Jim Modney author page
15 puzzles by Jim Modney
with Constructor comments
See the 1 answer word debuted by Jim Modney.
1 Modern Era daily crossword by Jim Modney
| T | O | F | U | S | A | N | K | A | E | S | Q | S | ||
| A | P | E | D | C | A | I | R | N | A | Q | U | I | ||
| H | E | A | D | T | O | H | E | A | D | R | U | I | N | |
| I | N | S | E | R | T | C | U | R | B | E | E | L | ||
| T | E | T | R | A | T | E | T | E | A | T | E | T | E | |
| I | D | S | C | E | O | A | M | A | Z | E | S | |||
| G | E | L | A | T | O | K | E | D | S | |||||
| B | O | D | Y | D | O | U | B | L | E | S | ||||
| C | O | L | T | S | A | T | E | E | N | |||||
| O | N | E | T | W | O | D | E | G | M | A | W | |||
| M | A | N | O | A | M | A | N | O | A | N | I | M | E | |
| E | D | D | N | A | V | I | S | T | O | L | E | N | ||
| N | A | S | H | H | A | N | D | T | O | H | A | N | D | |
| O | T | I | S | A | N | J | O | U | I | N | D | Y | ||
| W | E | N | T | S | T | A | N | D | T | O | S | S |
It's great to be back! My last crossword puzzle was published on April 12, 1984 in the NYT, and then, like Rip Van Winkle, I went into a very long slumber.
Back in the early 80's I had 38 puzzles published by various syndicates, including 14 in the NYT. I was taught the craft by Eugene Maleska and Margaret Farrar, and I have fond memories of their letters and encouragement.
Then I got busy with family and career, and put my crossword things in a box, which I looked at wistfully from time to time over the years, but always put back in the closet. Now my family is grown up and retirement beckons, and I have the time to construct crosswords again. The 30 year hibernation is over.
A few years ago I stumbled over various crossword blogs including Wordplay and XWord Info (of course!) and the wonderful Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project headed by the prodigious David Steinberg. I purchased Crossword Compiler for Windows, and studied current construction norms. Things have certainly changed since the early 80's!
Today's BODY DOUBLES crossword is the result of a year-long collaboration with Will Shortz. The original puzzle had six themers, all of the form [body part]-[TO/A]-[body part], and "Body Doubles" was the puzzle title. Will suggested the removal of TOE-TO-TOE and MAN-TO-MAN from the puzzle to tighten up the theme. I was surprised that Will would want to reduce the thematic material, but saw that the remaining four themers formed a really elegant and balanced group (two sets of doubles within doubles). I then suggested moving the title into the puzzle as a fifth themer, and when Will agreed, rewrote the puzzle completely and resubmitted. But that wasn't the end! Will asked for several more revisions to improve various fill words before accepting the puzzle, and after he decided to run the puzzle on a Monday, he made further changes so that the fill and clues were more "Monday friendly."
BODY DOUBLES is also a homage to crossword themes that were very common 30 years ago: the repeated word theme. For example, one of my early puzzles in the NYT featured card game expressions that have entered the language (HELD ALL THE CARDS, CARDS ON THE TABLE, IN THE CARDS, CARDSHARPS). A theme like that is not allowed nowadays because of the CARD repetition. BODY DOUBLES skirts the rule by having the repetition contained within single entries, and so the puzzle is a blend of the norms of the 80's and today ... just like me.
Will gave final approval to this puzzle on April 10. When I happily informed Will that it was almost exactly 30 years since my last puzzle appeared in the NYT, he said that he would try to publish the puzzle soon ... and squeaked it into the last week of April. Thank you, Will!
And did I mention, it's great to be back!
14 pre-Shortz crosswords by Jim Modney
| L | A | B | D | E | E | R | E | R | O | T | E | S | ||
| A | B | A | A | X | M | A | N | E | V | E | N | T | ||
| B | O | B | B | Y | P | I | N | S | R | E | D | D | Y | |
| O | V | E | R | S | O | L | D | C | U | R | D | |||
| R | E | S | E | T | M | O | N | E | Y | E | D | |||
| W | A | R | T | A | X | A | B | L | E | |||||
| A | F | T | R | E | L | A | X | T | E | A | L | |||
| C | L | O | T | X | A | X | I | S | S | A | T | E | ||
| M | I | M | E | T | I | M | E | R | R | E | D | |||
| E | R | M | A | A | H | S | W | E | T | |||||
| S | T | Y | R | E | N | E | L | A | P | A | Z | |||
| G | O | N | E | V | O | C | A | L | I | Z | E | |||
| J | O | U | S | T | B | I | L | L | Y | C | L | U | B | |
| I | N | N | E | R | E | N | D | U | E | E | R | R | ||
| M | E | S | S | Y | D | O | S | E | D | S | E | A |
| A | L | A | M | E | D | A | S | C | A | T | S | G | A | N | G | U | E | |||
| R | E | L | A | X | E | S | C | O | U | R | T | A | C | O | R | N | S | |||
| K | I | L | L | E | R | S | W | I | L | D | I | R | I | S | H | R | O | W | S | |
| S | E | C | R | E | T | E | D | E | P | O | S | E | S | S | E | E | ||||
| A | S | T | O | Y | S | E | R | N | U | K | E | S | S | D | S | |||||
| B | E | A | R | S | T | E | A | M | P | E | R | P | A | P | ||||||
| B | A | R | D | E | S | S | N | E | A | K | D | E | M | O | C | R | A | T | ||
| A | S | S | E | R | T | T | O | N | A | L | A | L | C | O | V | E | ||||
| R | I | O | T | S | N | E | R | O | A | E | S | O | P | I | C | |||||
| W | E | N | E | R | I | K | A | S | A | G | E | R | S | H | A | H | ||||
| O | R | E | S | K | N | I | G | H | T | T | I | M | E | S | T | E | T | E | ||
| R | O | W | E | A | S | H | U | R | A | M | A | I | N | T | E | D | ||||
| S | T | Y | M | I | E | S | A | G | E | D | A | L | G | E | R | |||||
| T | I | E | I | N | S | S | H | E | R | D | H | E | E | H | A | W | ||||
| S | C | A | T | T | E | R | S | S | T | A | R | T | T | R | I | O | D | E | ||
| R | E | O | U | N | I | S | W | E | A | T | G | L | O | P | ||||||
| E | M | S | C | I | O | N | S | A | L | I | I | N | E | S | T | |||||
| B | A | D | M | O | N | O | C | L | E | M | C | G | R | A | W | S | ||||
| B | R | A | K | I | N | G | P | O | I | N | T | S | R | E | S | E | A | L | S | |
| E | N | Z | Y | M | E | E | M | M | E | R | I | N | H | A | L | E | S | |||
| D | E | E | D | E | D | R | E | E | S | E | S | E | E | R | E | S | S |
| F | L | E | X | I | N | G | S | P | L | I | N | T | S | |
| L | E | X | I | C | A | L | P | R | O | T | E | I | N | |
| O | U | T | V | O | T | E | H | O | N | E | S | T | Y | |
| A | C | R | N | A | B | B | I | N | G | T | A | D | ||
| T | O | A | D | L | E | O | N | E | S | I | N | E | ||
| E | M | C | E | E | S | A | X | V | A | N | I | R | ||
| D | A | T | I | V | E | C | O | N | G | A | S | |||
| F | I | X | O | L | D | |||||||||
| R | E | F | I | L | E | X | E | B | E | C | S | |||
| A | X | L | E | S | W | A | R | S | O | L | O | N | ||
| T | O | E | S | T | H | R | U | M | X | E | N | O | ||
| I | C | E | T | R | A | F | F | I | C | A | D | O | ||
| N | A | T | U | R | A | L | F | L | A | T | T | O | P | |
| G | R | E | N | A | D | E | L | A | R | A | I | N | E | |
| S | P | R | A | Y | E | R | E | N | T | I | C | E | D |
| E | G | G | E | D | W | R | E | S | T | |||||
| Q | U | I | T | O | A | U | R | O | R | A | S | |||
| Q | U | A | R | T | E | R | F | I | N | A | L | I | S | T |
| U | I | N | T | A | E | A | V | E | S | T | H | O | ||
| I | N | A | S | L | A | Z | E | S | T | O | O | L | ||
| R | O | C | M | O | L | E | M | U | N | R | O | |||
| E | X | O | T | I | C | I | S | M | O | L | S | E | N | |
| B | R | O | Z | E | O | N | S | |||||||
| T | A | H | O | E | E | J | E | C | T | A | B | L | E | |
| E | L | A | N | D | O | K | A | Y | E | A | T | |||
| E | L | S | E | D | U | K | E | S | I | N | T | O | ||
| T | D | S | P | I | K | E | S | D | O | Z | E | N | ||
| H | A | L | F | H | E | A | R | T | E | D | N | E | S | S |
| E | Y | E | L | E | T | S | S | A | I | N | T | |||
| D | O | W | S | E | S | Y | C | E | S |
| T | E | L | L | P | A | L | S | S | A | R | A | |||
| A | R | I | A | H | E | L | E | N | U | L | A | N | ||
| L | I | M | O | O | D | E | T | O | B | A | N | D | ||
| C | E | N | T | E | R | O | F | G | R | A | V | I | T | Y |
| S | W | I | M | O | T | T | O | |||||||
| S | Q | U | E | E | Z | E | R | S | O | C | K | E | T | |
| O | U | T | R | O | T | O | R | M | A | N | G | Y | ||
| R | E | T | S | N | E | V | E | R | L | O | R | N | ||
| B | R | E | W | S | R | E | S | E | T | B | E | E | ||
| S | Y | R | I | A | C | D | I | A | R | I | S | T | S | |
| N | U | L | L | S | C | U | D | |||||||
| M | I | D | D | L | E | O | F | T | H | E | R | O | A | D |
| O | B | O | L | A | G | R | E | E | E | R | L | E | ||
| R | I | D | E | R | O | A | R | S | A | C | E | S | ||
| O | D | O | R | S | S | T | S | M | A | C | K |
| A | D | D | S | B | L | A | H | J | A | V | A | |||
| L | O | O | T | K | O | A | L | A | A | N | E | W | ||
| A | M | U | R | A | T | I | L | T | G | Y | R | E | ||
| M | I | S | A | N | T | H | R | O | P | I | S | T | S | |
| O | N | E | W | A | Y | S | T | I | R | H | I | E | ||
| S | O | D | I | D | A | N | A | T | I | O | N | |||
| E | V | I | L | L | Y | A | N | N | E | |||||
| M | I | X | E | D | F | E | E | L | I | N | G | S | ||
| C | A | S | A | A | S | L | O | N | G | |||||
| A | L | O | M | A | R | P | V | T | O | V | A | |||
| P | A | T | L | E | S | S | E | R | O | T | I | C | ||
| P | H | I | L | A | N | T | H | R | O | P | I | S | T | |
| F | R | E | D | L | O | Y | A | L | T | O | T | O | ||
| D | O | R | E | M | O | L | L | Y | I | S | A | R | ||
| R | P | M | S | S | T | E | T | C | E | S | S |
| S | H | O | C | K | T | I | R | A | D | E | ||||
| S | T | O | L | L | E | N | D | O | N | K | E | Y | S | |
| P | I | L | L | A | G | E | A | R | B | O | R | E | S | |
| E | L | L | I | S | A | C | T | O | R | O | R | E | ||
| S | L | Y | E | S | T | R | A | N | I | N | ||||
| I | O | W | A | T | E | E | T | H | E | |||||
| E | G | G | C | R | A | C | K | O | F | D | O | O | M | |
| T | A | R | A | I | K | E | S | W | A | M | ||||
| C | R | A | C | K | O | F | D | A | W | N | N | R | A | |
| H | Y | B | R | I | D | O | S | S | A | |||||
| E | N | D | O | W | W | I | N | G | E | D | ||||
| P | O | D | E | L | A | N | D | L | O | R | N | A | ||
| A | V | I | A | T | O | R | E | L | I | S | I | O | N | |
| P | E | R | M | I | T | S | M | A | N | I | P | L | E | |
| A | N | T | I | C | S | O | G | R | E | S |
| W | E | B | S | L | A | K | E | A | S | H | E | |||
| H | A | I | R | W | I | R | E | R | S | W | A | T | ||
| A | C | T | I | V | I | T | I | E | S | S | A | L | T | |
| T | H | E | D | E | V | I | L | T | A | K | E | Y | O | U |
| G | R | E | G | S | T | E | M | |||||||
| C | O | L | E | S | L | A | W | Z | E | B | R | A | S | |
| A | Z | O | T | E | T | E | S | L | L | A | M | A | ||
| N | O | R | M | D | E | I | L | S | E | N | I | D | ||
| S | N | E | A | K | D | R | A | Y | S | E | R | A | ||
| T | E | N | N | I | S | D | U | M | P | I | E | S | T | |
| I | N | C | A | G | M | A | N | |||||||
| S | P | E | A | K | O | F | T | H | E | D | E | V | I | L |
| T | A | L | C | F | L | A | T | T | E | R | I | N | G | |
| O | L | L | A | F | A | C | E | R | T | A | K | E | ||
| W | E | A | L | S | T | O | R | Y | L | Y | S |
| J | I | B | S | L | A | P | P | S | B | O | O | B | ||
| U | G | L | Y | U | R | I | A | H | U | L | V | A | ||
| M | O | O | N | T | I | N | L | I | Z | Z | I | E | S | |
| P | R | O | D | D | E | D | R | E | Z | O | N | E | ||
| D | I | E | S | P | U | T | N | A | ||||||
| J | O | Y | C | E | C | I | T | O | R | L | E | S | ||
| A | R | M | P | L | A | Q | U | E | D | A | L | I | ||
| M | B | A | S | A | T | U | R | N | S | Z | I | G | ||
| E | I | R | E | C | L | A | N | C | Y | Y | O | N | ||
| S | T | Y | L | E | I | N | S | R | E | S | T | S | ||
| B | R | U | N | T | L | U | L | U | ||||||
| A | D | J | O | I | N | R | E | P | O | S | E | D | ||
| B | R | O | W | N | B | E | T | T | Y | I | A | G | O | |
| L | A | K | E | A | B | E | E | T | S | N | A | P | ||
| E | Y | E | D | R | E | E | S | E | E | S | N | E |
| A | T | T | A | E | B | B | E | D | C | P | I | |||
| B | O | R | N | L | A | Y | T | O | S | U | R | D | ||
| L | O | U | D | S | W | E | E | T | I | E | P | I | E | |
| E | T | E | R | N | A | L | L | A | R | V | A | |||
| L | E | A | S | T | A | L | L | B | O | Y | S | |||
| C | L | O | A | K | R | A | M | O | S | E | ||||
| L | U | V | E | N | A | M | O | R | E | V | A | N | ||
| A | C | E | D | I | S | T | U | R | B | A | M | A | ||
| M | E | S | A | S | C | A | R | E | R | L | O | B | ||
| B | R | E | A | M | S | U | S | E | R | S | ||||
| T | O | E | N | A | I | L | S | J | I | N | N | |||
| A | L | L | E | N | T | I | N | Y | T | I | M | |||
| H | E | A | R | T | T | H | R | O | B | D | I | C | E | |
| O | A | T | S | R | A | I | S | E | E | N | O | L | ||
| E | N | E | A | M | A | S | S | R | E | N | T |
| B | A | B | Y | S | H | E | B | A | C | A | V | E | ||
| E | L | L | A | L | E | M | O | N | O | B | E | Y | ||
| A | T | O | N | E | L | I | Z | A | N | U | D | E | ||
| R | O | C | K | A | N | D | R | O | L | L | S | T | A | R |
| E | N | D | Y | O | U | |||||||||
| B | O | L | D | N | E | S | S | Z | O | M | B | I | E | |
| E | N | E | R | O | C | K | E | T | E | E | R | S | ||
| E | T | A | S | R | O | N | S | T | A | T | ||||
| R | O | C | K | B | O | T | T | O | M | E | T | E | ||
| S | P | H | E | R | E | T | W | A | D | D | L | E | R | |
| P | E | N | S | E | A | |||||||||
| D | O | N | T | R | O | C | K | T | H | E | B | O | A | T |
| A | M | O | I | M | O | I | R | E | B | R | A | E | ||
| M | A | R | C | E | N | T | E | R | L | Y | R | E | ||
| A | R | M | S | L | E | E | K | S | E | X | E | S |
| J | A | W | W | H | A | M | Q | U | A | R | K | |||
| U | R | I | H | U | L | A | B | U | N | C | H | E | ||
| M | I | N | T | A | G | E | S | E | A | S | T | E | R | |
| B | E | G | S | T | H | E | Q | U | E | S | T | I | O | N |
| O | S | S | A | U | N | T | I | E | ||||||
| R | A | M | M | E | D | M | A | N | G | Y | ||||
| A | F | T | C | O | O | S | M | O | D | U | L | O | ||
| B | R | U | S | Q | U | E | L | A | D | Y | B | U | G | |
| B | A | R | Q | U | E | P | O | L | O | S | E | A | ||
| E | N | N | U | I | L | E | G | I | S | T | ||||
| A | T | T | A | R | A | P | S | E | ||||||
| T | W | E | N | T | Y | Q | U | E | S | T | I | O | N | S |
| H | A | R | D | E | R | S | Q | U | I | L | L | A | S | |
| D | I | N | E | R | O | A | U | L | D | A | R | E | ||
| S | T | E | R | S | L | I | K | E | R | E | X |
| D | A | S | H | N | I | S | E | I | C | A | N | A | ||
| I | S | E | E | I | N | C | A | N | A | J | A | X | ||
| S | E | A | L | G | L | A | R | E | R | A | V | E | ||
| C | A | R | D | S | H | A | R | P | S | D | R | Y | S | |
| A | R | T | Y | S | I | S | ||||||||
| G | A | L | L | I | C | A | E | R | O | S | O | L | ||
| O | V | A | L | A | C | I | D | S | N | O | R | E | ||
| A | I | N | T | P | O | K | E | R | T | H | A | N | ||
| D | A | C | H | A | R | E | N | O | H | O | L | Y | ||
| S | N | E | E | Z | E | D | O | D | E | S | S | A | ||
| C | O | P | S | M | U | T | ||||||||
| G | A | Z | A | I | N | T | H | E | C | A | R | D | S | |
| O | N | E | R | C | A | R | A | T | B | U | R | P | ||
| S | T | U | D | A | M | E | N | T | L | E | E | R | ||
| H | E | S | S | L | E | Y | T | E | E | D | D | Y |
| D | U | S | K | B | O | L | L | E | T | C | H | |||
| E | S | T | A | A | L | O | E | S | C | H | O | O | ||
| B | E | E | T | R | I | A | T | A | R | U | S | S | ||
| T | R | A | I | N | S | O | F | T | H | O | U | G | H | T |
| S | M | E | L | T | S | I | R | |||||||
| R | O | M | A | B | E | H | I | N | D | |||||
| A | L | L | A | B | O | A | R | D | L | E | R | O | Y | |
| W | O | O | L | L | I | L | A | C | M | O | T | E | ||
| O | C | C | A | S | D | E | T | R | A | I | N | E | D | |
| L | I | O | N | E | L | S | A | A | R | |||||
| M | I | A | N | I | C | H | E | |||||||
| R | E | A | D | I | N | G | R | A | I | L | R | O | A | D |
| U | R | S | A | E | N | O | L | A | E | R | G | O | ||
| M | I | E | N | D | E | P | O | T | A | S | E | S | ||
| P | E | A | K | S | A | T | E | M | E | R | E |