New York Times, Tuesday, December 30, 2014

For some reason the phrase "LOOP DE LOOP" came to mind, and I thought it might become a valid puzzle theme by means of setting the letters of LOOP within an actual loop of some sort. But a few random LOOPs by themselves didn't seem adequate. Then LOOP DE LOOP DE LOOP occurred to me. By extending the concept into a repeated loop, things became interesting.

I realized that I needed to double the action — to create two "simultaneous" types of looping motion. Thus, the four-square units containing LOOP go around in a large circle within the grid. Then, as one follows the units around clockwise, the letters in LOOP are also "internally" shifted clockwise from unit to unit, so that L-O-O-P itself loops progressively, and does so twice in a circuit of the eight units. If you imagine this as an actual stunt by an aerobatic ace, the flyer is executing two full tight loops as he continues along the path of a large loop. Is this even possible in reality? I don't know — but it looks good on paper!

The puzzle had to be 16 squares wide to accommodate LOOP DE LOOP DE LOOP, and the letter positions of L-O-O-P were almost entirely controlled by the circular arrangement, the symmetry of the units, and the letter combinations that arose as L-O-O-P was shifted. Thus, unsurprisingly, and despite a revision from my first grid, there are various entries that I would otherwise strive even more determinedly to remove. Among them are the crosswordese fellow Mobotu SESE Seko, plural ALOES, and of course HERAT (aargh!). But given the intransigence of the fixed letters, I think things resolved reasonably well, and I presume Will was lenient given the evident constraints.

As soon as I uncovered the first set of L O O P circles, I raced to the center to fill in LOOPS THE LOOPS. Well, that didn't fit. LOOPING THE LOOP? LOOPY LOOPY LOOP?

So much for my utter genius.

I liked the aesthetics, L O O P circling in eight locations, and those eight locations circling as a whole. Nice consistency too; L O O P always going clockwise, and the starting position shifting over one spot in each set of new circles. Elegant.

These types of puzzles can be tricky, because so much care must be taken to fill cleanly around those quartets of circles. I like how Jeffrey worked many long entries through the circles: POOL PUMP, CANOODLE, LAB ROOMS, DIET PLAN. They're not all superstar quality, but they're all nice.

Impressive that the short fill was relatively clean, given the high level of constraints. Really only the north and south sections stuck out, what with the CPL / ILO and REN / TEN OF combinations. Often, these little spaces utilizing three-letter words are harder than ones using four-letter words. Surprising, yeah? You'd think a smaller section would always be easier to fill. But there's a larger inventory of "good" four-letter words than three-letter words (by a factor of 2-3x). I try to stay away from these little squirrely areas chock full of 3s.

Given that the NE and SW are daunting chunks of open white (HERAT and AREOLE, I see you), it might have been useful to equalize space a bit. Expanding the south area at the expense of the SW could have made filling easier in both regions.

I'm not familiar with aerobatics, so I wasn't sure if the visual was "accurate." My mind sees something like the pic to the right, with a lead-up, a loop, and a pull-out to horizontal. I liked Jeffrey's imaginative description of a stunt pilot doing an insane looping-within-looping maneuver, but I'm not sure if LOOP DE LOOP DE LOOP really describes that. The puzzle's visual is more like a "4-D" roller coaster to me.

In the end, I was able put that aside and have a fun solving experience.