Thumbnails
Puzzles for March, 2022
with Constructor comments
| G | A | B | S | B | A | Y | O | U | B | A | R | T | ||
| U | V | E | A | A | L | U | M | S | E | V | E | R | ||
| M | C | A | T | K | O | R | A | N | N | E | V | E | ||
| B | L | T | N | E | U | T | R | A | L | N | O | M | ||
| O | U | T | D | O | I | R | U | L | E | |||||
| B | O | U | R | B | O | N | S | T | R | E | E | T | ||
| M | A | R | D | I | G | R | A | S | ||||||
| P | E | E | P | B | A | T | T | Y | I | L | K | S | ||
| V | E | T | O | Y | E | S | D | I | O | N | ||||
| C | L | O | U | D | S | D | R | E | V | I | L | |||
| U | T | E | R | I | G | O | O | S | E | |||||
| D | E | F | B | I | G | E | A | S | Y | J | F | K | ||
| U | P | F | O | R | L | A | P | A | L | A | I | N | ||
| S | E | E | Y | A | O | R | E | L | I | Z | Z | O | ||
| K | E | E | L | O | L | D | B | Z | Z | T |
Lisa: I pictured a grid with a big E and Z, similar to That's a Big IF, filled with EZ Pass, Eazy-E, Yeezy, and lots of Z's like Snoozefest, with New Orleans as the revealer. Jeff suggested we bring our theme city to life, and he designed the grid. As many have noted, Jeff is great to work with. If you haven't done his December 2021 NYT Mega Puzzle, it's amazing.
I've had wonderful crossword mentors; thank you so much, Will Nediger, Christina Iverson, and Jake Halperin.
I clued NORA as Nora McInerny, host of Terrible, Thanks for Asking, my favorite podcast (2 million downloads a month, not all by me).
My photo shows the giant ‘90s crossword that I brought in from my garage when the pandemic started. I've survived the onslaught of Tsetses and Tsars, and I'm almost done… I hope the pandemic is, too.
| T | R | O | P | E | M | A | A | M | T | V | M | O | M | ||
| R | E | P | E | L | A | L | T | O | R | E | I | K | I | ||
| A | N | T | E | D | K | E | E | N | A | N | N | A | L | ||
| C | A | I | R | O | M | E | X | I | C | O | C | I | T | Y | |
| E | M | O | R | A | D | T | H | A | T | O | T | C | |||
| R | E | N | T | A | C | O | P | E | R | S | R | H | O | ||
| A | D | A | E | R | R | S | E | E | N | ||||||
| O | H | I | O | W | A | S | H | I | N | G | T | O | N | ||
| O | V | A | L | S | T | Y | O | R | E | ||||||
| R | E | V | D | J | S | S | O | D | A | P | O | P | S | ||
| G | R | E | R | A | T | S | C | U | D | W | O | E | |||
| P | A | N | A | M | A | L | I | T | H | U | A | N | I | A | |
| E | A | T | U | P | T | O | N | E | A | G | I | N | G | ||
| A | S | I | D | E | E | M | I | T | T | O | N | T | O | ||
| U | S | T | E | D | D | O | T | S | E | G | G | E | D |
I've been told all my life by friends, family, and co-workers that "My brain works differently." But noticing and admiring oddities in the English language is second nature to me. While I don't remember the series of idle thoughts that led me to realize OHIO and WASHINGTON could overlap to form IOWA, I do remember that I immediately went to an atlas to see if other items shared this property. Luckily, there were!
Though no other states fit the pattern, a surprising number of world capitals and countries do. In deciding on a theme set, I strived to pick combinations of locations that were well-known, and that spanned the globe. I also included the revealer BORDER DISPUTES in my original draft to supplement the numbering in the themed clues, but that was excessive. So, I dropped it and designed my first-ever 16-column-wide grid with just the three themers. It was a fun challenge to construct, and I'm happy with the mix of conversational and trivia-based entries in the rest of the puzzle.
Endless thanks to Mark McClain, Rich Proulx, Kyle Dolan, and the Crossword Discord community members for their generous feedback and thoughtful insights.
| O | R | B | S | N | S | F | W | O | D | D | S | ||
| T | H | A | N | U | C | L | A | F | R | E | T | ||
| H | I | G | L | I | D | A | Y | S | F | A | M | E | |
| E | N | G | H | E | R | E | T | O | G | E | T | ||
| R | O | Y | C | E | F | R | E | N | C | R | N | S | |
| L | A | O | E | R | A | T | O | ||||||
| T | A | R | M | A | C | S | I | C | O | N | |||
| J | U | S | T | A | D | D | W | A | T | E | R | ||
| B | A | R | S | R | E | S | I | S | T | S | |||
| A | N | N | I | E | T | H | E | ||||||
| B | E | A | C | U | S | E | S | O | R | A | L | B | |
| B | E | L | R | E | N | N | E | R | T | A | O | ||
| L | Y | O | N | E | L | E | V | E | N | T | U | R | |
| E | R | S | T | Y | A | L | E | S | I | G | N | ||
| S | E | S | H | A | I | L | S | A | C | H | E |
I have been looking to incorporate chemical formulas into a crossword puzzle for about three years. I always thought that there was a good deal of potential for cleverness in this theme genre. I fiddled around with theme concepts related to the chemical formulas for salt, water, even carbon dioxide, and the greenhouse effect. However, when I stumbled upon the revealer (JUST ADD WATER) while brainstorming another theme, I knew that I had found the perfect opportunity to flesh this theme out.
I will be interested to hear how difficult NYT solvers find this puzzle compared to other Thursdays. From WATER to H20 to HHO could be a tricky transition, so I tried to clue the theme answers in a straightforward manner.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of the puzzle is how the relatively short theme answers allowed me to make the puzzle themeless-esque, with only 69 words in a 15x14 grid. I really like the northeast and southwest corners, with DEMENTOR, DRAG RACES, TURN A LOSS, JANE EYRE. In terms of clues, I like the connection between 14A and 59A in symmetrical spots; also 25A, which references one of my favorite stories/pieces of music.
| A | B | L | E | R | D | O | C | U | S | O | A | P | ||
| P | R | E | G | O | R | E | V | E | R | E | N | C | E | |
| P | I | G | G | Y | I | C | E | D | L | A | T | T | E | |
| L | E | A | S | S | T | A | R | R | T | O | I | L | ||
| E | L | L | S | E | A | L | S | I | N | |||||
| A | I | S | L | E | E | C | O | T | A | G | E | |||
| M | R | S | M | A | I | S | E | L | B | A | S | R | A | |
| E | S | S | E | N | T | I | A | L | W | O | R | K | E | R |
| M | O | U | L | D | M | R | S | A | N | D | M | A | N | |
| O | N | E | T | E | R | M | R | E | Y | E | S | |||
| R | E | E | D | I | T | S | L | E | D | |||||
| A | Z | U | L | T | R | A | N | S | C | A | F | E | ||
| L | O | S | E | F | A | I | T | H | K | A | T | I | E | |
| T | R | E | E | L | I | N | E | D | A | L | E | R | T | |
| S | A | D | S | O | N | G | S | T | I | R | E | S |
It came true! First of all, thank you to the New York Times for this incredible honor.
I've spent so many hours in the bathroom mirror practicing what I would say if another puzzle of mine were published. I must acknowledge my fellow constructors this week. Your grids inspire me and I'm privileged to be in your company.
This puzzle would not be possible without my editor Will Shortz. Thank you for seeing something in me that I couldn't see in myself. I'd also like to recognize my very first editor who is sadly no longer with us: Clippy. I still remember the first time I typed "Dear" in a Word document and you popped up to ask, "It looks like you're writing a letter. Would you like help?" I know you're looking down on me now with your steel wire body and huge googly eyes.
To my agents at Hollywood Paws, thank you for taking a chance on a human client.
Of course, I have to thank my amazing wife. What can I say? You stood by me as I received rejection after rejection from The Times because apparently GLUMPERFINKLE is "not a real word nor anything resembling a real word and the editing team is troubled that you keep putting it into your puzzles." Well look at us now!
Oh, it's counting me down.
A few more people I need to thank: Will Smith (not that Will Smith, the other one), Jake from State Farm, the E Street Band, that lady on TikTok who makes the salads, my parents and Oprah. Thank you all for the 70 years and for always dreaming bigger than I would dare.
And, um… please wrap up. Okay.
This is truly the highlight of my Friday and a moment I won't soon top. As "The Hangover Part II" star Mike Tyson once said, "I guess I'm gonna fade into Bolivian."
Kids, you can go to bed now.
| M | O | S | S | P | R | O | V | E | I | T | ||||
| C | O | N | E | O | F | S | I | L | E | N | C | E | ||
| F | R | I | E | N | D | L | Y | B | A | N | T | E | R | |
| M | O | E | S | T | O | I | C | F | A | R | C | E | ||
| A | R | M | S | R | I | G | H | T | L | E | A | S | ||
| I | G | E | T | B | Y | H | O | Y | A | E | P | A | ||
| M | E | D | I | A | S | T | U | R | D | Y | ||||
| T | E | L | L | O | N | T | A | M | A | L | E | S | ||
| D | A | L | L | O | W | A | Y | N | I | K | O | L | A | |
| A | B | A | O | N | P | O | I | N | T | V | I | P | ||
| M | O | C | K | S | A | G | G | Y | M | E | S | S | ||
| A | U | R | A | S | T | A | U | P | A | P | I | |||
| S | T | E | P | I | N | M | A | D | E | R | O | O | M | |
| K | I | M | O | N | O | A | N | D | S | C | E | N | E | |
| S | T | E | W | E | D | T | A | R | T | M | S | G |
If you're interested in learning more about TERESA Teng, I recommend reading this article and putting on this song.
| A | P | P | E | T | I | T | I | M | O | U | T | P | A | C | I | F | I | C | ||
| S | H | A | L | A | L | A | N | A | O | M | I | A | T | A | C | A | M | A | ||
| S | A | T | I | R | E | S | S | C | O | N | E | U | P | S | E | L | L | S | ||
| I | S | H | P | T | I | P | S | O | P | T | S | A | L | I | T | |||||
| S | E | T | E | S | E | O | R | E | I | K | E | |||||||||
| I | R | O | C | T | R | A | C | Y | G | L | O | S | S | O | N | E | S | |||
| V | I | T | A | A | T | E | A | L | O | T | W | A | R | T | ||||||
| I | S | I | T | O | N | C | A | D | O | H | E | L | W | O | O | D | ||||
| S | A | C | R | E | D | H | O | W | A | L | E | P | P | O | ||||||
| O | C | T | O | B | E | R | B | O | N | U | S | T | R | I | L | L | E | D | ||
| P | H | O | N | E | M | E | O | K | A | P | I | H | A | A | L | A | N | D | ||
| O | E | R | A | S | F | O | R | I | L | S | A | T | S | C | E | E | ||||
| D | R | Y | N | O | B | E | L | A | T | K | E | R | R | |||||||
| R | O | D | S | S | I | N | S | |||||||||||||
| S | O | D | N | A | M | E | O | F | T | H | E | G | A | M | E | C | H | O | ||
| T | H | E | H | E | L | P | M | O | W | E | R | B | A | R | G | A | I | N | ||
| A | L | V | E | O | L | A | R | O | D | I | S | G | O | R | G | E | ||||
| F | O | I | A | O | R | A | L | S | E | G | O | O | S | H | A | |||||
| F | O | L | L | O | W | T | H | E | B | O | U | N | C | I | N | G | B | A | L | L |
| K | E | E | L | E | Y | G | O | P | R | O | F | I | N | E | L | Y | ||||
| D | R | E | D | S | W | I | N | G | C | U | R | E |
| M | E | R | S | K | O | P | J | E | A | B | C | S | ||
| A | P | E | W | A | L | R | U | S | M | E | E | T | ||
| L | I | V | I | N | D | I | G | O | U | S | D | A | ||
| I | C | E | C | R | E | A | M | S | I | S | T | E | R | |
| N | H | L | G | A | M | D | E | S | ||||||
| G | A | G | A | J | E | L | L | I | E | D | E | E | L | |
| A | G | E | N | D | A | B | R | A | R | Y | E | |||
| S | R | I | R | B | I | E | L | E | V | E | N | |||
| P | A | S | T | A | S | A | L | A | D | T | E | S | T | |
| A | R | M | N | O | V | S | T | D | ||||||
| I | M | D | E | A | D | G | A | Z | P | A | C | H | O | |
| L | E | I | A | R | I | O | T | E | R | O | E | R | ||
| I | N | S | T | U | P | F | A | K | E | L | A | G | ||
| A | S | H | Y | G | O | F | R | E | E | D | R | Y |
I developed Tetris brain but for crosswords almost as soon as I started constructing them. Looking for crossword themes out of fun phrases went from curious to chronic. Once I noticed the serendipitous symmetry of the revealer phrase, I had to make a delicious puzzle. (Varied reactions to "delicious" probably depend on those who have and have not tried JELLIED EEL.)
Every puzzle has its tradeoffs, though. Downsized and built from criss-crossing theme content, the puzzle doesn't have much room for long, non-themed entries. On par with my enthusiasm for food and sweets, I don't regret stuffing in four dishes. Next time you see me in the NYT, expect some even sweeter puzzle-making.
Utmost gratitude to the voices of persistence: friends, family, and Alie Ward. Thanks as well to the mental exercise of crossword construction and the physical exercise that balances the indulgence of my sweet tooth. So on that note: are life's fondest affections not those exalted in acrostic form?
| B | O | G | I | E | I | M | A | C | R | E | V | S | ||
| A | D | E | L | E | N | A | P | A | U | N | I | T | ||
| N | E | L | L | Y | S | A | C | H | S | R | O | D | E | |
| B | O | A | H | I | T | M | A | K | E | R | ||||
| G | E | R | T | R | U | D | E | E | L | I | O | N | ||
| S | I | R | E | Y | E | S | S | R | ||||||
| I | R | A | N | R | N | A | C | A | M | E | O | |||
| D | O | N | N | A | S | T | R | I | C | K | L | A | N | D |
| E | N | T | E | R | C | D | R | A | M | I | D | |||
| B | S | A | Y | U | P | A | D | S | ||||||
| B | E | T | T | Y | W | I | L | L | I | A | M | S | ||
| E | M | I | S | S | A | R | Y | S | R | A | ||||
| N | A | D | A | M | A | R | I | E | C | U | R | I | E | |
| T | I | E | R | P | R | I | M | E | V | A | D | E | ||
| O | L | D | S | Y | M | C | A | L | E | G | A | L |
It was a pleasure to honor the female Nobelists in this puzzle on International Women's Day: poet and playwright NELLY SACHS, biochemist and pharmacologist GERTRUDE ELION, physicist DONNA STRICKLAND, peace activist BETTY WILLIAMS and physicist and chemist MARIE CURIE.
I would like to have packed more diversity into this puzzle with entries such as novelist Toni Morrison, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, Guatemalan human rights activist and feminist Rigoberta Menchu, Yemeni journalist, politician, and human rights activist, Tawakkol Karman and Australian-American biological researcher Elizabeth Blackburn.
However, it was difficult to work five different female Nobelists of five different countries from each of the five original Nobel categories into a Tuesday level grid.
Unfortunately, part of the difficulty is the small number of female laureates. Since their inception in 1901, just 58 women have been awarded a Nobel Prize, 6.2% of the 943 total unique individuals bestowed with this honor. (Diversity is a problem as well with only 17 male or female black Nobelists, 1.8 % of the total.)
The dearth of female Nobelists is due in part to deserving women whose work has been overlooked. Rachel Carson is an example. Other women such as physicist Lise Meitner, physicist Chien-Shiung Wu, chemist Rosalind Franklin, microbiologist Esther Lederberg, and astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnel have had their work used to win the Nobel for their male colleagues. Additional reasons for the scarcity of female laureates include specious stereotypes and the STEM ceiling with its structural and institutional barriers (gender pay gap, work-life balance issues, harassment, lack of networking opportunities, and implicit biases such as the Matilda effect).
Who better to work with on this puzzle than someone who has fit five female names into a 15x grid before — Sally Hoelscher. Sally and I started this endeavor together, creating a 21x grid featuring female firsts. Tracy Bennett responded, saying the editorial team liked our idea but wanted a 15x grid to run on the actual International Women's Day. We initially declined, having put a lot of thought and work into our 21x grid and having other projects in the works. (That 21x grid is in the Crosswords Club March packet.) However, I hated to pass up this opportunity and asked Sally if she'd reconsider. She didn't have time in her busy schedule but said she looked forward to working on my NYT puzzle on March 8. Thanks for that vote of confidence, Sally!
I tried to avoid additional names in the fill but wasn't sorry to see ADELE and IDA B. Wells make an appearance in the puzzle. I provided alternate clues for INA [Food Network's "Barefoot Contessa" Garten] and IMA [American philanthropist Hogg, aka "The First Lady of Texas"].
May this global holiday motivate us to work towards Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.
| R | A | G | U | S | U | E | R | Z | E | T | A | |||
| O | L | E | S | J | E | T | L | I | I | R | I | S | ||
| L | E | T | S | H | A | V | E | I | T | P | I | N | K | |
| E | X | T | R | U | D | E | A | Z | A | L | E | A | S | |
| S | A | Y | T | E | R | I | B | I | O | |||||
| S | T | U | D | E | N | T | I | D | C | A | R | D | ||
| A | B | B | A | S | S | I | T | E | D | A | Y | |||
| C | R | U | X | G | A | T | E | S | J | U | N | E | ||
| M | A | R | P | U | L | I | M | A | L | T | S | |||
| E | G | G | S | H | E | L | L | P | A | I | N | T | ||
| M | A | S | L | A | V | S | M | I | A | |||||
| Y | A | K | U | T | S | K | G | O | D | S | O | N | S | |
| A | R | I | D | W | E | R | E | W | O | L | V | E | S | |
| K | I | N | G | H | E | A | R | S | E | I | R | E | ||
| S | A | K | E | O | P | T | S | W | E | T | S |
| A | D | B | I | Z | S | O | S | A | R | P | M | S | ||
| C | I | R | C | E | P | S | A | T | E | L | O | N | ||
| T | R | A | I | N | A | R | I | D | E | P | A | V | E | |
| E | G | G | D | R | I | E | S | H | O | S | E | R | ||
| D | E | A | L | A | S | T | R | I | K | E | T | A | D | |
| O | Y | E | Z | G | A | Y | L | I | B | |||||
| S | C | H | W | A | P | H | Y | S | I | Q | U | E | ||
| O | H | O | K | S | T | A | T | E | B | U | S | Y | ||
| W | E | R | E | C | O | O | L | S | I | E | T | E | ||
| C | R | Y | O | U | T | T | H | U | D | |||||
| S | K | I | P | L | A | N | E | A | B | O | A | R | D | |
| C | A | F | E | S | L | O | S | E | S | T | U | O | ||
| A | C | I | D | S | W | I | T | C | H | J | O | B | S | |
| R | U | E | D | P | A | C | E | O | L | L | I | E | ||
| E | T | S | Y | F | R | E | D | P | O | L | O | S |
| P | A | B | S | T | F | I | C | A | M | B | A | S | ||
| I | H | A | V | E | T | O | R | U | N | E | R | I | E | |
| T | A | B | U | L | A | R | A | S | A | L | I | M | E | |
| A | B | E | K | E | N | T | O | D | E | S | ||||
| W | O | E | S | O | R | A | N | G | E | |||||
| D | E | F | I | N | I | T | E | M | A | Y | B | E | ||
| O | V | I | N | E | R | E | V | E | A | L | E | D | ||
| G | E | N | T | A | T | A | R | I | L | O | C | I | ||
| G | R | E | E | N | L | I | T | A | L | A | R | M | ||
| D | R | O | P | D | O | W | N | M | E | N | U | S | ||
| B | I | G | T | O | E | R | O | A | R | |||||
| R | O | N | A | P | L | A | N | F | E | W | ||||
| S | W | I | M | C | O | U | P | O | N | C | O | D | E | |
| V | I | N | E | B | O | N | U | S | R | O | U | N | D | |
| P | E | G | S | S | L | A | P | A | T | L | A | S |
I debut a few fun entries today, though DEFINITE MAYBE is definitely my favorite. Also, a not-insignificant number of my NYT debut entries thus far are food/cooking related, and today I add an amusing one to the list with MELON BALLER.
Today I also earn the dubious distinction of being the first constructor to have a RONA clue referencing our current times. When I submitted this puzzle in November of 2020, I clued it as "Scourge of 2020, colloquially". Sadly, here in March of 2022 it needed to be updated to read "the 2020s". Hopefully, this version of the word will soon be a distant memory, and we'll be back to cluing RONA as Ms. Jaffe and Ms. Barrett very soon.
| B | R | I | B | E | D | P | A | C | T | |||||
| C | A | E | S | U | R | A | A | P | H | I | D | |||
| N | O | N | D | A | I | R | Y | C | R | E | A | M | E | R |
| O | R | D | E | A | L | S | H | I | D | E | C | O | ||
| I | N | S | E | C | T | T | A | P | J | L | A | W | ||
| S | E | A | M | S | P | A | R | A | G | U | A | Y | ||
| Y | A | W | T | H | O | N | G | S | O | N | G | |||
| B | E | A | U | G | E | S | T | E | ||||||
| B | O | R | N | T | O | R | U | N | A | S | H | |||
| F | L | U | N | K | I | E | S | O | L | L | I | E | ||
| P | R | A | T | A | N | D | T | W | E | E | Z | E | ||
| B | I | Z | M | A | E | B | E | H | A | V | E | D | ||
| J | E | E | P | E | R | S | C | R | E | E | P | E | R | S |
| D | R | A | N | O | P | A | T | R | O | L | S | |||
| S | T | U | N | A | T | H | E | N | S |
| N | E | L | Y | B | R | O | I | L | M | R | T | L | E | S | T | |||||
| H | E | Y | E | I | N | O | N | I | T | O | S | H | A | A | L | T | O | |||
| L | E | N | T | G | A | N | G | E | S | R | I | V | E | R | B | L | I | P | ||
| E | N | I | N | G | N | E | A | T | O | P | A | Y | M | E | N | S | ||||
| S | I | E | G | E | H | O | W | N | A | M | I | N | G | |||||||
| M | P | H | C | R | E | E | P | E | R | S | S | O | N | I | C | |||||
| E | L | I | S | E | I | S | L | A | M | W | E | S | B | E | L | O | W | |||
| S | U | P | P | R | E | S | S | E | D | F | R | E | E | S | A | S | H | |||
| A | S | T | I | S | E | L | A | S | L | E | W | T | S | E | T | S | E | |||
| H | O | T | R | O | L | L | S | T | A | S | H | U | T | A | H | A | N | |||
| S | A | T | E | M | E | R | I | T | A | P | A | T | ||||||||
| A | B | L | A | Z | E | E | A | G | E | R | T | H | E | B | A | C | K | |||
| D | I | E | T | E | R | G | R | O | W | F | I | E | F | T | E | A | M | |||
| M | N | E | Y | O | G | I | S | B | U | D | D | Y | H | O | L | L | Y | |||
| T | I | S | N | T | P | S | A | S | E | L | I | G | I | N | L | E | T | |||
| O | O | Z | E | S | C | A | L | L | D | E | S | K | I | S | H | |||||
| Y | O | U | W | I | N | A | X | L | T | R | I | E | D | |||||||
| P | L | U | G | L | S | D | P | O | A | C | H | C | R | O | S | S | ||||
| A | L | T | A | C | H | E | T | O | N | G | U | E | E | K | W | I | I | G | ||
| P | E | R | T | H | O | L | A | S | I | R | R | E | E | E | D | D | A | |||
| A | B | E | S | T | I | C | O | D | E | O | N | L | E | E | S |
CHRISTINA: Oof. This puzzle. My very first submission to the NYT was a puzzle using rebuses in this style. Besides just being a generally terrible puzzle, the theme entries had nothing tying them together. Sometime in 2020, Katie and I were working on a different puzzle about body parts, and I suddenly realized a lot of the phrases we were playing with had elements that would work well with a rebus, which led to this puzzle.
While this is one of my favorite ideas for a puzzle, the technical aspects made it an absolute nightmare to create. Since the entries are not symmetrically placed, it was really difficult to build the grid around them. Then, I can not believe how hard it was to fill a grid with entries that don't contain any body parts! Every time we had a grid that we liked, one of us would go, "Oh noooo, how did STINKEYE get in there?!" (etc., etc.,)
Our first submission had just "LEGS" stretched instead of ONE'S LEGS, and a couple of other entries the editing team didn't like. The feedback they gave in their rejection (which was decidedly a "no," and not a request for revisions) made me think maybe, just maybe, if we redid the puzzle with a few different entries, they'd go for it. I'm so glad they liked the changes enough to bite the second time around because this version was even harder to construct. Katie was a joy to work with, though, as always!
KATIE: When Christina approached me with this idea, I had never made, or even thought about making, a rebus puzzle with this kind of visual representation for answers. It reminded me of my elementary school teacher who used to hand out these types of brainteasers every morning, and I remember feeling oh so clever when I figured them out. (Still do, actually.)
I enjoy solving this style of puzzle, so I'm glad Christina wanted to work with me on this. It was a long and arduous path, and I learned a lot about constructing technique in the process. While it was helpful that we could move things around without worrying about symmetry, the loss of that constraint meant that there was a lot of grid trial-and-error. And we did it twice! We both believed in the idea, and I'm glad we took a punt to rework and resubmit. For the visualizations, we originally imagined the boxes for 7-Down being stretched into rectangles, but the editing team felt this was unnecessary in the end.
| T | O | A | D | L | A | C | E | D | H | O | P | E | ||
| E | U | R | O | S | T | A | Y | S | T | H | I | N | ||
| S | T | E | V | E | U | R | K | E | L | M | I | N | D | |
| L | I | N | E | N | I | E | S | B | L | O | G | S | ||
| A | N | A | T | A | U | I | D | O | ||||||
| K | I | M | M | Y | G | I | B | B | L | E | R | |||
| C | Y | N | I | C | S | O | H | M | R | A | V | E | ||
| R | O | U | T | E | C | S | T | H | A | T | E | D | ||
| O | G | L | E | D | O | H | L | O | W | E | R | S | ||
| W | I | L | S | O | N | W | I | L | S | O | N | |||
| R | A | G | O | D | D | U | S | A | ||||||
| S | H | A | D | E | I | D | A | O | A | T | E | S | ||
| W | I | R | E | F | R | E | D | R | O | G | E | R | S | |
| I | D | E | A | A | L | L | E | Y | E | R | I | E | ||
| M | E | A | L | B | S | I | D | E | S | I | F | T |
Growing up in the '90s, I wasn't allowed to watch much TV. My parents were pretty strict about it. So, given its theme, I guess this puzzle — my debut! — is a belated form of protest.
Stephen Hiltner is an editor, writer, and photographer. He works on the Travel desk at The New York Times, where he edits and contributes to the weekly World Through a Lens column. A graduate of the University of Oxford and the University of Virginia, he joined The Times in 2016 after editing for six years at The Paris Review.
| E | S | T | E | Q | U | O | T | E | P | A | W | S | ||
| I | T | S | Y | U | N | B | O | X | E | R | A | S | ||
| G | R | E | E | N | O | L | I | V | E | D | E | R | N | |
| H | O | T | D | A | T | E | J | A | Y | Z | ||||
| T | B | S | C | A | S | I | N | O | F | L | O | O | R | |
| Y | E | E | S | H | S | N | A | C | K | U | N | O | ||
| L | O | A | A | S | H | C | O | E | D | |||||
| N | A | S | C | A | R | T | R | A | C | K | ||||
| E | B | A | Y | T | R | U | E | M | U | |||||
| T | O | N | R | O | A | S | T | E | P | S | O | M | ||
| C | O | N | C | E | R | T | H | A | L | L | I | R | E | |
| B | Y | O | B | R | A | I | S | M | A | N | ||||
| M | A | C | S | I | T | S | T | H | E | P | I | T | S | |
| I | M | A | M | R | A | B | A | T | A | L | E | C | ||
| C | A | M | O | A | T | A | R | I | M | E | S | H |
This is somehow my 10th puzzle for the Times, assuming you count my Puns & Anagrams puzzles (and why wouldn't you?). I will take the opportunity to plug those Puns & Anagrams puzzles — try one!
As for this one, I'm quite happy that the editors used my suggested clue for JAY-Z because it gives me an excuse to link to this perfect tweet by one of my favorite constructors.
I hope you enjoyed the puzzle!
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| P | E | A | C | E | E | R | A | L | I | N | E | N | ||
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| S | L | Y | A | R | E | A | M | A | P | T | E | A | ||
| M | Y | E | R | S | D | O | N | A | L | D | ||||
| C | H | A | O | S | U | R | A | N | O | |||||
| R | E | I | N | R | A | T | S | N | E | S | T | |||
| E | R | R | A | T | A | E | Y | E | S | T | E | W | ||
| D | R | Y | R | O | T | T | A | N | A | |||||
| C | E | E | H | O | L | D | S | |||||||
| B | A | T | H | T | O | Y | Z | A | P | |||||
| E | L | I | O | N | E | S | H | O | T | S | A | I | ||
| M | A | M | E | T | S | T | O | O | P | D | O | W | N | |
| A | M | I | G | O | E | E | L | E | U | L | E | R | ||
| D | O | D | G | E | S | T | Y | G | O | O | S | E |
Greetings! I am an attorney, musician, and curler from Minnesota (among other things!), thrilled to be making my Times debut. I tried my hand at construction at the end of 2019 with a play on musical instruments. It was terrible. Luckily, there is a wealth of information out there to assist aspiring constructors, not to mention receiving invaluable personal feedback from the editors on those puzzles that didn't quite make the cut.
This particular puzzle was a relatively early construction. I completed it in August 2020 and it was accepted in December. I spent a lot of time self-editing this one before submitting, and looking back I am still relatively pleased with the result.
This puzzle was quite literally built around the central artwork, which I made one day without any idea how to use it. My kids saw it and thought it was "cute" (ok — I think it's pretty cute too), so I toyed around with a few different ideas, finally settling on incorporating one of my favorite childhood games into the puzzle. In the end, my own "ah ha" moment came when it dawned on me to use the clues and take the solver through the act of playing this game. Everything fell into place after that.
My original clues were simply "Duck" .. other clues .. "Duck" .. other clues .. "Duck" .. other clues .. [etc.] .. and ending with "I pick you!" The final product tightens up some of those clues to be more precise to their answers (always a good thing) and my thanks to the editors for their fantastic work, all without sacrificing the basic essence of what I was going for.
Although, I do send apologies to my fellow Minnesotans; we all know that the real answer to 67-Across should be GRAYDUCK.
| I | C | O | N | S | Q | U | A | B | S | P | U | B | ||
| N | O | V | A | A | U | N | T | I | E | R | N | A | ||
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| O | G | R | E | O | P | I | E | N | A | B | L | E | ||
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| O | L | I | N | H | A | T | E | |||||||
| S | T | O | I | C | A | S | A | P | S | U | P | |||
| T | A | K | E | O | U | T | T | H | E | T | R | A | S | H |
| U | P | S | N | A | Y | S | W | A | N | E | D | |||
| O | D | O | R | L | O | T | T | |||||||
| R | E | T | R | O | I | O | W | A | S | T | A | T | E | |
| A | T | H | E | N | S | R | I | P | A | S | I | S | ||
| S | H | O | O | T | C | R | A | P | S | I | L | L | S | |
| T | E | N | G | O | A | T | E | E | L | A | D | E | ||
| A | R | G | O | W | N | E | R | S | S | P | E | X |
DAN: Coming across TAKEOUTTHETRASH in a wordlist got me looking at some pretty "dirty" words… "SPARE FUSE" , "NEWS JUNKIE", "FLITTERED" ... Having never published before I reached out to Jeff to get his take and in general to learn more about the construction process. When our candidates for a fourth themer (CHAFFINCH/SKISLOPES) failed to please, we relaxed the constraints slightly and allowed the "dirty words" to break apart, eventually narrowing on the theme set you see here. Jeff's a fantastic coach and we've now co-authored a few puzzles together.
Fill: I actually wrote the basic outline of this puzzle on my laptop while waiting near several OVERLOOKS on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. My wife at the time was fulfilling her "mammoth" goal of going rim-to-rim-to-rim (47+ miles in 18 hours!). She's amazing. Happy birthday Morgan!
About me: My wife and I have three kids and have settled in Minnesota where I work as a R&D robotics engineer for 3M. In general, I enjoy all things math/software-related and find crossword construction to be a thrilling application domain in which to toy with ideas and algorithms. Outside of crosswords I enjoy dabbling on the piano, playing basketball at my church weekly, and chasing my kids around the house as "the monster."
— Proceeds from this puzzle will be donated to Ukrainian refugees —
| A | V | O | N | D | I | S | A | P | P | E | A | R | ||
| M | A | N | O | B | E | S | T | C | H | A | N | C | E | |
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| R | E | P | O | S | T | T | H | E | O | |||||
| P | U | T | I | C | E | E | S | W | A | G | ||||
| J | O | Y | C | E | C | A | R | R | Y | A | G | O | ||
| O | N | T | H | E | B | A | C | K | B | U | R | N | E | R |
| S | L | O | L | A | N | A | I | C | A | N | D | Y | ||
| E | Y | E | S | T | R | O | T | K | I | A | ||||
| H | O | S | E | S | Y | S | T | E | M | |||||
| A | T | R | I | A | L | I | P | A | E | R | G | O | ||
| P | O | I | N | T | T | A | K | E | N | S | A | G | A | |
| P | R | O | T | E | S | T | E | R | S | U | D | O | N | |
| S | O | T | O | S | P | E | A | K | P | E | N | S |
CLAIRE: I am forever indebted to Brooke for helping this puzzle get to publication. This puzzle went as mine sometimes do — I made the grid, wrote one clue (29-Down), and then set it aside until I was in the mood for more cluing. A few months later I found the puzzle and reached out to Brooke, asking if she wanted to write some clues and, (no surprise) she knocked it out of the park.
BROOKE: Claire is one of the constructors I am consistently most inspired by and it was very much my privilege to team up on this one! The only downside is depriving the solver of more bangers like 29-Down (obviously the best clue in the puzzle). Most of the clues are exactly or close to our originals (if this was a tougher Friday than usual, um, oops)... we cannot, however, take credit for the fun/interesting/?!? fact in 38-Down.
BOTH: We (along with the fabulous Rachel Fabi) have spent the past few months editing These Puzzles Fund Abortion Too, a puzzle pack that is currently raising money for seven different abortion funds. Please check out our website for more info or go straight to the NNAF Fund-a-Thon page.
| A | B | U | M | E | W | S | P | I | C | Y | ||||
| L | I | S | S | O | M | E | C | L | O | T | H | E | ||
| L | O | V | E | D | I | T | L | O | O | K | S | O | N | |
| O | L | I | V | E | R | P | O | N | T | I | A | C | ||
| T | A | S | E | R | B | U | N | C | H | E | D | U | P | |
| B | A | R | N | D | A | N | C | E | R | U | L | E | ||
| S | A | F | A | R | I | H | A | T | D | A | N | |||
| L | I | V | E | S | A | L | I | E | ||||||
| I | C | E | T | E | C | H | N | E | R | D | S | |||
| P | A | N | T | C | H | E | E | R | E | D | U | P | ||
| A | R | T | I | L | L | E | R | Y | T | Y | P | O | S | |
| W | E | E | L | A | S | S | G | R | I | P | P | E | ||
| S | A | N | D | A | R | T | S | E | E | N | O | T | E | |
| I | S | T | U | N | K | A | N | A | G | R | A | M | ||
| T | H | E | P | O | M | E | D | T | B | S |
| C | A | M | P | A | M | U | S | T | A | R | L | O | P | E | P | |||||
| O | B | O | E | P | A | L | L | I | D | M | O | O | R | T | A | P | E | |||
| H | A | D | N | O | P | R | A | Y | E | R | E | T | E | S | S | L | A | W | ||
| I | C | E | O | L | I | N | D | I | D | N | T | W | O | R | K | O | U | T | ||
| B | U | L | L | P | E | N | O | B | E | D | I | E | N | T | O | L | E | |||
| A | S | T | I | E | S | P | N | M | I | N | B | E | A | K | E | R | ||||
| K | E | T | O | N | E | T | O | N | G | U | E | L | A | T | S | |||||
| C | A | M | E | T | O | N | O | T | H | I | N | G | S | A | H | L | ||||
| A | L | O | H | A | O | E | E | T | S | G | E | N | E | S | I | S | ||||
| R | E | S | E | L | L | G | U | L | L | B | A | O | H | T | T | P | S | |||
| D | U | A | L | L | E | T | M | E | D | O | W | N | A | S | I | A | ||||
| S | T | I | L | L | O | R | E | B | U | N | K | S | I | R | E | N | S | |||
| S | C | I | E | N | C | E | C | O | E | J | U | M | B | L | E | S | ||||
| T | O | O | K | W | O | U | L | D | N | E | V | E | R | F | L | Y | ||||
| T | H | A | I | T | E | N | H | U | T | R | E | L | A | T | E | |||||
| H | U | S | S | A | R | A | I | R | M | E | W | L | A | P | P | S | ||||
| E | M | U | B | E | A | T | T | I | M | E | O | S | H | K | O | S | H | |||
| M | I | S | S | E | D | T | H | E | C | U | T | O | S | H | A | L | Y | E | ||
| A | D | U | E | A | R | A | L | D | I | D | T | H | E | T | R | I | C | K | ||
| G | O | A | T | M | I | N | I | S | E | N | I | O | R | A | C | H | E | |||
| I | R | L | E | A | S | E | R | A | S | T | A | P | E | E | L |
Q: So Brad, tell me, is this puzzle autobiographical in any way?
A: Do you mean, like, did I ever do jello shots on Marine One with Katie Couric and Orson Bean? No, but it sounds like fun.
Q: No, I mean the whole dating thing. I'm assuming, just based on your personality, you've been in a lot of failed relationships.
A: I wouldn't say a lot. I did date a ski racer briefly, but she went downhill fast. Then there was this cute limbo dancer. I really liked her.
Q: What happened there?
A: She went belly up.
Q: Kind of like your puzzle. A flop.
A: Art imitates life I guess. Or is it life imitates art? I forget.
Q: Honestly, I really wish you'd do something more creative with your puzzles, like the Times usually does. Shakespeare quotes that contain anagrams of breakfast cereals, a connect-the-dots picture of Gandhi — anything? C'mon man.
A: Well, I did have "PEP" in this one. Upper right corner. It's a palindrome — the same spelled forwards AND backwards. Pretty cool.
Q: And you have "KETONE" at 42 across. What the heck is that?
A: Not sure. But it did fit quite nicely there.
Q: [Sigh]
A: What about you — how's your love life going?
Q: If you must know, I had been dating this Marxist professor. Kind, intelligent, funny — and totally hot. But I just broke up with him.
A: Why?
Q: He just wasn't right.
A: Maybe it's for the best.
| R | I | C | C | I | R | I | D | E | B | L | O | T | ||
| A | M | O | U | R | A | C | E | R | A | I | D | E | ||
| R | A | M | B | O | T | E | A | G | A | R | D | E | N | |
| E | X | P | A | N | D | E | D | R | O | L | E | |||
| M | A | D | E | S | P | N | ||||||||
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| I | M | E | A | N | E | T | S | S | P | C | A | |||
| K | H | L | O | E | K | A | R | D | A | S | H | I | A | N |
| E | E | L | S | P | H | D | P | E | T | R | A | |||
| S | R | O | C | H | I | S | E | L | E | D | A | B | S | |
| E | S | T | O | S | A | C | ||||||||
| B | A | C | K | U | P | S | I | N | G | E | R | |||
| I | N | B | O | X | Z | E | R | O | A | O | R | T | A | |
| D | A | R | N | A | M | I | S | L | S | A | T | S | ||
| O | B | O | E | R | O | S | A | K | E | Y | U | P |
JOHN: To prepare for this puzzle coming out, I created a Spotify playlist featuring the best of STING, DRAKE, ADELE, and LORDE. It's called 'Stindradelorde' (catchy right?) and to be honest, it's not half bad. When things are getting a bit mournful (I'm looking at you, Lorde), you can rely on Drake or Sting to pop up and lighten the mood slightly before you're blown away by Adele's extraordinary vocals. It's certainly never boring, and I hope the crossword wasn't either.
Best regards from an Englishman in [The] New York [Times]. Have a great week.
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| U | L | T | I | M | A | L | O | U | A | G | O | G | ||
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| F | I | E | E | A | R | P | F | E | S | S | ||||
| A | N | N | F | S | H | E | E | P | L | E | ||||
| W | E | D | I | D | I | T | E | D | G | E | D | U | P | |
| R | A | R | E | S | I | S | I | T | M | E | ||||
| E | C | H | O | O | T | H | E | R | R | O | A | R | ||
| S | E | E | N | I | N | H | B | O | G | O | ||||
| P | E | R | F | U | M | E | O | N | E | N | E | S | S | |
| H | I | D | A | L | G | O | E | A | P | U | ||||
| S | K | O | L | I | M | O | K | S | A | N | ||||
| C | A | N | I | D | I | S | S | E | N | T | E | R | S | |
| A | T | O | N | E | R | E | L | I | A | I | S | E | ||
| B | E | R | G | N | A | E | M | A | G | N | E | T |
Today's theme was inspired by (warning: mildly NSFW) this scene from the 2003 superhero smash X2: X-Men United. The original idea was that the magnets in the grid were so powerful that they were pulling the letters I, R, O, and N out of the theme clues... like this:
9D: D_d CP_ __, say
10D: _ce c_eam c__e type
28D Del_ve_y _f tax payme_t
29D F__st, t_ a seama_
So you'd have to suss out that those clues were for the base words, PUMPED, WAFFLE, FILING, MAIDEN... and then tack on the 'extracted' IRON letters in the grid, stuck to the magnets.
Ultimately, the editors felt the quadruple dupe (qupe?) of IRON was too easy for such a late-week cluing gimmick (and I don't disagree), so it'd be better to just clue the theme entries straight and run it earlier on. That said, I'm still proud enough of this weird little idea to talk about it here!
A few other random thoughts:
- App/web solvers get a bonus grid art treat today. But paper solvers of my last puzzle got to physically cross their Ts in the clues with their pens/pencils. So we're even.
- Making the magnets fully free-floating forced a grid with lots of mid-length fill. That, plus my original plan for this to run later in the week, is why you've got trickier stuff like SESTET and HIDALGO in there on a Tuesday.
- I'm grateful that the editors kept my original cluing angles at 27A, 41A, 12D, and 56D.
- Thrilled to have worked in an anagram of my son Miko's name at 57A.
And as always, if you want to commend, complain, or collab, my dms are always open.
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| F | L | E | A | E | N | L | I | S | T | S | ||||
| C | A | S | U | A | L | S | A | N | D | A | L | |||
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| A | D | A | B | E | A | T | L | E | S | E | L | I | ||
| T | A | B | O | O | E | A | T | G | O | O | D | |||
| P | O | L | I | C | Y | C | H | A | N | G | E | |||
| A | D | D | I | S | O | N | S | H | A | M | ||||
| C | O | I | N | T | O | S | S | R | E | N | T | S | ||
| U | N | T | I | E | P | L | U | N | K | D | O | W | N | |
| T | U | T | O | R | O | U | Z | O | A | V | I | A | ||
| E | T | O | N | T | R | O | D | Y | A | N | G |
My favorite kind of flip-flop is not in this puzzle. For anyone who has not taken a computer electronics course, a flip-flop is the smallest unit of storage in a computer system, storing whether a single bit is 0 or 1. Flip-flop is a fun word, unlike much of the vocabulary in my day-job field of engineering. So, I admit it: I thought of this theme idea while I was at work.
My original thought was to put the FLIP entries and the FLOP entries on the same row of the puzzle, so the FLIP and FLOP clues would be adjacent. That would have required me to define the FLIP/FLOP words in 7 letters, which I couldn't figure out how to do. In my original submission, I had one of the FLOPs defined as SLUMP DOWN. The editing team asked me to change it to PLUNK DOWN. I appreciate the editing team's work. They kept all the clues I liked and added some new ones that I really like.
| C | F | O | S | P | A | M | B | O | S | O | M | |||
| U | R | D | U | U | R | S | A | I | N | T | R | O | ||
| R | A | I | N | B | R | E | L | S | R | E | E | C | E | |
| S | U | S | H | I | M | A | T | H | C | L | A | S | S | |
| E | D | T | S | H | I | N | A | H | E | M | ||||
| S | T | Y | X | E | M | B | G | O | E | D | ||||
| T | A | P | T | A | P | T | A | S | K | P | U | R | ||
| I | C | O | N | E | B | E | R | T | P | E | R | U | ||
| E | A | T | A | R | O | N | E | G | G | N | O | G | ||
| D | I | S | E | M | B | K | S | A | R | A | ||||
| M | I | N | I | L | O | K | I | U | S | C | ||||
| P | R | O | T | E | C | T | E | D | P | I | N | T | A | |
| S | I | K | H | S | R | A | I | S | E | T | H | E | B | |
| S | L | E | E | T | I | S | U | P | D | I | V | E | ||
| T | E | R | R | Y | O | H | M | Y | P | E | T |
My super smart and very punny grandfather, K.C. Angus, lived to 98 and did every NYT puzzle right up until the day he died in late 2019. I'd never even attempted the NYT until mid-2020; now I'm hooked, and I so wish I'd discovered it sooner so we could have shared it. He would have loved to see my debut in the Times today, even if he was mostly a Saturday guy — and was really not a fan of the rebus. :) This is for him.
I was thrilled to see two of my favourite clues make the cut (7-Down and 18-Down), and I'm grateful to the editing team for letting me reinstate my wee little bit of cluing CanCon (i.e., Canadian content) in 23-Across. Thanks to Robyn Weintraub for her mentorship (including gently but definitively steering me away from an early stab at a 21x version of this puzzle that had 148 entries...), and to puzzle pals Sara, Carly, Turbs, and Max for all of your testing, suggestions, and general awesomeness.
I've been a freelance editor since 2016, editing fiction/non-fiction for publishers and indie authors and doing a fair bit of corporate writing and editing — a beloved career I've finally landed on after an electrical engineering degree and seventeen years of various corporate jobs. For fun, I sing in a (very casual) folk/rock/country cover band, I play guitar and a bit of mandolin, and I like reading, hiking, fitness, and yoga. And crosswords! I live in Toronto with my husband, two teenage kids, a cat, and a dog.
P.S. For some bonus CanCon, and a great pick-me-up any time, look up Bhangra dancer (per my clue to 57-Across) Gurdeep Pandher in the Yukon. You won't regret it.
| I | T | E | M | I | Z | E | R | E | C | I | P | E | S | |
| L | O | V | E | C | O | N | Q | U | E | R | S | A | L | L |
| L | E | A | D | A | D | O | U | B | L | E | L | I | F | E |
| S | T | L | N | I | S | I | E | E | N | I | E | |||
| O | U | T | T | A | C | R | U | D | T | S | P | |||
| U | T | A | H | C | A | K | E | S | A | S | H | Y | ||
| M | O | T | E | L | I | Q | T | E | S | T | ||||
| S | E | E | M | E | R | U | E | S | H | E | D | S | ||
| E | N | A | M | E | L | T | A | X | I | S | ||||
| A | B | E | D | T | E | S | L | A | N | C | A | A | ||
| N | E | D | C | E | N | T | M | A | D | A | M | |||
| C | H | I | N | A | I | S | I | S | V | E | G | |||
| H | A | T | E | R | S | G | O | N | N | A | H | A | T | E |
| O | V | E | R | O | P | I | N | I | O | N | A | T | E | D |
| R | E | D | F | L | A | G | P | R | A | Y | E | R | S |
This was my white whale. For as long as I've been trying my hand at constructing crosswords, which is about a decade, I've always wanted to build a grid around the phrase QUICK QUESTION. It's one of my go-to expressions in real-life conversation — I can't tell you how many times over the years I've walked into a room and struck up a chat with a friend or co-worker and said, "Hey there, quick question." Plus, y'know, it's got two Q's, so it's crossword gold.
I spent years fiddling around with various grid designs, trying to find the best way to build around those Q's without making ugly sacrifices in the rest of the grid. There were a lot of false starts. But at some point in 2020, I hit upon this design, with the long QUICK QUESTION running through the center and the pairs of 15-letter answers cutting through it, and I was overjoyed to discover that it worked. Once LOVE CONQUERS ALL and LEAD A DOUBLE LIFE fell into place, it was on. The rest of the grid practically filled itself.
Thanks to the NYT team for publishing this one — and, as always, for punching up my clues. "They might help with the dishes" is great for RECIPES, and the team came up with a cool factoid about UTAH as well. And I'm glad they kept my reference to LEN's hit song "Steal My Sunshine," a banger if ever there was one.
Hope everyone enjoyed the solve!
| B | R | A | N | D | I | S | H | O | R | A | L | B | ||
| S | E | E | D | O | U | B | L | E | L | A | N | A | I | |
| M | R | S | A | N | D | M | A | N | D | I | T | T | O | |
| O | L | E | P | E | S | T | R | E | L | I | E | F | ||
| K | I | N | D | A | F | E | N | G | R | U | ||||
| E | N | T | I | R | E | P | A | W | T | O | M | E | ||
| R | E | A | L | O | R | I | G | I | N | A | L | |||
| C | A | N | I | G | E | T | A | N | A | M | E | N | ||
| C | U | D | D | L | E | P | U | D | D | L | E | |||
| H | T | M | L | R | E | S | S | A | L | A | D | S | ||
| E | L | I | S | L | R | P | Y | L | O | N | ||||
| M | O | T | L | E | Y | F | I | F | A | S | T | A | ||
| L | O | O | I | E | A | L | L | I | G | A | T | O | R | |
| A | S | N | A | P | S | A | Y | N | O | M | O | R | E | |
| B | E | E | R | S | S | W | A | N | S | O | N | G |
ASHTON: In the early days of the pandemic, James and I suddenly had some time on our hands to collaborate on a puzzle again, and today's offering is the result. I made the central stagger-stack and left James with the difficult task of filling the rest. Enjoy!
| A | T | T | E | S | T | S | S | O | C | A | L | A | D | A | S | T | R | A | ||
| G | R | O | C | E | R | Y | U | N | H | I | P | C | O | N | G | E | A | L | ||
| E | U | R | O | V | A | N | I | T | E | M | S | H | E | C | T | A | R | E | ||
| S | E | T | E | C | C | E | I | O | S | G | E | R | I | R | E | X | ||||
| I | S | N | T | R | A | M | P | A | G | E | S | E | N | D | ||||||
| A | L | L | O | W | L | I | M | E | S | T | O | N | E | N | O | R | M | A | ||
| S | Y | L | L | O | G | I | S | M | R | E | N | T | T | O | O | W | N | |||
| T | R | A | I | N | E | R | O | F | T | H | E | D | O | W | N | P | A | T | ||
| O | A | S | D | R | A | W | A | B | E | T | O | G | O | S | H | E | ||||
| T | E | R | S | E | N | A | Y | A | W | A | R | D | ||||||||
| S | T | O | R | Y | E | N | C | R | Y | P | T | S | L | E | E | P | ||||
| K | E | E | P | S | E | B | A | Y | A | A | A | S | D | F | L | A | T | |||
| I | N | E | S | L | I | P | M | M | A | T | E | S | H | |||||||
| N | O | B | C | A | S | T | S | A | P | I | N | C | H | C | T | R | ||||
| G | R | A | N | O | L | A | S | P | R | A | Y | D | R | A | F | T | E | E | ||
| S | A | L | O | M | E | C | H | A | M | B | E | R | O | L | E | O | L | E | ||
| S | L | U | R | L | O | O | T | S | O | Y | A | F | I | R | S | |||||
| G | A | M | E | T | E | S | T | H | E | B | O | R | G | |||||||
| B | R | E | A | D | E | D | R | H | E | N | I | U | M | |||||||
| I | H | A | T | E | I | T | K | H | U | F | U | A | N | A | S | A | Z | I | ||
| T | O | T | S | R | O | M | O | D | N | I | A |
This puzzle has gone through more iterations than any other puzzle I have constructed, from seed idea to publication. I developed the central theme early in 7th grade (I'm now in 9th grade). We were learning about Ancient Egypt in Social Studies. The Great Pyramid of Giza, the mystery behind how it was built, and what's inside, always fascinated me. When I realized that THEGREATPYRAMIDOFGIZA was exactly 21 letters, and that it would fit in a pyramid shape inside a crossword puzzle grid, it was too perfect an opportunity to pass up! I also liked the idea of having KHUFU in his tomb in the pyramid.
After that, I (mostly) took a break from the puzzle for about a year and a half. I didn't know where to go from there, and I still hadn't had a puzzle accepted by the Times. Then, last summer I discovered the possibility of using numbered squares to hide KHUFU. I was off and running again. The supplementing, straight-forward theme content followed, and I submitted.
Still, it bugged me that the puzzle had no word play in it. The Times said "yes" to the theme but asked for cleaner fill. I refilled the puzzle, and in the process, I noticed that ENCRYPT would fit front and center. For me, that entry makes the puzzle, because it ties together how KHUFU is in a crypt, but also encoded through the numbered squares. Three months later, here we are!
| C | A | N | O | N | O | B | E | Y | S | O | D | |||
| E | M | O | T | E | S | T | E | V | E | A | W | E | ||
| D | O | T | T | E | D | L | I | N | E | S | N | E | W | |
| A | R | I | A | E | A | S | T | E | T | S | Y | |||
| R | E | T | W | E | E | T | O | B | A | M | A | |||
| A | D | D | E | D | B | O | N | U | S | E | S | |||
| U | R | A | N | U | S | L | O | A | N | U | T | E | ||
| G | E | L | S | S | I | X | C | I | T | E | ||||
| G | A | L | S | P | A | S | B | H | U | T | A | N | ||
| S | L | A | S | H | E | D | T | I | R | E | S | |||
| B | L | E | A | T | N | O | N | S | T | O | P | |||
| B | U | O | Y | O | T | T | O | W | A | N | E | |||
| A | D | A | D | A | S | H | E | D | H | O | P | E | S | |
| N | O | R | A | V | A | I | L | B | R | E | A | K | ||
| E | N | D | D | A | Y | S | O | D | D | L | Y |
My original idea for this puzzle was for each theme entry to be a different interpretation of hyphens — [R-O-M-A-N-C-E] would clue LOVE LETTERS, [P-A-G-E-S] would clue SPREADSHEETS, and so on. The editors felt that most of these were too stretchy, so I submitted a new proposal with the version you see here, where each theme entry uses a different punctuation mark.
The theme lengths (11/12/12/11) were pretty easy to work with and gave me a good amount of flexibility around bonus down entries. I initially clued my submission to a Tuesday/Wednesday, and then adjusted the difficulty level of the clues when the team wanted to run it as a tricky Monday. I'll be interested to see how the Monday audience reacts!
| A | S | A | D | A | T | B | A | R | C | O | I | F | ||
| R | O | S | I | N | U | R | S | A | H | I | D | E | ||
| F | A | K | E | D | N | A | S | H | V | I | L | L | E | |
| K | S | T | R | E | E | T | A | S | Y | E | T | |||
| P | O | S | T | T | R | U | E | |||||||
| S | I | L | I | C | O | N | V | A | L | L | E | Y | ||
| S | T | R | A | D | O | M | I | T | S | A | N | |||
| N | E | I | N | M | U | R | A | L | C | P | L | S | ||
| L | A | N | T | O | F | U | P | A | N | I | C | |||
| M | A | D | I | S | O | N | A | V | E | N | U | E | ||
| O | P | T | S | C | A | T | O | |||||||
| C | R | A | G | S | D | E | T | R | O | I | T | |||
| H | O | L | L | Y | W | O | O | D | O | D | D | E | R | |
| E | L | L | E | A | U | D | I | C | L | O | A | K | ||
| F | L | A | G | T | R | O | T | K | E | L | S | O |
This puzzle came about when I found myself thinking about metonyms, those quirky geography-based words that stand in for something bigger. I began to notice more and more of them; it was like they'd been hiding in plain sight.
It got me wondering if I might be able to form a linked set of very recognizable examples. You know, the kind that would "play in Peoria." These six are the most grid-friendly ones I could string together under the industry heading.
My first draft had BUSINESS CENTERS running across the middle to tie things together in a Monday/Tuesday-friendly kind of way. [Clue: Amenities at some hotels, or a hint ...]
The editing team felt the puzzle's concept spoke for itself, however, and a revealer (even as exciting as that one) wasn't needed. Here's hoping that was the case for you.
Thanks for solving!
| G | E | A | R | S | S | T | E | N | O | A | H | A | ||
| A | L | L | A | H | A | R | C | H | A | N | G | E | L | |
| H | O | L | D | I | N | C | A | U | L | F | I | E | L | D |
| I | N | U | R | N | S | T | O | L | I | |||||
| K | E | V | I | N | B | A | K | I | N | P | U | N | S | |
| A | L | E | Y | S | L | D | O | R | I | T | O | S | ||
| T | E | R | M | G | O | T | A | C | ||||||
| A | B | R | A | H | A | M | L | I | N | K | I | N | ||
| F | R | O | N | T | Y | E | A | H | ||||||
| S | P | A | R | E | M | E | A | F | L | D | N | A | ||
| A | R | I | E | O | W | I | N | W | I | L | S | O | N | |
| V | O | L | E | S | N | T | I | L | E | |||||
| E | L | I | Z | A | B | E | T | H | W | A | R | R | I | N |
| M | O | N | E | Y | T | R | E | E | C | O | M | M | A | |
| E | G | G | S | W | A | R | M | S | Y | S | O | P |
This theme began with Kevin bakin'. The image of Kevin Bacon holding a fresh batch of brownies made me happy so I looked for other famous people whose names could fit the pattern and the puzzle came together quickly from there.
I found the grid surprisingly difficult to fill cleanly, which resulted in a lot of entries I'm not proud of. I'd list them but you already know what they are. I tried to compensate with interesting longer/mid-length entries (32-Down being my favorite). This puzzle was originally slated for a Tuesday but was moved to Wednesday, perhaps because of some of the tougher fill.
Some other possible theme entries that I considered: rowin' Atkinson, ravin' Symoné, and Clay achin'. Thanks for solving!
| A | T | E | D | B | R | A | H | E | H | I | M | O | ||
| H | O | A | R | P | A | R | E | S | O | P | E | D | ||
| O | U | S | T | I | S | L | A | S | M | A | N | E | ||
| R | T | T | E | A | C | H | E | R | M | E | D | U | S | |
| A | S | S | E | N | T | N | O | F | A | T | ||||
| T | N | U | T | F | O | R | E | S | T | S | ||||
| A | C | E | H | O | R | S | E | P | G | A | T | O | U | |
| F | O | G | T | E | A | L | S | I | M | A | M | S | ||
| O | B | A | M | A | R | A | T | O | N | L | E | A | ||
| O | B | L | E | T | S | N | O | P | A | R | K | I | N | |
| T | S | E | L | I | O | T | P | E | L | E | ||||
| T | O | Y | O | U | N | I | P | P | L | E | ||||
| C | E | M | A | N | D | R | Y | M | A | R | T | I | N | |
| A | V | O | W | B | A | B | A | R | I | R | O | N | ||
| S | E | L | A | A | T | A | R | I | C | A | N | I | ||
| E | R | D | Y | M | E | N | D | S | E | P | S | O |
My fascination with marginalia began with my childhood love of the book "Fermat's Enigma" by Simon Singh. In the margin of his copy of Diophantus' "Arithmetica," I learned, concerning a vexing conjecture in number theory, the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat wrote: "I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition, which this margin is too narrow to contain."
However, it was some 350 years—and countless mathematical innovations—later that the theorem was demonstrably proved. I hope today's crossword puzzle takes somewhat less time.
Like Fermat, I am a big believer in writing in one's books. I read with a pencil tucked behind my ear, eager to engage with, augment, question, and emphasize the text in the margins. I imagine many crossword solvers feel the same way because there you are, after all, writing in your newspaper! (Or, I suppose, on your device.) What communal joy, too, to find the scribbled annotations of previous readers in a used book.
The ANNOTATION and MARGINALIA required to complete this puzzle are rather literal—spelling, well, MARGIN on either side—and they certainly don't expound on any deep results in number theory. But even they, I hope, engage with, and augment the puzzle within the grid, completing and emphasizing its answers. Here's to scribbling.
Oh, and HI MOM!