Amanda Rafkin author page

★ Delightful connection, E-READER giving solid rationale for playing on authors whose names are regular words plus an E. I'd have believed that there would be four authors exhibiting this trait — WOLFE and WILDE have been played upon in many a crossword — but to get four of them that could be worked into common phrases? I wouldn't have even attempted it. Fantastic finds!

This is a splendid example of why I admire "tightness" in a theme set. Dan Schoenholz did a similar concept years ago, but it included Gordie HOWE, Louis MALLE, Arthur ASHE. Zeroing in on authors makes today's theme so much more elegant and tying them all together with E-READER makes it even more memorable.

Amazing gridwork, as I'd expect from the dream team. Of course, Amanda and Ross give us the typical long downs that are colorful — SEA OTTERS and EXTROVERT — but they don't stop there. It's difficult to build in long Across bonuses because they often interfere with gridding around the themers, but look how smoothly Amanda and Ross slipped in LIFEBOAT, WHERE ELSE, YOGA POSES, US VS THEM.

Often, these long Acrosses can muddy up what is theme and what is not, but with the themers being so obvious today, it's not a problem.

I'd usually suggest breaking up YOGA POSES at the second O, or LIFEBOAT at the B, but when you're willing to put in the time and effort to iterate until perfection, it's an excellent decision to go big. There are few secrets to filling a wide-open corner like the NE. If you want it bad enough, there usually will be some combination of long entries that give you a favorable balance of color and cleanliness. Few constructors have the doggedness to keep going, though.

It'd have been great to get a 50-50 mix of male and female authors, as well as more diversity, but I couldn't think of any other authors besides Thomas PAINE and Graham GREENE that would fit the pattern. Curious if anyone else can uncover someone that might have worked toward this goal.

Standout puzzle — a clever theme and stellar execution.

★ So amusing to think about Mario going down the runway, trying to out-pose the Minions. I didn't fully appreciate the concept at first since it seemed like you could pick any costume and find dozens of toons that wore it. As I drilled down, though, how many toons wear denim overalls? I'm deep in the midst of cartoonland — for my kids, not me! — and I could only come up with Wreck-it Ralph and Bob the Builder.

(I admit, I have an affinity for Wreck-it Ralph. So misunderstood.)

The others were even tighter. I couldn't come up with anyone but Popeye and Donald Duck for the SAILOR SUIT. All I could think of was Buster Bluth, who will sadly never win WHO WORE IT BETTER, but who's a winner in my book.

Fun echo to the theme in [Runway model?] = AIRLINER.

Great bonuses in BLIND SPOT, WHITE SEA, STRESS OUT. It's amazing what a megastar GAL GADOT has become in such a short time — she blew me away in her 2017 "Wonder Woman" role. A shame that the reviews for the sequel have been so negative.

Also appreciated were the fun touches in the clues. LAT confused me for a long. time, until I realized that there was a period after long. As in longitude! And I know a lot of people who can blow a lot of hot air, but VENTS do that as well.

Neat concept, one that grew on me. It kept calling me back to take a second and a third look, which is one trait of a great puzzle.

★ Two POW!s in one week?! Hey, sometimes you gotta break the rules. I loved that combination of ALPHA FEMALE and DEMIGODDESSES. I hadn't heard the latter, but it's an easy extension of "demigod," which came into popularity with the "Percy Jackson" series). How did I not know Helen of Troy was a DEMIGODDESS (father = Zeus, mother = either Leda or Nemesis)?

Along with the awesome phrases MADE BANK, MANI PEDI, AWKWARD AGE? Talk about I CANT RESIST!

Plus, a stellar clue for CEREAL AISLE, playing on "way of Life" (note the capital L in the clue)?

All this, while enjoying BAHAMA MAMAS? Make mine a double!

I could stop here, but check out [Protrusions near a trunk, maybe]. It had me groaning, because it was going to be some obscure Maleskan entry like KNARS. No, that's an elephant's trunk. Delightful!

Add in a FRACAS to the fun? Don't mind if I do!

I didn't understand [Hair pieces] for HANKS. I thought it must be some cultural reference I was missing, Tom Hanks in ... Saving Private Rapunzel? That Thing You Hairdo? Nope, the dictionary says it means "coils or skeins of yarn, hair, rope, or other material." Huh.

LACUNA was tough, too. I learned the word from making crosswords, researching potential fill a LAC??A pattern and thinking LACUNA was some sort of South American animal. It's a shame for constructors that the Barbara Kingsolver book, "The Lacuna," wasn't better received. That alternating vowel-consonant pattern is so friendly.

All in all, so much to love, such a fun solving experience; POW!-worthy indeed. Great week for the NYT crossworld.

Spot-on representation of TWO PEAS IN A POD, two Ps crammed into a circle. I appreciated the zesty theme entries, too — STRIP POKER, WRAP PARTY, VIP PASSES, that's a great story right there! Even FLIP PHONES seem to be making a return.

I thought I'd be the only one who noticed the consistency of all the Across themers having PP split over two words, while all the Downs having PP within a single word. Not so! Jim Horne, who usually doesn't care about things like this, noted it as a mark of elegance. He also (correctly) predicted that I'd note it too.

However, today was one of the rare occurrences where he appreciated consistency more than I did. While I do like the tidiness of all the Acrosses working similarly, and the Downs too, there's no reason why they should. It'd be one thing if there was a reason for PP to split across Across entries, and another reason for Downs to work differently. As is, the consistency for consistency's sake didn't wow me as much as it did Jim.

I'd also have liked a less audacious grid layout. It's almost impossible to avoid compromises with a theme-dense, 72-word grid. The SE corner is telling. Anytime you have to resort to the common-letter-heavy ERESTU on an edge, it's not so great.

In the opposite corner, ROSTRA is an odd duck but reasonable. Less so: TO RENT? OHO crossing OH THAT? R AND R, never written like that outside crosswords? I understand the desire to make the puzzle feel heftier, but I'd prefer scaled-back gridwork. Maybe even run this on a Tuesday. Yes, it's rare to get a Tuesday rebus, but the circles make it an easy rebus — too easy for a mid-week puzzle.

Thankfully, Amanda and Ross did a great job selecting themers that snazzed up the joint, WHOPPER JR such a fun entry. Some sparkly bonuses, like MACH ONE, WEASELS, ALTER EGO (Ziggy Stardust was David Bowie? Blows my mind!), helped balance out some tougher entries like LYCEES and CREVE.

Earlier this year, Will Shortz mentioned that he sees too many "hidden words" themes. I think there's still room for exploration within this theme type, but you need some extra element. An offshoot has been "two of the same hidden words," but even that is reaching saturation, especially because solvers can tire of finding the same string over and over.

A great example of what can make one of these stand out is a DOUBLETREE puzzle. It's hard to find strong phrases that hide two types of well-known trees, so the discoveries are interesting, they feel rare, and the variety is great.

Today's theme does score points on that "rare" criterion; few phrases fit the *WIN*WIN* search pattern. I only found TWINKLE TWINKLE, but that only exacerbates the theme's repetitive feel, WINNIE WINKLE, which is esoteric to say the least, and the WINKLEVOSS TWINS. I might have used that last one, since that duo has been in Facebook-related news recently. Still, such a small selection of possibilities makes for a "tight" theme, lending some elegance.

I appreciated Amanda's care in gridwork. I did hesitate on BWANA and STYNE. They're both fair game, but they might cause newer solvers to stumble. Not ideal, but acceptable.

Although the theme was more of a drawing to a close than a win-win, the bonuses of BENIGN, ONE AND ONLY, STENCIL, LOONIE and the mostly smooth grid help elevate my solve.

I've learned a ton about Will Shortz's editorial preferences over the years; what entries he will and won't accept. One curiosity is that he tends to not only accept but relish in "drop trou" or "full moon" clues / answers. It's fun to imagine him subversively sneaking these in.

No subtlety today — KEEP YOUR PANTS ON, cartoon characters! I've seen lists of anti-pant-ites before, but it was amusing to get a reminder. Talk about subversive; generations of cartoonists secretly chanting nudist sayings. We declare no underwear, we like to feel the air!

I should have been a slogan writer.

Ever wonder why Yogi was made into a bear, not some other animal? YOGI BARE is more like it!

Or maybe a conspiracy theorist.

Beautiful grid to go along with the funny theme / revealer. I'm usually wary of adjacent parallel downs, since something like TV LICENSE / TRICK SHOT requires so many crossings to work through — especially when both of these long bonuses cross two themers! Amanda and Ross are such strong constructors that they pulled it off with both color and cleanliness.

There's no secret to producing outstanding grids, just a ton of gritty, iterative work.

If I hadn't ever noticed the prevalence of toons going ultra-commando, I'd have let out a mighty laugh at the revealer today. Even being familiar with it, I still chuckled. An amusing theme, along with such a masterfully-crafted grid, not your average bare! Er, bear. If it hadn't been for a bit of tougher OREAD and NEAP, I'd have no qualms about hooking a newb into crosswords with this one.

About a year ago, I had this brilliant idea. Brilliant, I say! What if I could find phrases that had exactly five vowels, in E I E I O order? Was that even possible?

The coding wasn't straightforward — a wild card search like *E*I*E*I*O* would turn up lots of false positives with extra vowels — but eventually I figured it out. I came up with a limited set, making for a tight theme, and most of them were great:

• BEST INTENTIONS
• CELINE DION
• LEIF ERICSON
• VERMICELLI BOWL
• VESTING PERIOD
• DERRINGER PISTOL
• BELIEF IN GOD
• PERIHELION
• THE TIME IS NOW

What a disappointment when I turned up Peter Collins' puzzle from 2010. A variant, too. Ah well, it happens. I moved on.

I wish I hadn't been so hasty. Even knowing about Pete's puzzle and my findings, I still enjoyed today's solve. It's a shame that REWRITES HISTORY includes the Y as a vowel, because the others have that incredibly impressive feature of there being only five vowels, E I E I and O. Even after having discovered all I did, it still boggles my mind that there is a set of phrases that works.

I had a miserable time down in the lower left corner. I know UVEA because I worked in ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, but that's a toughie. Crossing it with EVE clued as the rapper, and ARS seeming more like [Captains' cries] than AYS, and I had a BEVY of wrong guesses in there. I'm all for modern references, but in this case, the solving experience would have been so much smoother with a Biblical EVE reference.

Thankfully, there were some strong bonuses, BATH TOWELS clued to the old joke about getting wetter as they dry, WHEREFORES a curious word, WINS BIG. Helped to balance out some of the stuff that might make newer solvers feel unwelcome, like NIHIL and ROLLO.

Great theme, with an unfortunate ding for the Y in REWRITES HISTORY. I enjoyed the discoveries so much, it made me wish I had stuck with my construction efforts. A puzzle from a decade ago shouldn't disqualify a remake.

ADDED NOTE: A friend pointed out another one from the WSJ — with an apt byline!

SOCIAL CAPITAL is a great phrase to riff on. I'd never have thought there would be three [(social media verb) + (finance term)] phrases, but FOLLOWS THE MONEY, POSTS BOND, SHARES THE WEALTH all work. Neat that all three are presented in the same verb tense; a touch of elegance.

I did hitch on POSTS BOND, which I was sure had to be POSTS BAIL. Sometimes you have to make compromises to make a theme work. I'd have preferred sticking with the more natural-sounding POSTS BAIL, since even us finance types could look the other way, calling bail a form of capital.

Once in a blue moon, Crucivera, the God of Crosswords, is benevolent. I can only imagine other constructors finding these three themers and swearing at the horrible luck. Lengths 13, 9, 15, 15? Bah! It's a good thing that Amanda and Ross make their own luck, finding a way to interlock themers in a mirror symmetry arrangement. Neat save!

One of the tough aspects of using mirror symmetry can be eliminating "false themers." In this case, some solvers might ask, what do WIPER BLADES have to do with SOCIAL CAPITAL? It should be obvious which are themers today, but I can imagine some folks staring at WIPER BLADES, squinting in an attempt to make out blades that might be lurking in the windshield of black squares.

Another issue with mirror symmetry + intersecting themers is that the intersection regions can be rough to fill around. NOURI, MARTA, SUVA, EVEL are all in the wide spectrum of "fair," as are OCHOA, OKAPI, EAPOE and RHEA / GOA. So much within that gray zone can lead to a miasma of inelegance, though. The NOURI / MARTA cross, in particular, is problematic.

I'll take a strong concept where two of three themers hit home. Swap in POSTS BAIL and smooth out the crunchy spots, and it coulda been a contender.

I'm fortunate to chat with Jim Horne once a week. He has a unique perspective, having a background in programming, management, all styles of piano performance, conducting, Canadianism, and comedy. He had me cracking up as he riffed on AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (he's not a comic book fan and hasn't seen the movies.

This passes as a rallying cry? Avengers, come to the Senate floor so we can peacefully discuss current events while making popcorn?

Somehow, Robert Downey, Jr. makes it work. I can't imagine Antonio Guterres pulling it off, though.

I like that this "hidden words" theme riffs on a contemporary phrase, the Avengers movies offering surprisingly fantastic stories, evoking strong emotions. THOR inside an EVENT HORIZON could be straight out of the movies. WASP inside THROW A SPIRAL is great, too.

Although ASSISTANT MANAGER isn't that colorful a phrase, it made me think of "The Office." I could totally see Paul Rudd and Dwight Schrute dueling with flying ants vs. sharpened beets at ten paces.

Hidden word puzzles are becoming overdone, so they need to offer something extra. While I did appreciate the freshness of the revealer, it didn't feel like an apt way to describe hidden words. Now, if the puzzle had been presented in pieces, like a jigsaw, and you had to put together ASSISTANT and MANAGER to form ANT MAN across them — that would have been stellar.

Great gridwork, though, Amanda and Ross firing all pistons with ID LOVE TO, HIT THE DECK, BEAT BOXERS, RAGE QUIT. I'd have liked ONE METER and LOOM OVER broken up, so the oddly spelled DEMETRI could be smoothed out, but I can see the merits of offering solvers more long fill.

I love Ross's drive to help underrepresented demographics get into crossword construction. How apt to have UBERMENSCH in the grid!

JUST FOR THE RECORD, Amanda's debut is a solid example of a "how are these seemingly disparate things related?" theme. GUINNESS records, STUDIO records, and records kept by a STENOGRAPHER — different enough that the revealer gave me a decent a-ha moment.

Some might wonder if GUINNESS OFFICIAL is a real thing, but it most definitely is. I admit I watch too many "Dude Perfect" videos — their raw enthusiasm is irresistible. Some of my favorite episodes are those where they break ridiculous "world records," always needing a GUINNESS OFFICIAL to be present.

I wasn't so sure about a STUDIO SINGER. I've heard of studio musicians — I never got good enough to be one, sadly — but there's such a thing as a STUDIO SINGER? According to the Goog, yep! It's unfortunately not as catchy a phrase as "studio musician" or "backup singer."

STENOGRAPHER works for the third type of record, although it's not an entry anyone would write home about.

As much as I like UBERMENSCH, it'll be a tough word for some novice solvers. If all the crossings had been no-brainers, I wouldn't have mentioned it, but TCM (Turner Classic Movies) could be a killer. Along with another hard piece of vocab in CARPACCIO, I'd have asked for the difficulty dial to be turned down from eleven to ten. Something like PRIDE MONTH feels much more accessible to a wider audience, while still being a great entry.

All in all, a well-made debut puzzle, the overall smoothness demonstrating careful craftsmanship. If the themers had been punchier and the grid more Monday-friendly, I'd have given it some POW! consideration.