Sean Yamada-Hunter author page
1 puzzle by Sean Yamada-Hunter
with Jeff Chen comments
| A | S | H | A | B | S | B | U | M | D | E | A | L | ||
| S | I | A | N | Y | U | E | S | S | E | N | C | E | ||
| A | P | B | D | O | N | T | Y | O | U | F | R | E | T | |
| H | O | A | G | Y | R | H | O | I | D | S | ||||
| I | N | N | I | E | I | A | N | F | A | Q | ||||
| E | F | T | S | T | D | E | L | U | D | E | ||||
| E | A | R | T | H | E | S | O | B | L | E | A | T | ||
| S | C | O | R | E | M | A | N | F | I | N | S | |||
| P | A | P | E | R | O | B | E | Z | I | G | G | Y | ||
| N | I | E | C | E | V | I | S | A | X | L | ||||
| P | E | W | E | G | G | N | E | E | D | S | ||||
| A | S | P | I | E | M | I | R | I | D | S | A | Y | ||
| T | H | E | P | A | L | E | F | A | C | E | I | N | K | |
| A | I | R | T | R | A | N | S | O | S | A | D | E | ||
| B | A | S | S | E | T | T | P | O | T | S | Y | S |
That's a big IF, all right! Couldn't get much bigger.
Could it?
Not surprisingly, I spent an hour goofing around with grids, trying to see what sort of layout I could achieve, that not only featured a giant IF but also reduced the number of 3-letter words. You can achieve this by shifting the I one column to the left and then rejiggering many of the other black squares, but it makes things messy.
One of the big problems is that because the I and F both use long, straight vertical lines, you need a ton of long Down entries. You can't break up the region between the I and F, otherwise you create some 2- or even 1-letter entries, and that's a big no-no.
"Big no-no" … crossword theme radar pinging …
Why does it even matter to have fewer 3-letter entries? Some editors don't care about this, or even brazenly fly in the face of a maximum count (often 20 or 22, compared to today's 31). As a solver, I find that having so many tiny entries gives a choppy feeling to my experience, forcing me to stop and start after typing in only two or three letters. Interrupts my flow.
Some impressive themeless-esque content, so rare to see even one of the bonus grid-spanners HABANERO PEPPERS, AND YET HERE WE ARE, SUNRISE MOVEMENT, BEYOND ONES GRASP, ENRIQUE IGLESIAS in a weekday puzzle. And don't forget GIFT RECEIPTS, DON'T YOU FRET! These enhanced my solving experience, even when dragged down by the necessary evils of glue like STD ESO OBE holding that tough central swath together.
Memorable debut, which is a rare event. THAT'S A BIG IF plus the grid art was too thin of a theme, though. I'd have enjoyed brainstorming on what else could be added to make it feel more satiating.