New York Times, Monday, February 16, 2015
| Author: | David J. Kahn |
| Editor: | Will Shortz |
I've written a number of crosswords for The Times about U.S. presidents, including a Sunday puzzle in 2004 to celebrate the opening of Bill Clinton's library in Little Rock and one just after Obama was elected president the first time. (My wife and I were invited to the Clinton Library opening so that puzzle is especially memorable for me.)
I also spent the better part of 2014 writing a book of puzzles for Sterling (called "White House Crosswords"); that one will be out this October. The idea for Monday's crossword popped into my head during the writing of that book. I guess if I can't be a presidential historian, the next best thing is writing puzzles about presidents!
I get such a feeling of satisfaction when I fill in the last box of a crossword and get "Mr. Happy Pencil." Finishing a word search is more a feeling of relief. I had to scan through the entire grid three times, go through the full list of presidents, scan through the grid an additional three times, and finally go letter by letter with the list of presidents up against the screen. But I found those last two, dangnabit! (Highlighted below in blue and red against the white grid background.)
- Time it took me to finish the puzzle: 5 minutes
- Time it took me to find the first six presidents: 10 minutes
- Time it took me to find the last two: 45 minutes (I (stupidly) hate to give up on anything)
Pretty clever, the way David hid NIXON and especially TYLER. I originally hadn't thought about words "crossing" diagonal lines of black squares, and then the idea of TYLER crossing TWO of those lines blew my mind. Hopefully most other solvers didn't burn quite as much time as I did. But hey, what an appropriate diversion for Presidents Day.
Overall, I liked the construction. With so many constraints, I expected to see more gluey fill. I also expected that the diagonal presidents would be located smack dab in the middle of those gluey bits. (BOURG helped me locate NIXON, and I was SO sure something had to be hidden around the odd ODORED.) So a good trade-off, packing a reasonable number of presidents into the grid without many compromises.
P.S. DOLE (SE corner) and Robert E. LEE (NE corner)? There is no such thing as a coincidence!
1 E | 2 L | 3 M | 4 E | 5 R | 6 C | 7 H | 8 I | 9 J | 10 O | 11 D | 12 I | 13 E |
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14 N | E | A | T | O | 15 R | A | N | 16 E | A | R | L | S |
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17 T | I | R | E | T | 18 R | A | C | K | 19 S | T | E | E | P |
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20 S | A | X | 21 T | A | C | K | Y | 22 T | E | A | ||||
23 O | I | N | K | S | 24 D | E | R | M | 25 A | 26 L |
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27 A | 28 M | 29 O | U | N | T | 30 M | A | R | S | A | L | A |
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31 B | O | U | R | G | 32 Y | 33 E | A | T | S | 34 B | L | U |
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35 A | R | T | S | 36 P | O | L | K | A | 37 H | O | E | D |
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38 T | E | O | 39 O | A | K | I | E | 40 G | O | U | G | E |
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41 E | N | F | 42 O | R | C | E | 43 R | R | A | T | E | D |
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44 D | O | O | D | L | E | 45 S | 46 A | U | E | R | ||||
47 R | O | E | 48 A | N | I | M | E | 49 J | 50 E | 51 W |
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52 A | 53 U | D | R | A | 54 T | E | M | P | T | 55 F | A | T | E |
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56 P | R | E | E | N | 57 T | A | E | 58 E | L | I | T | E |
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59 B | I | R | D | S | 60 A | D | D | 61 D | O | L | E | D |
| Across | Down | |
| 1. Fudd of cartoondom : ELMER 6. Site of the 1968 Democratic convention, informally : CHI 9. Foster of "Taxi Driver" : JODIE 14. "That's cool!" : NEATO 15. Campaigned : RAN 16. Nobles above viscounts : EARLS 17. Imprint on a dirt road : TIRETRACK 19. Nearly vertical, as a cliff : STEEP 20. Instrument for Bill Clinton, informally : SAX 21. Lacking taste : TACKY 22. ___ Party (modern political group) : TEA 23. Pig cries : OINKS 24. Skin-related : DERMAL 27. Quantity : AMOUNT 30. Veal ___ : MARSALA 31. French market town : BOURG 32. Poet William Butler ___ : YEATS 34. ___-ray Disc : BLU 35. National Medal of ___ (honor bestowed by the president) : ARTS 36. Many a Lawrence Welk dance tune : POLKA 37. Cleared, as a garden : HOED 38. N.F.L.'s Manti ___ : TEO 39. Jack who played Napaloni in "The Great Dictator" : OAKIE 40. Way overcharge : GOUGE 41. Compel observance of, as laws : ENFORCE 43. Like "All the President's Men," originally, per the M.P.A.A. : RRATED 44. Idle drawing in a margin : DOODLE 45. Lip-puckering, as kraut : SAUER 47. Sushi eggs : ROE 48. Japanese cartoon art : ANIME 49. Many an Israeli : JEW 52. Six-time Tony winner McDonald : AUDRA 54. Flirt with disaster : TEMPTFATE 56. Primp : PREEN 57. ___ kwon do : TAE 58. 1%-ers : ELITE 59. Eagles and such : BIRDS 60. Subtract's opposite : ADD 61. Apportioned, with "out" : DOLED |
1. Docs with little flashlights : ENTS 2. "Star Wars" princess : LEIA 3. Harpo, Zeppo or Groucho : MARX 4. Summer in Somme : ETE 5. Going bad, as fruit : ROTTING 6. Solve, as a code : CRACK 7. Political ___ (partisan sorts) : HACKS 8. Jet-black : INKY 9. Entertainers for kings : JESTERS 10. Westerns, in old lingo : OATERS 11. Have fantasies of : DREAMABOUT 12. Suffix with percent : ILE 13. Mind-reading skill, for short : ESP 18. Tirade : RANT 23. Opposite of theirs : OURS 24. Polling figures, e.g. : DATA 25. State without proof : ALLEGE 26. Eulogized : LAUDED 27. Quieted down : ABATED 28. Oscar-winning Rita : MORENO 29. Not working : OUTOFORDER 30. Concoct : MAKE 32. Oxen connector : YOKE 33. ___ Lilly & Co. : ELI 36. Tempo : PACE 37. Winter frost : HOAR 39. New ___, site of the 1988 Republican convention : ORLEANS 40. Shook hands with, say : GREETED 42. Scented : ODORED 43. Where a horse's tail is : RUMP 45. Golf's Sam : SNEAD 46. Pointed, as a gun : AIMED 48. Lead-in to boy or girl : ATTA 49. Monopoly space that says "Just Visiting" : JAIL 50. Suffix with disk : ETTE 51. Unwanted garden growth : WEED 52. Urgent police message, for short : APB 53. Pseudopsychic Geller : URI 55. Rapper ___ Rida : FLO |
Answer summary: 1 unique to this puzzle, 1 unique to Shortz Era but used previously.
Found bugs or have suggestions?