| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scrab | Debut | Flow | Fresh |
| 1.58 | 3 | 23.3 | 18% |
Tue 5/13/2025
| A | M | C | S | | C | A | P | E | R | | C | C | S | |
| F | A | R | R | | A | B | A | T | E | | E | R | I | C |
| F | R | U | I | T | P | U | N | C | H | | L | A | M | A |
| A | I | M | | A | N | T | I | | I | G | E | T | I | T |
| I | N | B | O | X | | | C | O | R | N | B | E | L | T |
| R | A | L | L | I | E | D | | P | E | A | | R | E | O |
| S | E | A | | M | I | S | T | | S | I | S | S | Y |
| | | F | O | O | D | F | I | G | H | T | | | |
| B | E | G | I | N | | T | O | O | N | | A | R | C | |
| A | L | A | | I | P | O | | N | U | C | L | E | A | R |
| L | A | M | B | C | H | O | P | | | H | Y | D | R | A |
| S | T | E | R | E | O | | A | C | A | I | | C | O | N |
| A | I | D | E | | B | A | N | A | N | A | S | L | U | G |
| M | O | A | T | | I | N | E | R | T | | E | A | S | E |
| N | Y | T | | A | D | D | L | E | | E | Y | E | S |
Mon 10/24/2022
| S | A | N | S | | C | L | E | F | T | | A | C | T | I |
| E | M | I | T | | H | E | L | L | O | | R | U | E | D |
| R | O | P | E | | O | D | E | O | N | | M | B | A | S |
| F | R | A | N | C | I | S | C | O | G | O | Y | A | | |
| S | E | T | T | O | | | | D | A | M | N | | | |
| | | S | E | L | M | A | | | N | A | S | A | L |
| A | D | D | | D | I | E | G | O | R | I | V | E | R | A |
| P | R | O | P | | S | T | A | R | E | | Y | A | N | K |
| P | E | D | R | O | P | A | S | C | A | L | | T | O | E |
| S | W | O | O | N | | | P | A | L | A | U | | | |
| | | P | U | M | A | | | | I | N | C | U | R |
| | J | O | S | E | F | E | L | I | C | I | A | N | O |
| P | S | I | S | | C | R | A | I | G | | T | R | I | O |
| D | I | V | A | | C | O | S | M | O | | A | T | O | M |
| A | X | E | L | | A | S | T | E | R | | S | A | N | S |
Count me among the many cruciverbalists who were inspired by the documentary Wordplay, in particular the constructing process of Merl Reagle (RIP). I first saw the film around 2010 and started constructing myself not long thereafter. More than a decade later, it has been quite a journey to reach my New York Times debut!
The idea for this puzzle hit me while I was on vacation in California, enjoying the beauty of the San Diego waterfront. I found myself preoccupied with cities named after saints, probably because I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area (go Phillies!), where there is a conspicuous dearth of Spanish missions. Later, brainstorming theme answers, I considered Antonio Banderas, Salvador Dali, and a slew of Juans before realizing I could have a set of answers all fittingly about California locations.
A thank you to Will and team for maintaining the spirit of so many of my clues through the revision process, especially 40-Down, which was my favorite clue to write. Happy solving!
