American crossword, I was completely sold."
O | D | E | S | M | O | B | S | T | A | R | D | O | M | B | O | S | C | |||
P | I | R | I | P | I | R | I | A | S | T | A | I | R | E | A | L | T | A | ||
E | V | I | D | E | N | C | E | Y | E | S | I | C | A | N | U | D | O | N | ||
C | A | K | E | S | T | A | N | D | M | E | L | D | S | F | O | O | ||||
B | O | S | S | A | I | S | L | E | B | E | T | A | A | P | P | |||||
E | D | G | E | S | M | I | T | T | E | N | S | Z | I | P | S | B | Y | |||
M | E | L | T | F | R | O | S | T | E | D | T | I | P | R | E | H | A | B | ||
B | R | A | S | L | A | D | Y | S | T | E | F | R | I | L | E | |||||
L | I | Z | F | U | M | E | S | A | P | S | R | O | C | O | L | D | ||||
E | V | E | O | V | E | R | R | I | D | E | S | M | R | S | U | N | ||||
M | E | D | C | I | N | N | A | M | O | N | T | O | A | S | T | E | N | T | ||
E | M | I | R | S | H | O | R | N | S | I | N | O | N | D | E | W | ||||
F | I | X | E | U | H | H | N | E | E | L | E | O | S | I | L | E | ||||
U | N | P | C | S | O | A | P | I | S | N | T | M | D | S | E | |||||
N | A | R | C | O | P | L | A | I | N | T | R | U | T | H | A | E | O | N | ||
K | N | E | A | D | S | T | R | I | P | H | O | P | T | R | A | N | S | |||
M | I | S | S | I | N | G | S | I | R | E | N | A | D | O | S | |||||
U | M | S | N | O | R | U | N | S | U | G | A | R | B | U | Z | Z | ||||
S | A | I | L | C | A | S | I | T | A | S | F | A | N | T | A | S | I | A | ||
I | T | O | O | A | D | S | P | A | C | E | O | T | T | E | R | P | O | P | ||
C | E | N | T | P | E | R | S | I | S | T | S | E | E | S | S | N | S |
Jeff Chen is a writer in Seattle and a frequent crossword contributor to The Times. Juliana Tringali Golden is an editor in Oakland, Calif., making her fourth appearance here.
The idea for this puzzle was Juliana's. She says she always wanted to create a crossword with a doughnut theme, and when Jeff showed her some blank grids he'd made with interesting patterns, this one, with a torus shape in the middle, "screamed ‘doughnut' to me!"
M | O | C | H | A | S | C | A | C | A | O | R | O | A | M | S | |||||
A | D | P | A | G | E | S | G | A | L | O | S | H | E | A | S | I | E | R | ||
V | E | R | M | O | N | T | W | E | T | R | A | G | C | H | A | N | C | E | ||
G | O | L | D | E | N | O | P | P | O | R | T | U | N | I | T | Y | ||||
T | A | L | C | R | E | I | N | D | O | I | ||||||||||
A | V | I | A | T | I | O | N | R | E | D | E | Y | E | F | L | I | G | H | T | |
S | E | E | S | I | T | R | E | T | I | L | E | Y | O | W | L | E | D | |||
S | H | E | A | F | A | D | O | N | I | S | B | O | A | R | S | |||||
P | A | L | E | O | R | A | M | O | N | E | S | B | L | E | N | D | ||||
B | R | O | W | N | I | E | M | I | X | D | E | F | R | O | S | T | ||||
S | E | W | L | E | I | L | A | G | B | U | S | |||||||||
V | E | S | S | E | L | S | G | R | A | V | Y | B | O | A | T | S | ||||
O | N | S | E | T | A | C | R | E | A | G | E | O | L | D | E | N | ||||
P | A | L | E | S | B | R | I | B | E | S | R | A | I | M | I | |||||
C | H | I | C | A | S | O | A | F | I | S | H | P | L | E | D | G | E | |||
P | I | N | K | Y | P | R | O | M | I | S | E | P | O | P | S | C | E | N | E | |
Y | A | K | H | A | U | L | S | A | U | L | ||||||||||
C | O | L | O | R | F | U | L | C | H | A | R | A | C | T | E | R | ||||
A | R | A | B | I | A | I | R | O | B | O | T | O | P | E | N | E | R | A | ||
R | E | R | O | L | L | S | O | L | I | D | S | F | A | N | E | D | I | T | ||
O | D | E | L | L | T | W | I | T | S | Y | O | D | U | D | E |
Sid Sivakumar is an M.D./Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis, training in biomedical engineering and neuroscience. This is his 16th crossword for The Times since 2020.
Sid says his favorite theme ideas come to him randomly, like when he's sitting in traffic, cutting vegetables or showering. Because of his work/study schedule, he constructs puzzles in segments. "If I haven't made satisfactory progress in 30 minutes, I pause and do something else."
T | U | L | I | P | S | A | L | P | A | C | A | A | H | M | A | D | ||||
O | N | E | F | L | E | W | G | O | A | W | O | L | M | O | O | R | E | D | ||
T | H | E | C | U | C | K | O | O | S | N | E | S | T | A | T | T | I | C | A | |
M | O | S | T | T | O | I | L | S | O | V | E | R | ||||||||
S | O | H | O | S | O | R | I | O | N | N | I | A | E | N | T | |||||
I | M | O | N | T | H | E | E | M | P | I | R | E | S | E | K | I | R | T | S | |
P | A | N | A | C | E | A | M | A | I | N | A | C | T | E | A | R | ||||
T | H | E | L | A | N | D | T | I | M | E | C | H | I | T | U | B | A | |||
E | A | S | E | L | I | T | S | P | H | O | T | O | G | E | N | I | C | |||
A | S | T | R | O | P | O | P | T | I | E | U | N | E | S | O | T | ||||
T | R | A | N | S | L | O | S | T | L | A | T | I | O | N | ||||||
B | I | S | I | R | E | I | D | A | L | E | T | T | U | C | E | S | ||||
C | L | O | S | E | S | H | A | V | E | T | M | I | A | M | I | N | O | |||
D | E | F | T | A | B | E | R | E | A | D | I | N | G | B | U | R | N | |||
H | E | M | N | O | D | D | E | R | S | E | A | S | E | D | I | N | ||||
J | E | O | P | A | R | D | Y | J | E | O | P | A | R | D | Y | R | A | C | Y | |
A | C | R | T | E | E | E | S | S | I | E | M | S | D | O | S | |||||
M | A | R | R | I | E | D | U | P | F | R | A | U | ||||||||
B | R | O | I | L | S | C | R | O | U | C | H | I | N | G | T | I | G | E | R | |
S | T | R | O | D | E | L | A | R | V | A | E | S | E | T | M | E | N | U | ||
E | S | T | A | S | A | T | B | A | T | S | E | S | F | E | E | T |
Jeffrey Lease, of Granite Bay, Calif., designs printed circuit boards for cellphones at Google. He writes, "The process of designing a board and getting all the connections to fit is its own type of puzzle, so perhaps it's not surprising that my job and hobby overlap." Crosswords are his favorite puzzles to do, but he's also a fan of Wordle and Connections.
This is Jeff's first crossword for The Times. Another has been accepted and he's already working on a third.
P | O | P | A | R | T | A | M | U | S | E | D | C | O | O | L | C | A | T | ||
A | V | E | N | U | E | Y | A | N | K | E | E | O | N | T | A | R | I | O | ||
L | I | T | T | L | E | S | E | I | Z | E | R | S | P | E | T | N | A | M | E | |
R | H | I | N | E | S | I | E | K | R | O | N | A | P | E | R | |||||
C | O | I | N | A | D | O | P | T | S | B | U | D | W | I | S | E | R | |||
W | A | L | L | G | R | E | E | N | S | E | M | I | T | A | C | T | ||||
A | B | E | L | H | E | W | C | E | O | S | E | A | R | N | ||||||
F | L | U | H | O | L | E | F | O | O | D | S | B | E | S | T | B | Y | E | ||
T | E | M | P | O | Y | A | W | N | S | P | U | R | T | L | A | X | ||||
I | P | O | D | V | I | E | S | O | R | N | A | M | E | N | T | |||||
A | M | E | R | I | C | A | N | H | E | I | R | L | I | N | E | S | ||||
C | A | S | A | N | O | V | A | G | E | L | S | Y | E | L | L | |||||
U | E | Y | O | N | E | P | M | A | I | L | S | E | T | A | I | L | ||||
P | R | O | C | T | O | R | A | N | D | G | A | M | B | L | E | I | C | U | ||
S | O | U | L | D | U | O | S | A | A | A | T | S | A | R | ||||||
L | O | W | R | A | I | N | T | A | L | K | O | B | E | L | L | E | ||||
W | R | I | T | E | A | I | D | E | D | I | B | L | E | R | E | E | L | |||
E | E | K | L | E | G | A | L | E | R | A | R | I | O | T | S | |||||
S | T | E | A | L | T | H | E | M | B | A | S | S | Y | S | W | E | E | T | S | |
T | R | I | D | E | N | T | N | O | I | D | E | A | I | S | R | A | E | L | ||
S | O | T | O | S | A | Y | D | E | T | E | S | T | T | E | S | T | E | R |
Joel Fagliano and Christina Iverson are puzzle editors for The Times. Joel lives in Philadelphia, Christina in Ames, Iowa. They both have young kids and a fondness for "dumb jokes," as Joel puts it.
Christina writes, "We were in the middle of a brainstorm for a totally different Sunday puzzle when we'd hit a wall and Joel messaged me with this theme idea. Every step was collaborative, with a lot of back and forth in DMs, shared documents, and conversations over Google Meet."
R | O | P | E | R | A | R | A | S | A | L | O | N | B | O | A | R | D | |||
U | N | O | S | I | B | A | R | P | L | A | N | E | E | R | N | I | E | |||
H | T | T | P | G | I | V | E | P | E | A | C | E | A | C | H | A | N | C | E | |
R | A | T | M | A | T | I | N | E | E | S | T | O | E | L | O | O | P | |||
O | P | E | N | I | T | N | A | R | C | P | E | W | S | |||||||
H | E | R | E | C | O | M | E | S | T | H | E | S | U | N | T | O | R | S | O | |
X | E | N | A | M | A | S | F | E | U | D | ||||||||||
P | A | R | T | I | N | T | L | L | I | G | H | T | M | Y | F | I | R | E | ||
S | L | O | T | S | I | S | O | L | A | T | E | R | I | V | E | T | E | R | ||
S | T | O | O | P | S | A | V | O | N | J | A | D | O | R | E | |||||
T | O | T | O | H | P | R | E | T | T | Y | W | O | M | A | N | R | I | D | ||
C | A | N | O | E | S | E | R | A | S | S | N | E | A | K | Y | |||||
S | T | A | G | G | E | R | P | A | R | S | N | I | P | E | S | T | E | E | ||
Y | O | U | R | E | S | O | V | A | I | N | D | E | L | A | T | E | A | S | ||
N | O | S | E | S | I | N | U | R | S | A | ||||||||||
C | L | E | E | F | D | O | N | T | B | R | I | N | G | M | E | D | O | W | N | |
A | S | A | P | O | O | N | A | B | M | O | V | I | E | |||||||
A | L | B | U | M | E | N | I | M | A | C | P | R | O | S | E | C | G | |||
M | O | R | N | I | N | G | H | A | S | B | R | O | K | E | N | O | R | C | A | |
E | M | A | I | L | L | A | D | L | E | D | I | N | E | F | L | A | T | |||
N | A | S | T | Y | E | L | D | E | R | E | N | D | S | T | Y | N | E |
Jill Rafaloff, of Forest Hills, Queens, and Michelle Sontarp, of Manhattan, met when they joined the same law firm directly out of law school more than 30 years ago. They've been friends ever since.
Jill has been solving crosswords since college, Michelle for six years or so. The two began constructing during the pandemic. This is their New York Times debut. The inspiration for the puzzle was 34-Across.
L | O | L | B | G | A | M | E | A | S | H | E | M | A | S | S | |||||
A | D | A | I | N | L | A | T | E | T | K | O | S | O | P | P | O | ||||
B | O | B | C | R | A | T | C | H | I | T | B | A | D | A | S | S | E | R | Y | |
R | O | A | D | W | A | Y | L | A | V | A | G | U | T | H | R | I | E | |||
R | I | S | E | R | S | E | L | A | Y | N | E | A | E | T | N | A | ||||
N | O | D | R | E | E | L | O | P | E | N | U | G | H | |||||||
J | O | S | E | F | R | I | A | N | U | S | B | O | R | D | E | R | S | |||
A | H | A | P | O | I | N | T | R | E | O | D | R | I | V | E | |||||
B | M | W | R | A | M | S | E | S | I | B | E | G | O | N | E | |||||
B | A | R | B | E | T | S | D | O | T | H | P | E | R | N | A | N | S | |||
E | M | E | R | Y | E | M | U | E | G | G | S | X | E | N | O | N | ||||
D | A | D | A | S | S | N | P | A | T | H | G | O | B | R | O | K | E | |||
S | H | A | L | O | M | I | V | O | T | E | N | O | M | I | A | |||||
M | I | A | M | I | O | E | D | S | I | L | E | X | I | D | K | |||||
F | I | L | M | S | P | E | E | D | P | T | A | S | K | V | A | S | S | |||
B | A | N | L | A | N | E | I | B | I | S | B | I | O | |||||||
A | N | I | M | E | S | L | Y | F | O | X | B | O | U | N | C | E | ||||
I | N | T | O | T | A | L | E | Y | R | E | A | U | R | E | A | T | E | |||
L | I | A | R | S | D | I | C | E | E | L | A | S | T | I | C | B | A | N | D | |
O | N | C | E | A | D | D | S | S | T | R | E | E | T | I | V | Y | ||||
N | G | O | S | M | E | S | H | L | A | R | D | S | L | Y | E |
Adam Wagner, of Oakland, Calif., is a creative lead at Patreon, a monetization platform for content creators. This is his 16th crossword for The Times (and fifth Sunday).
Adam is part of a large community of Bay Area puzzlemakers. He speculates that the overlap between tech and crossword construction might be the reason for the concentration. Or maybe it's just something in the water?
M | B | A | C | R | A | G | C | A | B | I | N | D | I | S | C | S | ||||
O | R | C | A | O | N | E | A | D | E | L | E | T | A | N | T | R | A | |||
H | A | T | E | M | A | I | L | N | E | A | L | E | I | S | R | A | E | L | ||
S | N | I | P | E | R | C | O | D | S | U | R | F | T | H | E | N | E | T | ||
D | O | I | T | G | A | L | O | O | T | S | I | L | I | A | D | |||||
L | I | N | C | O | L | N | P | A | R | K | A | C | R | E | S | T | A | B | ||
U | S | P | S | E | A | S | Y | F | U | G | U | E | T | O | R | T | A | |||
C | H | O | T | O | W | W | I | S | E | R | D | E | N | I | A | L | ||||
Y | E | S | Y | E | S | S | P | E | N | D | T | I | E | R | A | L | E | |||
S | E | E | D | T | H | E | D | E | A | E | A | S | C | R | O | L | L | S | ||
T | A | P | O | U | T | P | I | N | K | E | R | |||||||||
E | M | A | I | L | A | T | T | A | C | H | M | E | N | T | N | E | S | S | ||
M | O | S | L | I | S | T | C | A | R | E | S | S | C | O | T | C | H | |||
C | U | T | M | E | N | E | B | E | R | T | B | A | E | O | R | E | ||||
E | N | R | O | N | P | R | A | D | A | U | P | O | N | C | L | E | F | |||
E | T | O | N | D | U | S | T | S | P | R | E | A | D | S | H | E | E | T | ||
L | I | V | E | R | A | S | S | I | S | T | S | P | E | N | N | |||||
B | R | O | K | E | N | L | I | N | K | P | A | S | A | R | A | B | I | A | ||
R | O | G | E | R | S | B | E | I | G | E | P | O | P | U | P | A | D | S | ||
A | V | E | R | S | E | M | Y | L | A | R | A | V | E | C | S | O | O | |||
T | E | R | S | E | S | E | L | L | S | S | A | X | E | E | L | F |
Dylan Schiff is a middle school science teacher in Delaware whose extracurricular activities include cooking, bowling, watching game shows, and editing Sporcle quizzes.
This is his third crossword for The Times (and first Sunday). Dylan writes: "My students and fellow faculty members still can't get over the fact that real-life people — let alone someone they know — design crosswords!"
M | I | D | I | S | I | T | C | O | M | S | J | U | N | I | P | E | R | S | ||
U | D | O | N | S | C | I | A | T | I | C | O | P | E | N | A | R | E | A | ||
R | O | W | S | N | I | C | H | O | L | A | S | N | I | C | K | L | E | B | Y | |
A | N | N | U | S | N | O | N | H | E | R | O | C | I | A | ||||||
L | O | W | L | I | F | E | S | C | O | M | M | O | N | C | O | L | D | |||
T | A | T | E | R | S | A | R | M | E | N | I | A | E | P | E | E | ||||
R | E | G | I | S | T | R | A | R | D | U | M | A | T | A | N | |||||
L | I | D | D | E | D | O | F | F | I | C | I | A | L | O | R | D | E | R | S | |
O | D | D | D | A | W | N | S | U | P | S | T | I | E | D | Y | E | ||||
C | L | O | D | Y | E | N | A | T | T | A | D | E | A | L | ||||||
K | E | G | E | L | B | E | S | T | B | U | D | D | Y | L | A | T | K | E | ||
L | A | P | S | H | A | S | P | E | A | R | Y | A | N | K | ||||||
A | R | C | H | I | E | A | I | L | T | V | D | A | D | B | E | E | ||||
G | A | L | I | L | E | O | G | A | L | I | L | E | I | P | E | A | L | E | D | |
A | D | A | A | L | D | O | K | I | L | L | S | T | I | M | E | |||||
S | I | R | S | E | N | D | W | E | L | L | P | O | S | I | T | S | ||||
P | O | O | L | P | L | A | Y | E | R | F | I | R | T | R | E | E | S | |||
I | I | I | R | E | A | D | O | R | N | S | I | N | C | E | ||||||
M | I | D | D | L | E | M | A | N | A | G | E | M | E | N | T | G | N | A | W | |
U | N | A | B | A | T | E | D | T | R | E | A | D | E | D | H | I | D | E | ||
M | A | N | Y | F | O | L | D | H | O | R | R | O | R | S | T | S | A | R |
Rich Katz, of Park City, Utah, does freelance work in corporate restructuring.
This is his second crossword for The Times, following The Final Frontier in January. That puzzle had answers like DEATH EATER reinterpreted as D.E.A. THEATER ("Staging of a narc sting?") and PARK AVENUE as PARKA VENUE ("Iditarod, for one?"). For both puzzles, Rich's computer-savvy son searched databases for phrases that Rich could use as examples of his themes' wordplay.
A | Q | I | T | O | P | C | A | T | B | E | F | A | I | R | P | E | E | |||
N | U | N | E | X | U | R | B | S | A | L | L | P | R | O | L | A | S | |||
T | I | S | S | O | L | E | R | A | G | R | A | P | E | S | U | S | C | |||
E | X | P | O | S | L | E | A | O | W | L | I | N | S | T | A | |||||
C | O | I | N | A | G | E | M | C | C | O | Y | I | D | E | A | M | A | P | ||
E | T | T | U | R | D | A | O | U | R | P | E | R | V | I | S | A | ||||
D | I | E | S | I | A | N | U | P | I | I | D | O | E | N | I | D | ||||
E | C | O | A | L | F | A | R | B | G | A | S | O | F | U | A | E | ||||
F | E | L | L | A | A | T | E | I | T | C | L | A | W | S | ||||||
T | I | E | S | C | R | A | N | E | I | S | T | O | ||||||||
M | E | D | O | C | T | O | L | E | R | A | N | C | E | C | O | T | E | S | ||
I | W | O | N | I | W | O | N | C | E | L | O | N | N | O | T | I | C | E | ||
S | O | Y | A | I | N | T | E | R | S | S | C | A | N | M | O | N | ||||
T | K | O | K | N | E | A | D | S | I | C | I | E | S | T | E | N | D | |||
U | S | E | D | S | I | S | N | O | M | H | E | M | S | |||||||
B | R | A | Y | A | K | C | M | O | S | N | U | T | S | |||||||
H | O | W | L | S | A | T | A | G | A | S | P | H | A | T | R | A | C | K | ||
A | L | O | T | C | O | U | P | O | N | C | O | D | E | S | A | B | R | A | ||
V | E | R | Y | H | U | N | G | R | Y | C | A | T | E | R | P | I | L | L | A | R |
O | R | S | E | T | A | L | I | A | R | E | P | P | E | D | E | P | A | |||
C | O | T | H | E | L | I | O | S | E | S | P | A | N | A | S | E | T |
Michael Schlossberg is an internist in Bend, Ore., who's been making crosswords for The Times since 2020. He says he got the idea for this one while thinking about the books he read to his kids when they were little. He tried to get all the circles in the puzzle to line up, but that proved to be impossible.
Michael says his favorite part of constructing is converting a theme idea into a completed grid — "more fun and challenging than actual solving."
M | O | C | H | A | S | D | O | F | F | T | A | B | A | S | C | O | ||||
O | N | R | U | S | H | F | O | R | U | M | A | M | A | T | E | U | R | |||
M | E | A | L | S | O | N | W | H | E | E | L | S | R | O | S | T | E | R | S | |
M | A | N | A | T | E | E | E | L | B | O | W | G | R | E | A | S | E | |||
I | C | E | S | G | O | M | A | D | T | W | E | E | T | A | N | |||||
E | T | D | C | A | P | E | R | W | A | S | I | T | W | O | L | F | ||||
S | U | Z | E | O | R | M | A | N | T | H | R | I | L | L | ||||||
G | E | T | B | E | T | W | E | E | N | T | H | E | S | H | E | E | T | S | ||
J | U | D | E | A | S | A | D | B | R | I | E | F | S | |||||||
A | L | U | M | N | I | R | I | B | B | O | N | C | U | T | T | I | N | G | ||
B | C | C | N | I | B | C | O | O | O | K | S | N | Y | U | ||||||
S | H | E | L | L | S | T | A | T | I | O | N | S | A | L | I | S | T | S | ||
O | U | T | L | A | W | M | A | E | O | N | P | O | T | |||||||
S | P | I | R | A | L | S | O | U | T | O | F | C | O | N | T | R | O | L | ||
B | O | I | N | K | S | H | O | T | E | L | R | A | T | E | ||||||
M | U | G | S | C | A | C | H | E | S | A | B | R | A | G | A | H | ||||
I | P | O | S | A | R | A | A | T | T | I | C | L | O | C | I | |||||
B | U | T | T | E | R | F | L | I | E | S | T | O | T | E | B | A | G | |||
H | O | T | Y | O | G | A | I | N | Y | O | U | R | S | T | O | M | A | C | H | |
I | N | O | R | O | U | T | G | E | N | R | E | I | R | O | N | I | C | |||
D | E | N | O | T | E | S | S | E | L | F | C | O | N | G | A | S |
Manaal Mohammed is a junior at M.I.T. studying computer science.
This is her first crossword for The Times. It started when she saw the phrase [27-Across] and thought that was an apt way to describe mac 'n' cheese. The grid is full of references with personal significance. Manaal is from the 7-Down area. Her mother uses 14-Down to make rotis. Her older sister used to be obsessed with 23-Downs. And her dad keeps a 41-Across interview stuck on the family refrigerator.
L | I | T | E | R | A | T | I | P | A | D | K | I | N | G | S | T | O | N | ||
L | E | A | V | E | S | T | O | A | N | A | A | D | O | R | A | B | L | E | ||
A | D | D | I | T | I | O | N | N | T | H | B | Y | P | A | S | S | E | S | ||
T | R | A | P | A | D | E | L | E | L | E | N | S | ||||||||
M | A | T | E | O | E | R | A | S | I | N | G | D | Y | L | A | N | ||||
A | H | A | G | R | A | P | E | S | A | G | E | G | A | P | O | B | E | |||
N | E | U | T | R | I | N | O | R | I | D | I | C | U | L | E | |||||
I | M | T | O | A | S | T | P | A | N | E | L | S | M | A | R | T | E | D | ||
O | D | E | A | L | E | V | E | I | N | A | ||||||||||
A | T | E | L | E | S | S | C | A | D | E | T | I | R | O | N | M | E | N | ||
R | O | T | S | T | O | P | I | C | N | E | R | V | E | E | A | S | T | |||
A | N | Y | S | O | N | O | F | A | B | R | A | N | D | O | N | S | A | |||
K | E | M | A | L | S | T | I | R | E | R | S | E | N | I | G | E | L | |||
D | O | O | R | S | S | E | T | T | I | T | R | A | M | E | N | |||||
P | O | L | K | O | C | H | R | E | S | P | A | D | E | O | R | C | S | |||
T | W | O | O | C | H | O | M | E | A | L | S | E | C | |||||||
A | N | G | D | R | O | P | L | E | A | F | T | A | B | L | E | C | S | I | ||
I | D | E | A | S | E | A | L | I | O | N | I | S | L | E | ||||||
R | I | C | O | T | T | A | A | R | T | O | O | A | S | H | A | N | T | I | ||
P | L | A | T | T | E | R | P | L | A | N | T | E | T | A | G | E | R | E | ||
A | L | L | E | S | T | S | Y | R | A | H | S | S | N | S | I | S |
Lisa Senzel is a pathologist at Stony Brook Medicine on Long Island. She's been solving the New York Times crossword in print since 1994. Jeff Chen is a writer in Seattle.
The idea for this puzzle was Lisa's. Jeff wrote a program to generate possible theme answers, then designed the grid and guided Lisa through the fill. "Generous, funny, great people" is how Lisa describes Jeff and the other crossword mentors she's had.
A | S | P | C | A | C | A | R | B | I | S | S | A | E | M | I | T | S | |||
C | H | A | U | T | A | U | Q | U | A | B | E | A | U | N | O | L | A | N | ||
M | I | S | T | E | R | B | U | N | N | Y | M | A | G | S | D | O | L | M | A | |
E | V | S | M | E | A | N | I | E | L | E | T | G | O | B | A | G | ||||
F | O | B | E | S | T | E | E | R | E | F | U | E | L | S | ||||||
W | E | A | R | A | B | L | E | T | H | I | N | G | T | O | T | A | S | T | E | |
E | V | I | L | L | A | U | G | H | T | S | O | A | N | A | ||||||
E | E | L | E | T | R | E | R | B | I | R | U | N | E | O | S | U | ||||
G | E | E | K | S | B | E | A | R | I | N | G | G | R | I | F | T | S | |||
S | A | T | O | N | T | A | X | M | E | N | G | R | A | N | T | E | E | |||
C | L | O | T | H | A | S | H | U | P | S | Y | D | E | A | R | |||||
O | P | T | I | M | A | L | A | U | N | T | I | E | D | U | N | K | S | |||
W | H | E | N | I | T | P | A | I | N | S | I | T | R | O | A | R | S | |||
L | A | D | S | E | E | R | T | A | T | D | K | N | Y | U | T | E | ||||
I | S | R | E | P | I | J | U | L | I | E | N | N | E | D | ||||||
T | H | R | E | E | M | A | R | E | S | Q | U | E | A | L | S | A | D | A | Y | |
W | E | E | K | D | A | Y | O | D | E | U | M | T | E | E | ||||||
Y | E | S | A | D | R | A | G | W | I | P | E | R | S | R | Y | E | ||||
A | T | T | I | C | T | H | R | O | N | E | S | S | T | O | W | A | W | A | Y | |
T | H | E | E | U | L | E | A | R | R | O | S | E | P | A | R | A | D | E | ||
T | E | R | R | E | E | M | M | A | O | N | E | S | D | R | Y | A | D |
John Kugelman is a software engineer and musician from Gainesville, Va. His father, who turns 80 this year, is a sounding board for John's puzzle ideas and John finds that brainstorming with him is a great way to stay connected. "Every time I see him we throw around all kinds of wordplay, just spitballing and letting our minds roam."
This is John's first crossword for The Times. It grew out of 38-Across.
F | B | I | P | I | T | A | S | D | U | C | T | S | S | A | D | ||||
T | O | G | A | D | O | R | N | E | N | T | R | E | C | O | D | E | |||
W | H | O | T | O | W | E | L | V | I | R | A | L | H | A | L | E | |||
O | T | T | E | S | S | A | P | O | O | L | S | W | E | M | E | T | |||
A | C | T | O | N | L | A | U | N | C | H | H | E | I | R | S | ||||
S | H | A | S | T | A | B | U | R | R | S | T | R | E | K | |||||
H | I | G | H | D | O | U | B | T | S | L | A | U | R | Y | N | ||||
E | C | O | B | U | O | Y | E | D | B | U | L | G | E | A | S | U | |||
A | L | M | S | F | O | R | K | W | A | R | T | S | |||||||
T | A | R | N | A | P | D | E | S | I | T | E | E | N | I | E | ||||
B | R | E | A | K | T | H | E | S | O | U | N | D | B | A | R | R | I | E | R |
O | F | F | I | C | E | K | I | N | D | A | M | E | A | S | S | ||||
N | E | I | G | H | M | I | T | T | G | N | A | W | |||||||
D | D | T | A | L | I | N | E | B | E | A | T | L | E | C | F | O | |||
S | P | R | I | N | G | P | L | A | G | U | E | E | A | R | L | ||||
A | G | E | D | S | H | E | R | A | S | P | A | R | E | D | |||||
Q | U | E | U | E | B | R | U | T | E | S | E | S | T | E | E | ||||
U | M | A | S | S | L | A | C | E | D | F | L | A | T | T | O | P | |||
R | A | T | E | P | O | C | K | S | S | L | O | P | E | O | A | K | |||
A | M | I | D | D | W | E | L | T | H | O | M | E | R | N | S | A | |||
N | I | T | A | N | D | E | S | O | P | E | D | S | Y | S | L |
Chandi Deitmer, of Cambridge, Mass., is an editor for Elevate Labs, a brain-training app. Her crosswords have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The New Yorker, The Atlantic and numerous "indie" outlets.
This is her fourth puzzle for The New York Times — all Sundays. Her starting point for it was 58-Across. Chandi says, "I love the space a Sunday puzzle affords to be playful."
T | E | C | S | D | E | I | D | R | E | A | I | P | A | C | A | G | O | |||
A | L | L | A | I | S | S | U | E | D | U | T | I | L | E | M | O | W | |||
B | E | A | V | I | S | A | N | D | B | U | T | T | H | E | A | D | I | A | N | |
L | A | S | E | R | C | U | T | S | R | U | E | E | A | G | L | E | ||||
E | N | S | U | E | B | R | I | M | L | E | Y | N | O | I | R | |||||
H | O | W | S | C | A | M | P | A | I | G | N | P | R | O | M | I | S | E | S | |
O | R | A | W | A | L | K | O | N | S | S | E | R | U | M | ||||||
P | A | R | K | I | N | G | T | I | C | K | E | T | B | T | E | A | M | S | ||
O | R | C | A | S | G | O | F | L | A | T | U | A | E | |||||||
A | Y | E | A | Y | E | C | R | A | Y | O | L | A | T | R | I | X | ||||
S | E | L | L | L | I | Q | U | I | D | P | L | U | M | R | W | A | Z | E | ||
D | A | D | A | C | A | R | P | E | T | S | H | A | I | L | E | D | ||||
O | R | E | B | E | E | T | L | E | C | H | O | I | R | |||||||
I | S | R | A | E | L | S | N | A | K | E | H | A | N | D | L | E | R | S | ||
S | E | V | E | N | A | N | T | A | R | E | S | M | O | T | ||||||
A | R | T | I | F | I | C | I | A | L | H | E | A | R | T | S | S | P | A | R | |
F | E | U | D | S | O | C | L | O | S | E | B | L | A | D | E | |||||
F | A | R | E | S | K | E | N | R | E | D | G | I | A | N | T | S | ||||
A | L | T | W | A | T | E | R | G | A | T | E | B | U | R | G | L | A | R | S | |
I | L | L | A | P | A | R | T | D | E | N | A | D | A | O | D | I | E | |||
R | Y | E | G | R | O | S | S | O | X | E | Y | E | S | M | A | P | S |
Michael Schlossberg is an internist in Bend, Ore. He's been making puzzles for The Times since 2020.
Eugene T. Maleska, the Times's crossword editor from 1977 to 1993, famously had 40 rejections from the old New York Herald Tribune before his first submission was accepted back in the day. Michael says he had 50 rejections of Sunday puzzles from us before he got a yes. That must set some sort of record for perseverance.
W | O | V | E | T | E | A | R | Y | T | O | A | D | M | A | T | |||||
A | H | E | A | D | O | N | G | O | A | L | O | S | L | O | A | X | E | |||
C | H | A | R | A | C | T | E | R | S | K | E | T | C | H | E | S | K | I | A | |
O | I | L | L | E | E | W | A | Y | T | W | E | A | K | D | E | S | K | |||
P | S | A | L | M | S | M | A | I | L | E | K | E | S | |||||||
I | N | A | T | I | E | S | P | I | T | T | I | N | G | I | M | A | G | E | ||
N | E | R | O | S | P | I | K | E | S | S | A | O | S | O | F | A | S | |||
C | O | M | P | U | T | E | R | I | C | O | N | M | I | S | S | O | R | T | ||
S | L | A | T | E | C | O | V | E | N | O | D | E | ||||||||
D | I | N | E | P | A | P | I | P | E | C | A | L | L | E | R | |||||
L | E | G | A | L | R | E | P | R | E | S | E | N | T | A | T | I | O | N | ||
H | E | A | N | E | Y | A | S | E | A | N | I | H | R | E | F | |||||
A | N | D | E | S | T | E | E | S | E | P | I | A | ||||||||
R | O | G | U | I | S | H | L | O | T | T | O | D | R | A | W | I | N | G | ||
E | V | I | T | A | E | L | I | N | A | E | N | A | E | A | R | I | A | |||
M | O | V | I | N | G | P | I | C | T | U | R | E | C | A | K | I | N | G | ||
E | L | S | A | Z | E | U | S | T | H | E | S | E | S | |||||||
B | R | A | E | S | N | A | I | L | A | B | R | U | P | T | H | B | O | |||
R | O | W | S | P | O | R | T | S | I | L | L | U | S | T | R | A | T | E | D | |
A | L | A | P | E | N | D | A | T | T | A | C | K | O | N | E | N | D | |||
T | O | Y | A | D | O | S | T | O | B | E | Y | T | A | T | S |
Christina Iverson, of Ames, Iowa, is an assistant puzzle editor for The Times. She reviews crossword submissions and helps edit the accepted ones for publication. This puzzle started as an 11 x 11-square grid in which every clue was an emoji. When that didn't work out, she revised and expanded her idea into what you see here.
Christina says, "I had hoped to convince someone to draw the pictures for me, but had no luck, so I drew them all myself."
B | T | S | S | K | I | M | W | A | T | C | H | D | I | M | S | |||||
U | A | E | O | N | M | E | A | N | I | T | A | R | E | C | A | L | L | |||
T | H | E | E | L | E | P | H | A | N | T | M | A | N | A | V | E | N | U | E | |
W | E | S | T | A | T | E | D | E | B | H | E | S | S | |||||||
H | O | Y | A | A | R | S | T | O | L | L | B | O | O | T | H | S | ||||
Y | E | A | R | N | E | D | P | I | R | A | T | E | S | Y | ||||||
B | E | B | O | P | N | I | N | E | A | I | N | T | ||||||||
T | H | U | N | B | E | R | G | O | K | R | A | T | E | E | M | S | ||||
G | E | O | D | E | O | A | K | I | U | D | S | L | A | T | E | |||||
A | C | T | S | N | A | P | T | I | M | E | T | U | B | E | S | A | L | |||
S | H | Y | S | Y | M | B | O | L | I | C | L | O | G | I | C | C | U | E | ||
P | H | O | O | T | O | E | N | B | O | R | A | N | G | |||||||
S | U | G | A | R | S | T | P | O | O | P | M | E | R | C | Y | |||||
B | A | N | T | U | S | L | E | D | L | A | H | D | I | D | A | H | ||||
N | O | N | E | A | P | E | S | Y | I | E | L | D | ||||||||
Y | O | U | F | L | A | T | T | E | R | M | E | S | N | O | W | D | A | Y | ||
D | E | C | A | T | E | O | S | U | A | I | M | E | ||||||||
I | N | T | L | E | T | A | I | T | S | B | E | E | N | R | E | A | L | |||
S | T | A | F | F | S | B | I | G | S | H | O | E | S | T | O | F | I | L | L | |
S | A | V | E | A | S | O | V | U | L | E | R | A | R | E | N | I | A | |||
S | E | E | D | O | S | T | E | R | S | U | E | S | S | E | T |
Rebecca Goldstein, of Albany, Calif., is a research scientist at Merck, developing immunotherapies for cancer. Rafael Musa, of San Francisco, is a software engineer at Airbnb. Each has been published individually in The Times, but this is their first collaboration.
As friends they see each other occasionally at Bay Area puzzle events and otherwise. They worked separately, though, through many different versions, to implement this crossword's ambitious theme.
S | P | E | E | D | O | H | O | S | T | F | O | R | R | E | A | L | ||||
H | O | W | D | E | D | O | I | S | L | E | I | S | A | I | D | N | O | |||
I | N | O | U | T | I | N | G | S | H | O | R | T | L | O | N | G | I | N | G | |
N | Y | K | A | U | T | O | S | A | P | R | I | L | T | H | E | E | ||||
D | I | M | O | U | T | S | O | A | K | I | E | S | T | |||||||
S | T | E | A | L | P | R | O | C | O | N | N | I | N | G | S | N | I | P | ||
T | H | A | L | I | A | D | O | R | F | F | O | A | M | I | N | G | ||||
R | E | S | E | N | D | S | L | E | A | N | H | O | T | P | A | C | K | S | ||
I | C | Y | G | O | O | F | E | L | O | P | E | R | I | R | E | |||||
N | A | H | L | A | B | A | N | I | M | A | L | A | N | T | M | A | N | |||
G | P | A | S | P | R | I | N | G | F | A | L | L | I | N | G | E | A | U | ||
S | E | R | A | P | H | S | I | R | E | N | S | O | N | G | A | M | C | |||
D | N | A | S | P | L | A | T | S | S | I | L | O | N | I | L | |||||
B | R | I | A | N | M | A | Y | B | I | L | E | T | E | N | M | I | L | E | ||
P | U | N | T | S | O | N | M | A | R | A | D | E | A | N | N | A | ||||
S | E | G | O | O | D | D | E | V | E | N | I | N | G | T | I | G | E | R | ||
M | I | N | G | E | R | A | D | E | C | A | P | O | D | |||||||
T | T | Y | L | L | E | O | N | A | S | H | I | L | O | P | S | A | ||||
W | H | O | L | E | P | A | R | T | I | N | G | O | N | O | F | F | I | N | G | |
S | E | M | A | N | A | S | I | S | T | O | S | W | E | E | T | I | E | |||
J | A | B | B | E | R | S | C | H | I | P | S | W | E | A | T | S |
John Westwig is a software engineer in Seattle. He got into crosswords when he was very young, solving Games magazine on car trips with his family. Constructing came soon after. He sold his first puzzle to The Times in 2015, when he was 17.
This is his eighth (and first Sunday). "Lots of friends do the Times puzzle," John writes, "but most complain that mine are too hard."
W | E | P | T | M | R | M | E | T | M | A | N | T | A | I | S | L | E | |||
E | G | A | D | C | A | T | C | H | A | V | A | I | L | C | H | A | D | |||
D | O | U | B | L | E | T | A | K | E | G | A | M | E | T | H | E | O | R | Y | |
B | L | A | I | N | E | O | P | P | O | S | E | S | A | B | R | A | S | |||
M | O | A | N | E | R | L | I | O | T | T | A | J | O | T | ||||||
B | O | N | K | O | N | A | R | U | N | A | N | D | A | C | T | I | ||||
A | S | K | S | E | R | V | I | N | G | S | U | G | G | E | S | T | I | O | N | |
S | T | A | S | H | A | G | O | G | A | N | S | E | L | M | R | T | S | |||
C | E | O | T | E | S | L | A | L | I | U | C | O | T | |||||||
A | F | R | A | I | D | S | O | T | E | R | S | E | A | U | T | O | ||||
B | L | A | N | K | E | T | R | E | C | O | M | M | E | N | D | A | T | I | O | N |
I | O | N | S | M | E | R | C | I | T | O | E | T | O | T | O | E | ||||
T | A | I | A | B | A | W | I | C | C | A | E | E | L | |||||||
O | T | T | C | O | R | B | I | N | O | V | U | M | I | L | L | G | O | |||
D | I | S | S | E | N | T | I | N | G | O | P | I | N | I | O | N | A | R | P | |
D | E | C | O | D | I | K | D | I | D | I | O | N | C | N | E | T | ||||
O | W | N | N | E | O | C | O | N | S | P | A | C | E | S | ||||||
A | M | U | S | E | D | T | W | A | N | G | S | S | T | O | L | E | N | |||
C | O | R | E | B | E | L | I | E | F | S | A | G | E | A | D | V | I | C | E | |
I | L | S | A | L | O | R | N | E | A | G | I | N | G | E | T | A | L | |||
D | E | E | R | L | O | E | S | S | W | A | S | T | E | D | O | R | K |
Joe DiPietro owns the bar "one-star" in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Its website self-deprecatingly calls it "a dingy hole on a deadish street" (but it gets 4.5 stars on Yelp).
This is Joe's 137th crossword for The Times since 1995. He began it after seeing 46-Across on a food package and thinking, hmm. Joe says, "I will never not love coming up with theme ideas and filling grids."
T | O | B | A | C | C | O | H | A | S | P | L | A | N | S | ||||||
C | O | A | U | T | H | O | R | B | A | C | K | R | O | N | Y | M | ||||
S | H | O | R | T | H | A | U | L | S | A | S | H | A | O | B | A | M | A | ||
B | A | R | T | S | T | A | R | R | R | E | D | H | O | T | P | O | K | E | R | |
O | V | O | W | E | N | T | T | O | E | T | O | T | O | E | I | T | T | |||
C | O | N | C | O | R | D | C | I | C | A | D | A | S | P | A | N | S | Y | ||
A | R | O | O | M | C | A | L | L | L | O | G | C | A | M | ||||||
G | E | T | S | O | M | E | A | I | R | T | A | R | O | T | S | |||||
S | K | I | N | N | I | E | R | D | I | M | S | O | L | D | A | S | I | S | ||
C | O | M | O | K | A | N | T | M | I | C | H | E | L | M | U | L | L | |||
O | O | H | S | I | L | E | A | C | T | U | R | N | A | A | R | E | A | |||
O | P | E | C | B | I | L | B | A | O | D | U | A | L | S | I | N | K | |||
B | A | R | E | S | A | L | L | U | N | M | B | I | O | W | A | S | T | E | ||
S | E | N | T | R | Y | A | L | G | A | L | B | L | O | O | M | |||||
T | I | S | D | I | D | O | K | A | Y | N | A | T | T | Y | ||||||
T | A | M | E | R | S | O | R | R | I | E | R | F | A | T | T | I | R | E | ||
A | C | U | D | A | I | K | O | N | R | A | D | I | S | H | D | E | G | |||
J | U | S | T | K | I | D | D | I | N | G | J | U | N | K | E | T | I | N | G | |
I | N | T | R | O | C | L | A | S | S | S | E | M | I | S | W | E | E | T | ||
K | I | D | A | C | T | O | R | S | C | A | B | S | T | A | N | D | ||||
S | T | O | P | H | A | T | E | I | N | S | H | O | R | T |
Sam Ezersky is the digital puzzles editor for The Times. Besides helping with the crossword, he oversees other daily Times games like Spelling Bee and Letter Boxed.
This themeless grid (Sam's favorite kind to make) is his 40th construction for the paper. It has only 118 answers — the lowest word count in Sunday Times history. Nearly a quarter of the answers have never appeared in a Times puzzle before. Sam likes challenges. When you see his byline, he wants you to think, "Oh boy, time to buckle up!"
D | U | N | B | A | R | S | L | O | G | A | N | S | |||||||
A | R | M | O | I | R | E | C | O | L | O | N | I | E | S | |||||
O | N | A | N | D | O | F | F | R | E | D | S | T | A | T | E | S | |||
W | H | O | Y | O | U | I | T | I | S | S | O | S | A | L | E | ||||
O | A | R | L | O | S | A | B | S | U | S | A | T | L | A | S | ||||
O | R | A | N | G | E | J | U | I | C | E | S | T | E | R | O | I | D | S | |
T | A | K | E | I | O | C | T | O | O | C | H | E | R | N | E | O | |||
A | N | D | C | E | S | S | N | A | T | O | E | ||||||||
D | A | R | K | R | O | O | M | Y | E | L | L | O | W | L | A | B | |||
S | O | S | G | A | R | R | P | R | I | D | E | F | L | A | G | ||||
F | I | T | O | W | N | M | A | I | L | G | N | C | E | R | E | ||||
O | N | E | S | O | C | A | L | A | F | O | O | L | U | R | L | ||||
G | R | E | E | N | T | A | P | E | C | A | S | S | E | T | T | E | |||
A | N | O | S | L | O | T | H | S | E | R | A | ||||||||
A | L | F | S | M | I | T | E | I | O | T | A | I | N | D | I | A | |||
P | E | A | C | O | A | T | S | B | L | U | E | J | A | C | K | E | T | S | |
I | D | C | A | R | D | S | P | R | E | N | A | S | P | A | T | ||||
A | T | T | N | A | T | E | A | S | E | I | A | M | A | L | I | ||||
V | I | O | L | E | T | R | A | Y | B | R | A | D | B | U | R | Y | |||
S | E | T | P | I | E | C | E | A | T | H | E | I | S | T | |||||
D | E | S | E | X | E | D | Y | E | S | S | E | S |
Rafael Musa, of San Francisco, is a software engineer at Airbnb. This is his third crossword for The Times.
The idea for it came from a giant 57/58-Across at the intersection of Castro and Market in San Francisco. "I was stuck at a light looking at it and thought — could this be a crossword puzzle? Turns out, yes, it can!" He adds, "This one is very special to me as it's running 10 years, almost to the day, after I came out for the first time."
M | A | S | K | I | N | C | A | G | R | I | N | E | R | P | S | S | T | ||||
A | G | A | I | N | R | O | L | L | I | O | D | I | D | E | O | H | I | O | |||
L | E | I | S | U | R | E | S | I | T | S | U | I | T | U | P | F | R | O | N | T | |
A | D | D | S | T | O | W | O | O | F | T | O | E | S | I | N | G | E | S | |||
C | O | Y | S | M | E | E | S | A | G | E | T | A | S | I | S | ||||||
H | U | E | S | C | L | A | W | L | U | R | I | D | A | N | T | ||||||
I | T | S | A | L | O | S | T | C | A | S | E | C | O | L | D | C | A | U | S | E | |
L | A | M | E | F | L | E | S | H | E | L | D | E | R | S | O | N | |||||
P | T | R | A | P | S | T | I | L | T | S | A | T | O | L | E | B | L | T | |||
A | S | A | M | I | B | E | E | T | L | O | O | S | E | E | P | A | |||||
C | A | N | I | S | T | E | A | L | Y | O | U | F | O | R | A | S | E | C | O | N | D |
R | S | S | H | A | R | D | C | S | O | L | E | C | O | R | G | I | |||||
M | I | A | D | E | T | S | A | R | A | P | E | S | F | I | T | T | E | D | |||
I | N | C | L | U | D | E | S | T | O | T | E | D | O | R | G | Y | |||||
C | A | K | E | D | O | N | T | S | D | O | N | U | T | D | E | S | P | A | I | R | |
M | E | T | L | U | G | E | D | P | A | I | N | E | R | N | E | ||||||
I | A | M | B | B | L | O | A | T | K | N | E | W | U | S | D | ||||||
E | M | B | E | R | S | E | R | A | Y | O | K | E | M | A | R | G | I | N | |||
T | H | I | S | O | L | D | H | O | S | E | P | A | N | T | Y | H | O | U | S | E | |
R | I | D | E | O | N | U | S | E | S | P | L | I | E | S | A | L | T | S | |||
E | P | E | E | B | A | D | A | R | T | S | E | N | D | M | A | S | S |
Chandi Deitmer, of Cambridge, Mass., edits puzzles for Elevate Labs, a brain-training app. Taylor Johnson, of Minneapolis, is a stay-at-home dad who volunteers at a food co-op. After meeting via an email chain, they became friends and sounding boards for each other's work.
Chandi says, "The good thing about good friends is they tell you when your theme idea isn't landing — and offer to collaborate with you to make it better." Each has been previously published in The Times, but this is their first puzzle here together.
Y | E | S | A | N | D | N | O | N | A | S | A | L | A | C | T | I | V | |||
I | D | I | T | A | R | O | D | I | T | P | R | O | T | H | A | M | E | S | ||
P | A | R | T | N | E | R | I | N | C | R | I | M | E | L | A | L | A | L | A | |
M | E | R | N | O | H | I | T | B | L | A | N | K | C | D | S | |||||
A | I | D | E | T | E | S | S | A | R | T | I | S | T | S | ||||||
C | H | E | C | K | I | N | D | E | S | K | D | R | Y | G | I | N | ||||
F | O | S | T | E | R | D | A | D | H | U | E | E | N | C | A | M | P | |||
L | O | T | A | T | O | N | A | S | S | E | T | S | G | I | J | O | E | |||
A | C | E | R | W | A | I | T | I | N | L | I | N | E | R | A | M | S | |||
T | H | R | E | A | T | S | O | U | L | E | U | R | O | C | R | A | T | |||
S | H | O | E | S | L | E | E | P | G | A | U | L | ||||||||
R | E | D | P | A | N | D | A | N | Y | E | T | S | I | E | S | T | A | |||
O | R | E | O | E | N | D | I | N | T | E | A | R | S | S | K | I | S | |||
A | M | E | N | S | A | F | R | O | E | D | U | C | L | A | O | A | K | |||
R | A | P | D | U | O | E | A | T | S | T | R | I | K | E | O | N | E | |||
I | N | N | I | E | S | M | O | T | H | E | R | I | N | L | A | W | ||||
S | P | E | N | D | E | R | N | O | P | E | W | A | N | T | ||||||
T | O | N | K | A | T | S | U | A | C | C | R | A | E | R | E | |||||
E | L | N | I | N | O | B | A | C | K | I | N | B | U | S | I | N | E | S | S | |
P | O | U | N | C | E | E | G | R | E | T | I | N | A | S | T | A | T | E | ||
S | I | D | E | D | R | E | E | D | S | T | O | T | H | E | M | A | X |
Robert Ryan, of London, is an economist for the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority. He lives 10 minutes by foot from the 21-Across. This is his second crossword for The Times, after his debut in March.
Having grown up on cryptics, Robert is fond of tricky clues. His favourite (as he would spell it) in this puzzle is 78-Across. "As long as the clues are fair, I find hard ones more satisfying as a solver."
T | A | U | R | A | S | H | S | I | P | S | B | A | R | |||||||
J | A | I | L | S | A | U | T | O | P | I | L | O | T | A | V | E | R | S | ||
A | I | M | E | E | S | K | Y | W | A | L | K | E | R | B | E | D | E | W | ||
M | M | E | C | U | T | S | C | I | V | M | A | R | Y | L | E | I | ||||
B | A | K | L | A | V | A | L | A | N | E | S | W | E | B | C | A | S | T | ||
A | T | E | A | S | E | E | N | T | R | E | F | E | N | N | E | C | ||||
B | E | A | R | C | A | T | M | I | S | S | I | L | E | |||||||
L | B | S | O | L | D | S | I | T | T | N | T | |||||||||
P | E | I | I | S | T | O | A | H | H | D | Y | E | D | O | H | S | ||||
L | A | D | D | O | I | N | S | E | A | E | L | S | A | T | E | T | ||||
A | P | P | E | L | S | E | T | A | R | C | I | T | Y | S | B | A | ||||
S | Y | R | I | A | S | W | O | R | D | S | M | A | N | C | O | O | R | S | ||
M | E | I | R | A | N | O | T | H | E | R | O | B | O | E | ||||||
A | A | C | E | L | L | R | E | D | A | N | T | S | G | A | Z | A | N | S | ||
R | E | L | I | E | S | L | O | B | E | S | R | A | T | E | D | X | ||||
A | L | G | A | M | L | S | E | G | O | S | ||||||||||
E | N | S | N | A | R | L | S | E | E | S | T | A | R | M | I | S | E | N | ||
Q | U | A | D | A | T | I | T | H | A | R | E | N | E | M | O | |||||
U | R | L | Z | I | P | P | E | R | M | E | R | G | E | S | C | A | W | |||
A | S | S | A | S | I | A | N | A | T | U | M | U | L | T | T | I | A | |||
L | E | A | P | E | T | D | O | G | A | S | S | E | S | S | S | L | Y |
Sid Sivakumar is an M.D./Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis. This is his 15th crossword for The Times in three years.
He likes theme ideas and clues that are challenging but not forced. When you figure something out, he wants you to say, "Of course!," not "Uh ... OK, I get it." When possible, Sid includes South Asian references in his puzzles, as in the clue for 111-Down here.
M | A | S | T | I | F | F | B | A | F | T | A | I | P | A | S | S | ||||
C | A | L | O | R | I | E | C | L | I | O | S | D | E | T | E | N | T | E | ||
S | H | I | P | O | F | T | H | E | S | E | U | S | I | V | O | R | I | A | N | |
D | O | N | A | T | E | O | R | C | A | S | A | L | M | P | S | |||||
S | W | I | S | H | L | A | B | C | H | I | P | A | N | D | D | A | L | E | ||
Y | O | N | O | V | E | R | U | S | E | L | I | V | Y | A | L | E | ||||
N | A | T | U | R | E | N | E | R | O | C | O | L | O | R | ||||||
C | H | O | P | S | T | I | C | K | S | C | H | O | W | Y | U | N | F | A | T | |
P | E | S | T | O | H | A | H | A | S | I | S | I | M | O | ||||||
P | A | R | I | S | C | H | O | R | O | S | H | N | O | S | R | A | T | |||
E | V | E | S | S | H | O | W | B | O | A | T | I | N | G | M | E | Z | E | ||
C | A | C | H | E | T | S | E | R | A | A | P | E | B | O | D | E | S | |||
K | I | T | M | O | O | T | O | R | I | P | A | O | L | O | ||||||
S | L | O | W | M | O | T | I | O | N | S | L | O | P | B | U | C | K | E | T | |
H | A | D | I | N | C | H | I | A | O | N | H | I | R | E | ||||||
C | H | I | C | O | C | T | A | T | T | U | N | E | D | D | I | D | ||||
S | L | I | P | O | N | S | H | O | E | S | A | C | E | E | S | S | E | X | ||
W | A | G | R | E | I | A | T | T | A | S | A | C | R | U | M | |||||
A | M | H | E | R | S | T | S | H | I | P | O | F | T | H | E | S | E | U | S | |
N | U | L | L | I | T | Y | T | A | M | P | A | E | A | R | H | A | R | T | ||
S | P | Y | O | N | S | N | E | A | K | N | O | S | I | L | L | Y |
Will Nediger is a professional crossword constructor from London, Ontario. This is his 47th puzzle in The Times since 2006. He likes puzzles that violate standard crossword rules and conventions, as a way of making solvers think about the reasons behind those rules.
This puzzle's subject is a philosophical conundrum that, in case you're interested, is explained in more detail on Wikipedia.
P | R | U | N | E | S | S | S | N | R | E | D | C | O | D | ||||||
D | E | T | O | X | E | S | S | C | O | O | B | H | E | R | O | I | Z | E | ||
A | V | E | N | U | E | Q | H | E | L | L | O | E | A | R | G | A | S | M | ||
S | D | S | U | E | N | D | O | W | A | M | O | S | ||||||||
A | C | T | E | A | C | R | E | S | A | D | D | R | I | F | F | |||||
A | T | H | O | S | R | I | M | S | S | N | O | T | S | T | I | L | E | |||
T | R | A | P | B | E | T | A | D | I | R | T | S | N | O | W | |||||
O | A | R | G | R | O | I | N | S | S | A | T | I | R | E | E | R | E | |||
M | I | D | I | R | O | N | T | A | T | E | R | P | I | N | A | T | A | S | ||
N | O | J | O | K | E | A | R | O | A | R | S | C | Y | T | H | E | ||||
N | U | K | E | S | N | A | P | S | O | N | K | A | M | A | ||||||
B | A | N | S | T | R | E | K | W | I | S | E | C | N | B | C | |||||
T | H | A | T | H | E | N | U | P | S | P | I | N | A | K | I | N | ||||
W | A | Y | A | H | E | A | D | B | O | O | A | N | D | E | R | S | O | N | ||
T | A | L | C | S | E | L | F | T | B | I | R | D | ||||||||
F | L | E | W | A | T | F | R | O | T | H | I | N | A | S | E | C | ||||
S | R | A | S | W | E | L | L | S | G | O | I | N | G | S | L | O | W | |||
T | A | D | A | D | I | Y | T | P | S | G | I | S | H | |||||||
I | C | Y | H | O | T | E | F | F | A | C | E | S | K | O | O | Z | I | E | ||
R | A | M | O | N | A | D | I | A | B | O | L | O | U | R | B | A | N | E | ||
S | A | Y | O | K | S | N | E | E | R | B | R | I | B | E |
Lewis Rothlein is a yoga instructor and jazz piano enthusiast in Asheville, N.C. Jeff Chen is a writer and professional crossword constructor in Seattle. This is their third collaboration for The Times.
The theme idea was Lewis's. To find the best examples, Jeff wrote code and sifted the results from the database at XWordInfo.com, which has about 200,000 answer words from past Times crosswords.