Jeff Kremer author page
1 puzzle by Jeff Kremer
with Constructor comments
| M | E | S | S | E | C | A | R | D | S | G | A | R | B | O | D | E | S | |||
| C | R | U | E | M | A | N | I | A | C | O | B | O | E | N | O | M | E | |||
| C | A | N | T | T | U | R | N | T | H | A | T | D | O | W | N | S | O | M | E | |
| A | S | D | O | I | A | L | T | O | N | T | S | T | R | A | P | |||||
| B | E | A | N | S | A | L | A | D | T | O | O | K | A | S | T | A | B | |||
| E | R | E | G | A | L | O | R | E | A | R | E | A | R | U | G | |||||
| D | R | O | P | E | V | E | R | Y | T | H | I | N | G | S | U | P | ||||
| F | A | B | I | O | E | X | E | S | E | O | N | E | A | T | I | T | ||||
| A | S | U | S | U | A | L | A | L | P | S | E | N | D | L | E | S | S | |||
| R | H | Y | M | E | S | P | I | N | A | S | I | R | I | B | R | E | D | |||
| N | O | S | T | R | I | N | G | S | A | T | T | A | C | H | E | D | ||||
| A | L | O | U | R | O | T | H | E | G | O | T | H | I | R | E | E | S | |||
| L | A | W | N | B | O | Y | E | A | S | E | P | E | P | T | A | L | K | |||
| E | M | P | T | Y | S | A | P | T | A | D | A | T | A | L | L | Y | ||||
| S | E | A | L | I | M | I | T | E | D | E | D | I | T | I | O | N | ||||
| D | Y | N | A | M | O | S | I | N | D | E | E | D | N | A | Y | |||||
| L | O | W | P | O | I | N | T | S | I | T | S | A | P | L | A | N | E | |||
| I | C | A | N | S | O | A | U | R | I | C | A | O | R | T | A | |||||
| M | A | T | E | R | O | C | K | B | O | T | T | O | M | P | R | I | C | E | S | |
| D | R | E | W | T | R | U | E | B | L | E | N | D | E | R | O | U | T | |||
| B | A | R | S | S | E | E | D | E | L | D | E | S | T | E | S | P | Y |
This puzzle started when I heard "CAN'T TURN THAT DOWN" as a punchline to a joke about a broken TV. As much as I would like to take credit for that, I believe the original comes from comedian Tim Vine. As a father of two kids (with a third on the way), I am a firm believer in the art of the "Dad Joke." I've recently fully metamorphosed into dad mode by picking up crossword construction and smoking meats as hobbies.
Starting from that inspiration, I pictured an imaginary garage sale that would give common sales taglines a punny new meaning. I hadn't seen ad slogans as an NYT theme despite how many of these phrases we all encounter daily. I was surprised to learn that every phrase in my set would be a debut. Once I had written what I thought were really funny clues (I laughed at my own jokes), I was ready to go.
The grid came together easily after I placed NO STRINGS ATTACHED in the middle, flanked vertically on either side by BUY NOW PAY LATER and DOORBUSTER DEAL. This gave me the room I needed to fit in the other entries horizontally.
A few possible theme entries that did not make the final cut include: FREE OF CHARGE (something about a broken flashlight?), NO PRESSURE (A broken barometer?), FACTORY SPECIAL, and IT'S DIRT CHEAP. I am sure others could have worked!
Hope you'll see more from me in the future.