Leslie Benson author page
1 puzzle by Leslie Benson
with Constructor comments
| D | I | T | C | H | S | C | A | N | C | L | A | M | ||
| I | D | A | H | O | L | I | N | E | R | E | P | O | ||
| F | O | R | E | S | H | A | D | O | W | A | T | O | P | |
| S | E | I | N | E | A | I | S | L | E | |||||
| A | P | R | S | S | T | R | I | K | E | G | O | L | D | |
| R | O | O | M | S | F | A | R | N | O | S | ||||
| E | N | T | O | M | B | A | S | B | A | D | ||||
| G | I | V | E | A | S | H | O | U | T | O | U | T | ||
| E | A | R | N | S | L | E | C | H | E | S | ||||
| P | A | S | G | O | A | S | T | O | R | K | ||||
| A | C | T | I | O | N | P | L | A | N | O | H | M | Y | |
| R | U | R | A | L | A | R | E | A | R | |||||
| A | T | O | M | T | I | M | B | E | R | W | O | L | F | |
| D | E | N | S | H | O | B | O | C | H | A | I | R | ||
| E | R | G | O | U | S | S | R | H | O | K | E | Y |
HEY EVERYONE, IT'S MY DEBUT PUZZLE! Ahem. Sorry to yell, I'm just so excited and, given the theme, I figure one sentence of all caps was warranted.
In the summer of 2024 I went from casual solver to fully obsessed with puzzle construction in a matter of weeks — props to Katie G of Coffee and Crosswords, whose awesomely fun puzzle content lit the initial spark. After a healthy number of rejections and much negotiation with my inner critic, my single-pointed obsession paid off.
(I'm also quietly delighted that SMÉAGOL ended up in this grid. I very much relate, in this fashion. As a daily solver, the NYT puzzle app is definitely on the list of "my precious.")
The theme for this puzzle floated in during the wee hours, in that fuzzy hypnagogic state between sleep and wake. Thank you, brain, for churning out ideas even as I slumber. I initially submitted with a different revealer, and only upon rejection realized a much better one was right there for the picking. Very grateful to the editors for the second look, and help with grid and clue improvements.
And, of course, these notes wouldn't be complete without some hearty shout-outs. Thanks to my family and friends, especially my wonderfully supportive mom and cheerleader hubby, for listening to my theme idea rants and test-solving my puzzles. And to my grandparents, avid linguists and crossworders, gone but very much present in my love of language. Special thanks to Dena Verkuil for her generous feedback as I've learned the ropes.
I hope you enjoy this breezy Monday solve. I'm @spiritspirals on IG, if you'd like to say hi!