Yitzi Snow author page
1 puzzle by Yitzi Snow
with Constructor comments
See the 4 answer words debuted by Yitzi Snow.
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How great is this! My debut puzzle in the New York Times! And on a Thursday, no less. I am personally of the opinion that when it comes to puzzles, the trickier the better. Hopefully this one lives up to those standards.
This puzzle does require some math. For all those solvers who don't think math is fun... sorry (not sorry). I'm a data scientist with an engineering background, and I fill my free time with sewing and sudoku puzzles. Basically, I have numbers on my mind constantly.
This puzzle's theme was inspired by a common form of wordplay found in British-style cryptic crosswords. Cryptic crosswords can tie your brain into the most delightful knots and have become a staple of my morning routine (alongside the NYT crosswords, of course). They've made me better at solving, and setting, "normal" crosswords. I hope they gain more popularity across the pond - which to me means America, since I've been living in The Netherlands for the past ten years.
Turning the idea into a fully fledged puzzle required a bit of Python code to find the theme entries, a lot of trial and error, and some very helpful feedback from the NYT editing team. I'm thrilled that this effort paid off, and I hope you enjoy it!