See the 5 answer words debuted by Sala Wanetick.
C | U | B | S | S | S | N | B | I | O | S | |||
O | B | O | E | C | O | O | P | E | L | L | E | ||
M | O | O | N | D | A | N | C | E | F | A | D | E | |
M | A | S | T | E | R | G | A | R | D | E | N | E | R |
A | T | T | I | C | P | I | L | L | A | R | S | ||
M | O | O | T | O | I | L | |||||||
T | I | G | E | R | W | O | O | D | S | B | T | U | |
U | D | O | N | N | A | N | T | S | A | R | S | ||
B | E | N | T | O | S | I | T | T | R | E | S | ||
A | D | E | M | A | T | C | H | M | A | K | E | R | |
M | A | C | E | C | I | G | |||||||
E | S | S | E | N | C | E | D | E | U | C | E | ||
J | A | C | K | I | E | R | O | B | I | N | S | O | N |
E | L | I | O | D | I | N | O | S | A | U | R | S | |
C | M | O | N | E | V | E | S | M | A | N | U | ||
T | A | N | G | O | S | S | E | L | S | E |
P | L | A | T | E | S | M | O | G | O | F | F | S | ||
A | I | S | H | A | T | A | C | O | A | L | L | A | ||
P | E | T | E | R | C | O | T | T | O | N | T | A | I | L |
I | D | O | L | O | N | E | O | N | E | M | E | T | ||
I | S | E | E | T | A | P | E | R | S | |||||
B | R | O | K | E | N | R | E | C | O | R | D | |||
L | E | V | E | E | A | P | U | F | E | D | S | |||
O | D | E | P | O | S | T | U | R | E | G | O | O | ||
W | O | R | M | R | T | E | L | E | O | N | A | |||
F | I | G | U | R | E | S | K | A | T | E | R | |||
A | R | I | A | N | A | M | A | S | S | |||||
T | O | M | U | N | E | V | E | N | Y | E | A | S | ||
H | O | P | S | K | I | P | A | N | D | A | J | U | M | P |
O | S | L | O | S | E | N | D | C | O | R | E | R | ||
S | T | Y | X | T | E | E | S | E | B | O | N | Y |
Sala: I could not be more thrilled to be making my NYT debut alongside Emily. We have been on this crossword journey together from the very start, and I feel so lucky that I get to share it with a friend.
This was such a fun theme to brainstorm! So much good stuff SKIPS and JUMPS (dead batteries, dirty CDs, flat stones, skydivers... I'll stop now, but feel to ponder whether a leap day skips or gets skipped).
I would be remiss not to mention my favorite Bob-Ross-happy-accident: the ARIANNA/TOM stack at 53 and 57 across (shout out to my fellow Bravoheads). I originally had them as an echo clue referencing Scandoval, though the games team chose to use a more famous ARIANNA. They did throw me a bone and kept the TOM cluing - so I am calling it a win. (I fully acknowledge that the majority of xwordinfo readers have no clue what I am talking about, but this is for that tiny intersection of the Venn diagram that represents people who construct crosswords and love reality TV.)
I can't wait to continue solving, constructing, and getting to know more people in this community - this is such a better lifelong hobby than golf!!!
Don't hesitate to reach out - I am always open to chatting, potential collabs, and sharing ideas.