Seth Geltman author page
2 puzzles by Seth Geltman
with Jeff Chen comments
See the 10 answer words debuted by Seth Geltman.
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| A | L | E | B | A | R | A | K | L | O | O | N | E | Y | ||
| G | O | L | D | E | N | A | G | E | S | C | Y | T | H | E | |
| I | N | F | I | D | E | L | S | K | I | A | H | E | D | ||
| E | D | I | T | H | B | A | N | N | E | R | Y | E | A | R | |
| R | E | E | S | E | S | T | E | A | B | O | W | T | O | ||
| A | U | G | A | V | G | G | A | S | P | ||||||
| R | E | D | L | E | T | T | E | R | D | A | Y | ||||
| M | A | U | I | K | I | R | S | A | O | ||||||
| U | M | B | R | A | S | I | B | D | O | G | M | A | S | ||
| F | I | N | E | S | T | H | O | U | R | D | R | A | K | E | |
| F | R | O | C | I | A | M | A | I | L | I | T | I | N | ||
| L | I | S | P | E | D | P | R | I | M | E | T | I | M | E | |
| E | T | E | R | N | E | C | A | S | A | S | N | B | C | ||
| R | E | S | E | T | S | S | P | E | X | G | O | A |
16-wide grids can be surprisingly difficult. Just one extra column creates such challenges. One of the bigger issues is that I hate going above 78 words (the usual max), even though one could argue that it ought to be 81 words for a wider-than-normal grid.
Why? As a solver, I'm used to 15x15, and if my solve feels slow, that makes me like the puzzle a little less. So as a constructor, I try to keep a 16x15 grid feeling like it's a 15x15. That usually means using longer words than normal on the whole, all the while keeping things smooth. Not easy.
In this grid, I felt like we needed at least two pairs of long bonus answers. It's easy to work in the first pair of long downs (BEDHEAD / DOODLES), but it gets exponentially harder after that. Putting in RUB NOSES and IN THE WAY meant using fairly big corners, piling on the challenge.
Finding more long slots was tricky — long acrosses like INFIDELS and MAIL IT IN are usually tricky to incorporate, given that it means stacking them with theme answers, but some testing made this arrangement feel like it'd be doable.
Finally, we debated long and hard over ETERNE — was it worth the price of admission for AMIRITE, RUB NOSES, MUFFLER? Ultimately, it seemed favorable, especially since we didn't have that much other crossword glue in the puzzle. The eternal constructor's dilemma of snazzy vs. smooth rarely has a clear answer. Hope you agree with our decision.
| B | A | T | S | D | R | J | S | T | A | T | S | |||
| A | S | H | E | R | E | O | U | S | U | R | P | S | ||
| T | H | E | C | L | I | N | K | M | A | R | I | E | L | |
| H | A | S | A | V | E | E | N | O | I | N | C | A | ||
| O | N | E | N | E | W | Y | O | R | K | C | I | T | Y | |
| I | T | U | N | E | S | M | I | A | T | R | E | |||
| L | I | S | A | A | G | O | N | Y | Y | E | R | |||
| H | A | M | B | U | R | G | E | R | ||||||
| M | A | D | R | O | U | T | E | A | T | M | S | |||
| A | P | E | O | P | T | W | W | E | R | A | W | |||
| G | R | A | N | D | P | O | O | B | A | H | E | L | I | |
| N | O | T | E | E | N | R | A | G | E | M | A | G | ||
| U | P | H | E | L | D | T | H | I | N | K | B | I | G | |
| M | O | L | D | A | U | I | A | N | E | L | S | E | ||
| S | Y | S | O | P | Z | I | G | W | E | E | D |
I love working with Seth — we've had 10ish puzzles accepted in various media so far, and we continue to work on more.
Sneaky devil switched the order of our byline just before sending this one in, though. This puzzle was his idea, so he deserves to be listed first.
I grew up playing cello and trombone, so this classical music-lover didn't even hesitate when dropping in Die MOLDAU, Smetana's famous composition. Seth gently nudged me, asking me if that might be replaced?
Nonsense! I said. Surely, Die Moldau is in everyone's consciousness, or should be. Plus, it was critical in holding that corner together, allowing for nice goodies like MAGNUM, APROPOS, and the DEATHLY Hallows.
Will and Joel thought we did a very nice job on the grid … except for the odd entry, MOLDAU, which "they had trouble swallowing."
Yet again, shows you just how much I know. It's a mystery why anyone ever listens to me.
ADDED NOTE (from blog reader Mark): "Glad MOLDAU remained. Instant answer for me. One of the first musical compositions I adored all because of a marvelous high school Music teacher who taught … wait for it … Music Appreciation!! FYI: I'll be 78 in January. The memory still lingers."