New York Times, Monday, January 21, 2019
This puzzle:
Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 78, Blocks: 40 Missing: {JQ} This is the debut puzzle for Mr. Biggins. Jeff Chen's Puzzle of the Week pick. NYT links: Across Lite PDFI became interested in crosswords after trying to solve some with my wife's grandmother (shout out to Grandma Pat in Algona, Iowa!). When visiting her, we would sit around the kitchen table, drink coffee, and (try to) solve the crossword. Once I got the hang of solving, I felt that constructing would be a fun challenge. Thanks to the Will and Sam for coaching me through a few revisions of this puzzle and teaching me a lot along the way.
The idea for this puzzle was born out of a political theme I was trying to pull together. I was looking at last names of politicians that were homonyms (Bush, Gore, May, etc.) when I came to Martin Luther King Jr's name and reflected on "King" as part of a potential theme answer. I realized there were other prominent civil rights leaders whose last names shared the same characteristic. Sojourner Truth and Rosa Parks quickly followed. I hope solvers enjoy the theme and find it fitting for the day. We owe a large debt to the civil rights leaders of the past, and I hope this puzzle serves as a reminder that there is more progress to be made.
Perfect theme for MLK Day: three important CIVIL RIGHTS figures disguised at the ends of phrases. Such uplifting phrases, too! Fit for a KING fits King. Rosa PARKS is something of a NATIONAL treasure. And I have to imagine Sojourner told THE WHOLE TRUTH. Inspiring stuff.
I did wonder if Sojourner TRUTH was out of place, her life a century before those of KING and PARKS. Also, the civil rights movement is most often identified with the 1960s... but I like the idea of expanding it to any effort throughout history that worked toward equal rights for all.
Could Malcolm X have been a more apt third theme person? Maybe with SOLVE FOR X or GENERATION X? But referring to Malcolm X by "X" is odd. It's not his last name (is it?). So I like Sean's choices.
There were quite a few grid problems, including a glut of tough proper nouns that might trip up beginning solvers, and some gluey bits that felt inelegant. But the beautiful theme let me look past all of the dings and just appreciate the three folks honored in the puzzle. Digging into the technical weeds seems against the spirit of today's celebration, anyway.
1 P | 2 A | 3 S | 4 H | 5 A | 6 O | 7 S | 8 L | 9 O | 10 S | 11 O | 12 N |
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13 F | R | E | E | D | 14 C | A | R | O | M | 15 U | Z | I |
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16 F | I | T | F | O | 17 R | A | K | I | N | G | 18 P | A | X |
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19 T | A | O | 20 A | B | E | L | 21 M | E | R | E |
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22 N | 23 A | 24 T | I | O | N | A | 25 L | 26 P | A | R | K | S |
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27 S | 28 C | H | M | I | D | T | 29 N | E | A | R | ||||
30 H | E | A | P | S | 31 S | K | E | T | C | 32 H | 33 U | 34 P |
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35 U | R | L | 36 T | 37 R | E | A | D | 38 I | N | O |
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39 T | A | L | 40 K | 41 S | H | O | W | 42 L | 43 O | T | U | S |
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44 I | C | E | D | 45 A | 46 B | O | U | T | M | E |
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47 T | 48 H | 49 E | W | H | O | L | 50 E | T | R | U | T | H | ||
51 H | E | M | I | 52 A | M | O | R | 53 E | 54 C | 55 O |
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56 E | L | M | 57 C | 58 I | V | I | L | R | 59 I | 60 G | H | T | S |
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61 F | L | Y | 62 O | D | E | L | L | 63 T | I | A | R | A |
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64 T | A | S | 65 D | O | R | Y | 66 S | L | Y | L | Y |
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Answer summary: 3 unique to this puzzle, 1 debuted here and reused later.
Found bugs or have suggestions?