Kathy Wienberg author page
8 puzzles by Kathy Wienberg
with Constructor comments
| Z | E | S | T | C | H | A | P | C | H | E | S | T | ||
| A | R | T | Y | H | A | R | E | L | O | N | E | R | ||
| G | R | I | P | I | B | A | R | U | L | T | R | A | ||
| L | O | G | C | A | B | I | N | S | Y | R | U | P | ||
| A | L | E | P | A | N | S | O | T | E | M | S | |||
| C | O | T | T | A | G | E | C | H | E | E | S | E | ||
| T | O | T | E | O | R | U | S | R | O | |||||
| S | T | O | R | M | A | B | C | S | A | T | U | P | ||
| R | I | N | E | E | R | K | A | L | E | |||||
| R | A | N | C | H | D | R | E | S | S | I | N | G | ||
| C | H | E | D | A | Y | A | P | P | L | A | S | |||
| H | O | M | E | M | A | D | E | M | E | A | L | S | ||
| A | N | O | D | E | R | A | I | N | A | P | E | S | ||
| N | O | V | E | L | A | S | S | T | R | I | G | A | ||
| T | R | E | N | D | S | E | T | S | K | N | O | X |
It is always very exciting to have a puzzle published in the NYT. But what I am most proud of was having one of my other submissions used as the opening puzzle in the 2019 ACPT, and receiving an autographed copy of it by Will Shortz! Hopefully, the 2022 tournament can be held in person.
In today's puzzle, it was amazingly fortuitous that the three "house specials" had the same number of letters. The only other one I could think of was FLATBREAD, but constructing a grid with a central 9 and four 13s wasn't ever considered. As it was, I was happy to work in a half dozen 8-letter downs.
I hope you enjoyed solving my puzzle. Wishing everyone a healthy, happy New Year. Let's hope for a better 2022.
| L | A | S | T | S | T | E | X | A | S | S | P | A | ||
| A | L | E | U | T | A | L | E | R | T | A | U | K | ||
| D | I | A | N | A | P | R | I | N | C | E | F | B | I | |
| D | E | L | A | Y | E | D | A | S | P | H | A | L | T | |
| E | N | E | E | Y | E | A | R | I | A | |||||
| R | E | V | A | M | P | D | C | C | O | M | I | C | S | |
| S | E | E | M | E | T | U | P | A | C | |||||
| L | Y | N | D | A | C | A | R | T | E | R | ||||
| S | A | R | A | S | A | V | O | I | D | |||||
| G | A | L | G | A | D | O | T | C | L | A | U | S | E | |
| A | Q | U | A | E | B | B | T | O | T | |||||
| L | U | M | B | A | G | O | L | E | T | M | E | B | E | |
| L | I | P | W | O | N | D | E | R | W | O | M | A | N | |
| O | L | E | L | U | L | U | S | O | V | E | R | T | ||
| P | A | D | S | T | Y | E | S | S | E | N | S | E |
Wow — this is definitely a blast from the past. It was constructed right after the "Justice League" movie premiered in November of 2017. When it was accepted the following April, the plan was to publish it around the time of the Wonder Woman sequel. Then there were six announced release dates, but it finally came out. (When I saw the movie on Christmas, I was very pleased with the mid-credits cameo.)
About the construction: I remember using the usual "Utah" block that accompanies a central 11 but was never pleased with the grid. So I tried a block that extends into Idaho, which opened up the center of the grid a little more, and I was able to get nineteen 6, 7, & 8 letter words in the fill. They're not all winners, but I hope there are enough good ones to make for a pleasant solve.
I appreciate Will and his staff for adjusting some clues for a Monday puzzle and adding the 49A and 32D clues to add to the superhero theme. I am also grateful (and in awe) that Will and his editorial staff remembered to publish my Wonder Woman puzzle after so much time had passed with numerous cancellations of the release.
The theme of Wonder Woman 1984 is truth. Let's hope that is the theme of 2021. In the meantime, I am spending my time safely hiking to some of the many hundreds of waterfalls around Asheville, NC.
| R | A | S | T | A | E | D | G | A | R | A | R | C | ||
| A | L | T | O | S | T | I | A | R | A | C | A | R | ||
| F | L | A | T | S | T | A | N | L | E | Y | T | K | O | |
| S | T | E | N | O | E | N | E | M | I | E | S | |||
| I | T | E | M | G | E | E | N | A | D | A | V | I | S | |
| F | A | L | S | E | A | L | A | N | E | N | E | |||
| S | R | A | D | I | R | E | G | I | S | |||||
| W | I | N | O | N | A | R | Y | D | E | R | ||||
| D | A | N | N | O | M | E | O | W | E | |||||
| E | A | S | Y | K | O | I | A | C | M | E | S | |||
| S | M | A | L | L | W | O | R | L | D | R | A | T | S | |
| C | O | U | L | E | E | S | E | D | E | N | S | |||
| R | E | D | A | T | H | L | E | T | I | C | C | U | P | |
| O | B | I | D | R | E | S | S | T | H | E | I | R | ||
| W | A | S | S | Y | R | U | P | Z | E | S | T | Y |
After I couldn't find the reveal (ATHLETIC CUP) ever appearing in any crossword, I wanted to use the "holy grails " awarded in hockey, tennis, golf and ping pong...oops, I mean soccer. When researching cups, I learned that there is a Table Tennis World Cup. (Perhaps that was a factor in this puzzle's acceptance. Only Will knows if it refers to ping pong or soccer.)
It wasn't difficult getting phrases containing DAVIS, RYDER, and WORLD. I was stuck on STANLEY until I remembered a book I read to my kindergarten classes...FLAT STANLEY. That resulted in the 11-10-11-10-11 themer length. Hope solvers don't mind the high 3-letter word count that this layout creates.
This week, my husband and I are moving to Asheville, NC. We are looking forward to seeing more of fellow constructor Lewis R. and his wife. Here's to Asheville!
| T | W | E | L | V | E | E | R | I | N | N | E | T | ||
| V | E | N | E | E | R | M | A | D | E | O | R | U | ||
| M | A | D | S | C | R | A | M | B | L | E | W | A | X | |
| A | L | I | S | T | B | E | B | E | T | A | S | E | ||
| N | E | O | S | T | I | R | F | R | I | E | D | |||
| W | A | G | E | R | S | O | U | T | D | O | ||||
| E | M | U | T | R | I | B | U | T | E | |||||
| B | I | P | O | L | A | R | D | I | S | O | R | D | E | R |
| B | A | R | R | O | O | M | O | D | E | |||||
| S | M | E | A | R | A | I | R | G | U | N | ||||
| M | I | X | M | A | S | T | E | R | M | E | G | |||
| I | N | C | A | H | A | L | O | P | A | Y | E | R | ||
| D | I | E | D | A | I | L | Y | J | U | M | B | L | E | |
| G | O | P | O | M | N | I | A | T | E | A | S | E | ||
| E | N | T | W | E | T | S | W | E | D | G | E | D |
The seed entry for this puzzle was the highly appropriate DAILY JUMBLE. At first I considered constructing a Sunday puzzle but couldn't think of enough themers that aren't in the past-tense, which I wanted to avoid. Examples of this would be RUSTLES = Mixed Results, STRUT = Misplaced Trust, and TASTE = Agitated State. So I settled on a weekday puzzle and used my favorite symmetrical themers.
But two that I couldn't work in were FLOG = Golf Scramble and BROAD = Shuffle Board. It's nice to see that all my submitted clues for the theme entries survived the editing process. 😉
I hope you enjoy my puzzle.
| F | I | F | I | Q | T | I | P | O | S | C | A | R | ||
| E | B | O | N | T | A | C | O | H | E | A | T | H | ||
| T | E | A | G | A | R | D | E | N | M | A | P | L | E | |
| A | X | L | E | S | U | Z | I | P | R | A | T | |||
| S | H | O | P | P | I | N | G | L | I | S | T | |||
| P | A | S | T | E | U | R | S | L | A | P | ||||
| O | N | O | Z | O | O | S | U | N | A | G | I | |||
| G | O | L | F | T | O | U | R | N | A | M | E | N | T | S |
| O | N | A | I | R | D | E | A | R | T | O | E | |||
| R | E | E | D | F | I | N | E | S | S | E | ||||
| A | P | P | L | E | S | T | R | U | D | E | L | |||
| R | E | A | D | T | R | A | M | I | F | F | S | |||
| R | E | N | E | E | A | D | D | T | O | C | A | R | T | |
| O | V | E | R | T | M | A | Y | O | I | K | E | A | ||
| W | E | L | S | H | P | R | E | Y | T | E | E | N |
When I researched the phrase ADD TO CART, I was surprised that it had not been used, as far as I know, as a reveal. The easy part was choosing which four carts to use. The hard part was picking the phrases that included those carts. I went for the "freshness factor" when selecting the themers.
Hopefully, you enjoyed my puzzle as much as I did creating it for you. Now I'm off to shop online...ADD TO CART.
| A | S | P | S | D | I | M | D | R | W | H | O | |||
| S | I | R | E | I | T | A | L | A | A | H | E | D | ||
| A | X | I | L | S | C | R | E | E | N | T | I | M | E | |
| M | A | M | M | O | T | H | C | A | V | E | A | T | ||
| I | M | P | A | L | A | E | P | I | E | M | U | |||
| E | S | T | A | T | E | C | A | R | A | T | ||||
| B | U | S | H | T | A | U | U | P | O | N | E | |||
| A | N | T | I | G | E | N | S | T | E | P | S | I | N | |
| T | I | A | R | A | E | U | R | S | E | A | N | |||
| H | O | N | E | Y | C | O | M | B | A | T | ||||
| E | N | D | O | R | B | M | E | T | A | L | S | |||
| F | O | R | W | A | R | D | P | A | S | S | A | T | ||
| P | I | A | N | O | S | T | O | O | L | A | C | R | E | |
| R | O | S | I | N | E | I | R | E | R | O | V | E | ||
| O | U | T | T | A | L | A | D | S | T | A | R |
I'm excited to submit constructor notes for my "At Issue" puzzle because that means...I'm published in The NY Times! The seed entry for this puzzle was CAVE(AT). After searching for other words that changed significantly in both meaning and pronunciation when AT was appended, I was surprised to find just five others (SAD and WOMB were the other two). So I thought I had a fairly tight theme and continued.
My initial submission had BUMPER CARAT in the grid, but cluing it was problematic. I was asked to replace it and liven up the grid. Only about half my submitted clues survived the editing process. Will and team definitely polished a lot of clues. I thought my clue for MAMMOTH CAVEAT (Proviso about extinct elephants?) was pretty good, but theirs is much funnier.
I enjoyed creating this puzzle and I hope you had fun solving it.
Now for some long overdue props. More than 3 years ago my husband and I started constructing by hand. After several crash and burns, we reached out for help. Our mentor, whose family was expanding at the time, graciously found time to assist us. Not only did he offer advice and guidance, his optimism and creativity inspired us. We really enjoy constructing, and we have had over 20 puzzles accepted by 6 editors in the last 2 years. So Jeff, many thanks to the hardest working and nicest guy in the XWord world!
| L | A | R | D | A | O | K | S | A | S | H | S | P | L | A | S | H | ||||
| O | V | E | R | R | I | P | E | A | M | I | N | O | O | R | A | L | L | Y | ||
| C | A | S | U | A | L | T | Y | F | R | I | D | A | Y | R | A | N | S | O | M | |
| A | T | O | N | C | E | S | L | I | D | P | A | T | T | Y | D | O | W | N | ||
| T | A | L | K | E | R | S | A | L | G | A | H | E | S | |||||||
| E | R | E | O | E | D | S | E | N | A | M | O | R | J | O | I | N | ||||
| P | A | N | T | Y | H | A | N | D | L | E | R | R | E | P | R | O | ||||
| H | A | L | E | R | H | A | I | L | S | A | D | H | A | T | P | I | N | |||
| I | C | E | T | E | A | D | E | L | L | R | I | S | O | T | T | O | S | |||
| R | E | N | T | A | L | S | S | O | A | R | C | O | V | E | Y | S | ||||
| E | D | G | Y | B | A | T | T | Y | M | O | B | I | L | E | L | I | Z | A | ||
| T | R | A | U | M | A | S | E | T | I | O | R | B | I | T | E | R | ||||
| C | H | O | W | M | E | I | N | R | A | M | P | S | A | N | E | S | T | |||
| P | I | E | C | E | S | P | E | A | R | O | L | O | B | E | S | T | S | |||
| B | A | N | K | S | R | E | A | L | T | Y | N | U | M | B | E | R | ||||
| J | O | S | S | W | E | I | R | D | O | T | S | A | R | C | A | M | ||||
| D | A | B | A | R | C | H | R | I | P | T | I | D | E | |||||||
| B | U | S | T | Y | F | A | R | E | P | I | L | E | G | U | A | N | O | S | ||
| A | N | Y | O | N | E | S | A | F | E | T | Y | C | R | A | C | K | E | R | S | |
| S | I | N | K | E | R | T | R | A | D | E | R | E | D | E | E | M | E | R | ||
| E | X | C | E | S | S | U | N | D | O | U | S | E | R | A | D | S |
I was thrilled to have my first published puzzle occur on a Monday this past January. Now I'm ecstatic that my Sunday puzzle will appear! In both of them, my priority was trying to keep the "gluey" bits and "crosswordese" to a minimum.
The inspiration for this puzzle came when cluing "necktie" for another puzzle as "Casualty of casual Fridays". I searched for other phrases that changed meanings when "TY" was added to the first word and also had second words that could be clued differently. After finding about a dozen viable ones, I decided to try to construct a Sunday puzzle.
First, I attempted to have all 9 theme answers going across, but I could not get a clean grid. Luckily, two of them could be placed going down. My first submission had POTTYBOUND (clued as Headed for the head?) at 44-Down, but I was asked to improve on this. Luckily, again, PETTYROCKS could take its place.
Being that I am so new at this, I am proud that of the clues I wrote for the 9 themers, 6 were unchanged, 2 were modified slightly, and only one was rejected ("Song about Keller Williams" for 89-Across). About half of my other clues remained intact. Thanks to Will and Joel for improving on all the others, especially "Chatty Cathy types", and for coming up with the great title.
Will and Joel's supportive suggestions are helping me to improve. As Joel commented, "It's not the FLASHIEST of grids." I hope that all solvers, even the CASUAL ones, will enjoy working on this puzzle.
| P | I | T | A | C | Z | A | R | C | A | N | D | O | ||
| A | T | O | M | H | O | B | O | A | D | I | E | U | ||
| R | E | N | E | G | A | D | E | S | D | A | N | E | S | |
| M | I | N | O | R | I | T | Y | R | E | P | O | R | T | |
| A | G | A | A | N | T | |||||||||
| P | Y | R | O | T | E | C | H | N | I | C | A | K | A | |
| R | O | A | D | S | E | A | S | E | M | E | N | T | ||
| O | U | Z | O | S | H | A | P | E | A | S | E | A | ||
| O | V | E | R | S | E | E | R | K | N | O | L | L | ||
| F | E | D | P | A | R | T | Y | P | E | O | P | L | E | |
| S | A | M | E | O | N | |||||||||
| P | O | E | T | R | Y | I | N | M | O | T | I | O | N | |
| S | A | V | O | R | M | A | E | L | S | T | R | O | M | |
| S | T | E | N | O | P | I | N | E | C | E | D | E | ||
| T | H | R | E | W | S | L | I | D | H | O | S | T |
I am thrilled about my debut puzzle being published in the NYT. After solving these puzzles for over 30 years, I pursued my dream of writing a crossword puzzle after retiring from teaching kindergarten.
After deciding that I wanted to literally put "poetry" in motion, I worked on this puzzle for a long time. It was submitted in January 2015. When it was accepted in May, I was ecstatic that my dream came true. Constructing this puzzle gave me an even deeper respect for all puzzle creators. I am grateful to Will Shortz for selecting my puzzle.
The length of the theme entries in this puzzle created an opportunity to have more longer across answers than is normally seen. I hope solvers enjoy this feature and the puzzle.