New York Times, Monday, February 3, 2014

This puzzle is one of my first constructions and the second that Will accepted. It's the last of what I would call my "Delaware Puzzles" (I moved to Vermont from Delaware in 2012). I only vaguely remember it, since it was constructed and revised almost two years ago. Like my first puzzle, it was painstakingly put together using an old dictionary over lunch breaks at work, without the benefit of Google or other basic Internet conveniences. I did have construction software at this point, but I was still quite a novice.

This one went through a major revision at Will's request, and it's been edited a bit more since then. Many of the answers in the N/NW have been changed, the biggest being LEAD SHOT where I had BIRD SHOT, and SPREE where I had FED EX. The east is also totally different (my AGLETS/BEARER/ERRORS became IGNITE/MEANER/PRIORS). I always find these editing changes fascinating.

I'm glad to have this one published, but I'm also glad that it's behind me now, as I can clearly see its weaknesses! I think I've become a better constructor in the last couple of years and I'm looking forward to turning out much better puzzles in the future. Thanks for solving!

A little crossword news: the 15th Westport Public Library Crossword Contest was held this past Saturday. About 120 crossword enthusiasts from Connecticut and New York competed. The puzzles consisted of the Monday-Wednesday NY Times puzzles (Feb. 3-5) plus the Thursday from the following week (Feb. 13).

Andrew Kravis, of Manhattan, was the first in the room to finish each of Puzzles #1-#3, in approximately 3:05, 3:15, and 3:40, respectively.

On the playoff puzzle, #4, conducted on large boards among the top three solvers, Glen Ryan was the first to finish, in 8:05 but sadly, he left a square blank. Andrew finished right behind him, in 8:17, and his solution was complete and perfect, so he won. Jesse Lansner finished perfectly in 10:37, so he was second. Glen took third.

Here's a photo of me with the winners.

Man vs. Puzzle outed! I had to use every last ounce of my mental faculties to figure out who this mysterious new NYT xw blogger was (clues: "My first name is Sean" + "My last name starts with DOBB" + "and ends with IN" = I eventually pieced it together.) Check out his daily posts; I like how he brings a fresh perspective to the blogosphere, giving his opinions is a respectful way.

Straightforward theme today, phrases that start with C AND Y, with CANDY as a revealer. These days typically something extra is required to make a Monday puzzle stand out. That could be an additional layer of theme, fantastic long entries, high theme density, etc. I liked Sean's choice of themers, CHICKEN YARD being my favorite. It's fun for me as a constructor to think about tricky wordplay clues — if only this were a late-week puzzle, "Place with a lot of scratch?" could have been amusing.

Interesting construction today. It's unusual to have interlock (where CANDY intersects CHUCK YEAGER and CHICKEN YARD) on a Monday. That's pretty cool. But it does create some difficulties in fill. Notice how it forces the first and last themers into rows 4 and 12? That makes for small corners in the NE and SW, and look at those big 6x3 areas in the west and east. The east is actually quite nice, especially given the difficulty of filling a big section like that. The west suffers from it though, with the plural ISAACS crossing SYD. Certainly passable, but not super elegant.

Who knows if this would have helped, but I would have likes to see CANDY in the dead center across (where the arbitrary TEN PM sits). I believe this would have made filling more flexible, maybe allowing a reduction of things like EDY, ELIA, and the only thing I really objected to, the awkward MDSE. Was the elegance of interlocking CANDY into two themers worth it? I would say no, but as I've learned through thoughtful reader feedback (thank you!), many would disagree. I always appreciate reading the constructor's comments — it usually gives me a lot of insight into something I hadn't considered.

I'll close out today's comments by highlighting Sean's attitude of continual improvement as something I greatly admire. I hope that all constructors take this attitude, never being complacent in their work, always striving to figure out what they could do better toward creating a better experience for solvers.

The final score today: Man 1, Puzzle 1. Looking forward to more.