Billy Bratton author page
7 puzzles by Billy Bratton
with Constructor comments
See the 39 answer words debuted by Billy Bratton.
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Hey it's your favorite crossword guy back at it. It's me, Billy, don't you remember me… Happy to finally get the Packers into a clue; cheeseheads rise up. Also, 41-Down is one of my favorite (non-pun) clues I've written, so I was tickled pink that they kept that one. Notable clues besides those: idk maybe 60-Down.
Now is my time to plug ENO (who is an asset in puzzles and definitely not crosswordy). "Another Green World" is one of my favorite albums, so check that one out if you would.
Hasty postscript: this may be my last one for a while, but I shall return …
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BILLY (he/him): The two of us met at Carleton during winter term 2022 (Billy's freshman year, Clay's sophomore year). By May, I had started introducing Clay to the magical world of crosswords. We sent the NYT two puzzles. Incidentally, this is the one we thought was less good, but we had fun building around LOVE TO HATE nonetheless. Clay, time to hit 'em with a bio.
CLAY (he/him): I am on an accelerated track at Carleton College, graduating next year, where I'm a member of CUT (Carleton Ultimate Team). I am from Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, working as an advisory intern this summer at KPMG. I am currently in India on the Ganges River. Last month I learned to fly fish on the Golden Dorado Cruiser on the Panara and Las Pitras Lodge in Patagonia, Argentina — thank you to Fabian and David. Fabian was also nice enough to teach me how to drive stick. Also, thank you Fishing With Larry for making everything so easy to plan!
BILLY: My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over (103 days without a Billy Bratton NYT crossword).
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Happy to debut 18-Across. Re: 3-Down — I solemnly swear I am not a redditor. Shoutout to the editors for the 45-Across clue.
Happy New Year to those who celebrate!
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How to make a crossword in three easy steps:
1) Create a triple stack grid à la Robyn Weintraub.
2a) Try doing a clever mini-theme, like having a central stack where the answers start with X, Y, and Z.
2b) After 10 seconds, realize not many entries start with X, but keep the Y and the Z — too late to go back now!
3) Cluing. It's crucial to jam in at least one "Calvin and Hobbes" reference, but otherwise, the clues aren't really important; after all, I'm not the one who will be solving the puzzle. I did use a database, but only to ensure my cluing angles were as fresh as possible: See, for instance, 33-Down.
Hope you found this helpful (my actual advice is to fill and refill until there's no garbage at all — I'm not exactly sure why I submitted this with ASTA in there).
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The best I can remember, this puzzle took shape as follows: I made the grid look as sick as possible and then spent a million years trying to get 6/6 solid entries in the center. Apparently I also filled the corners.
A curiosity — I'm now two for two on including DEGREE MILLS in my Times puzzles (although the entry looked a little different last time). I can assure you my third puzzle won't continue this trend.
Among the clues I wrote (maybe ~50% of the total), my favorites are 34A, 37A, and 51D. Oh, and 2D, which I really didn't expect to get OKed. Nice work, as always, by the editors on others like 27A.
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I'm happy to have my first crossword in the Times today! About me: I'm 18, from the Chicago suburbs, and a first year student at Carleton College. I got into crosswords in early 2020, just before the pandemic, when I would try to co-solve a few puzzles with friends (shoutout Arjun and David). Later on, solving over Zoom seemed like a decent way to occupy our time, and it didn't take long until I had the idea to try constructing as well. I eventually had some puzzles published on SPYSCAPE and since then I've had a few sales to other outlets.
I don't know exactly how the idea for this puzzle came to me, but sometime last summer I jotted down KILOMETERS DAVIS (15) on a post-it note since I found it kinda funny. That turned into the theme you now feast your eyes upon. Hopefully, you either like the theme or are able to ignore it and solve the puzzle like a themeless. Some favorite clues of mine that made the cut were 50A and 40D. I'm also happy that I was able to reference the best Miles Davis album in my 16A clue.
In terms of the editing team's clues, I really like 7A as well as 13A/48A. I'll close by imploring you to get vaccinated. Also, join Crosscord, it's pretty cool (I'm on there as pnbeef). And be on the lookout for more puzzles from me in the NYT and elsewhere!