Ada Nicolle author page
4 puzzles by Ada Nicolle
with Constructor comments
See the 26 answer words debuted by Ada Nicolle.
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| D | O | Y | O | U | Q | U | A | R | R | E | L | S | I | R |
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| C | A | L | I | S | A | N | S | C | A | P | ||||
| T | O | P | I | C | S | M | I | T | E | |||||
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| S | E | N | S | E | S | U | M | S | E | P | E | E |
I don't know how to structure these notes, so I've written them as a parody of "Tessellate" by Alt-J:
"White blocks in a grid
You're a solver and you're solving
My clues still stump as you read
And all your friends... are solving
Squares are my favorite shape
One point where two words meet
Clue to clue, back to back, let's go
My puz, it's very late
'Til Sunday comes
Investigate"
Check out my Patreon: patreon.com/luckyxwords
| A | S | T | O | N | I | S | H | S | T | U | B | |||
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| S | H | O | R | T | F | A | L | L | E | R | R | O | R | |
| A | W | L | S | I | L | L | Y | S | T | R | I | N | G | |
| Y | A | L | L | N | E | O | P | A | Y | |||||
| I | T | I | S | W | H | A | T | I | T | I | S | |||
| P | R | O | F | I | T | S | I | C | A | I | D | E | ||
| H | O | M | E | G | Y | M | M | E | N | S | R | E | A | |
| E | L | A | L | P | O | P | W | O | K | E | S | T | ||
| W | E | R | E | D | O | N | E | H | E | R | E | |||
| S | O | O | D | A | S | D | O | E | S | |||||
| C | O | N | S | U | L | T | A | N | T | S | H | A | H | |
| A | D | I | O | S | O | L | D | E | L | P | A | S | O | |
| M | I | L | N | E | M | E | T | R | O | A | R | E | A | |
| O | N | E | S | D | O | N | T | T | E | L | L |
Hi! My name's Ada Nicolle (she/her). I consider this a very special puzzle to me, because it's both my first solo themeless in the Times (my favourite type of puzzle to construct) and my first NYT puzzle published after coming out as trans last year. I'm published under my real name, finally. (Any old name you knew me by is dead and I'd appreciate if it was never used again.)
Now, I'm going to be a cornball just thank a bunch of people:
Thank you to the New York Times Games team for updating my previous NYT puzzle bylines with my correct name.
Thank you to everybody who supports my crossword Patreon Luckystreak Xwords+, where I post a fresh new themeless + a bonus puzzle weekly. It helps me afford many costs of living and being trans, and it's where I get to be me the most.
And finally, thank you to my friends and family who have supported me through my transition, as well as the incredible crossword community by my side. In a world where trans people are regularly vilified and mocked, y'all give me hope for a better future. I'd like to give a specific shout-out to Jenna LaFleur and Anna Gundlach, two amazing crossword constructors who have helped me so much in being comfortable with my transfem identity <3.
That being said, please donate to your local LGBTQ+ organizations and transition funds. Legislation in the U.S. is constantly threatening people like me and the people I love, and criminalizing our existence as a whole. It's hell out here, but it's a battle we have to keep fighting.
Now onto this puzzle:
- INFINITY POOL was the seed entry here.
- So glad my clues for NEO and ADIOS were kept!
- Love the new clues for PAY and PELOTON.
- OLD EL PASO, DM me on Twitter @adanicklmao, I would love free stuff. (Or, on the contrary: other brands who want to prove they are better than Old El Paso, DM me on Twitter @adanicklmao, I would love free stuff.)
Seeya!!!
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| I | S | L | E | O | F | S | K | Y | E | A | E | R | O | |
| G | O | O | G | L | E | T | R | A | N | S | L | A | T | E |
| S | S | N | M | E | A | N | E | L | L | Y | ||||
| G | N | O | M | E | F | U | E | L | ||||||
| A | C | T | I | V | E | L | I | F | E | S | T | Y | L | E |
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| H | O | M | E | A | R | A | B | S | G | O | T | H | ||
| E | K | E | P | L | U | T | O | C | A | M | E | O | ||
| S | E | C | R | E | T | M | E | N | U | I | T | E | M | S |
| O | H | N | O | A | S | S | E | T | ||||||
| A | M | E | N | S | E | C | T | H | A | I | ||||
| N | O | I | S | E | C | A | N | C | E | L | L | I | N | G |
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| L | E | G | S | S | L | Y | A | N | G | E | R |
ADA: I am so excited to be sharing a New York Times byline with THE Brooke Husic. She is one of my favourite themeless constructors in the game right now, she's co-hosting Lollapuzzoola 14, and she's a huge inspiration to me and to many other puzzlers. I'm so honoured for her to be my first NYT collab! The fifteen interlock was her idea, and being able to be a part of her construction process was super fun.
Also: If you liked this puzzle, I also run a themeless subscription service called luckystreak xwords+! I have an exclusive deal for NYT solvers (plus a free themeless!) so check it out! It means the world to me being able to consistently do something I love, and any support is much appreciated. Thank you!!
BROOKE: Ada consistently blows my mind with grid geometries and cluing angles, so when I asked her to collaborate it was 100% because I wanted to do something epic geometrically together (and also 100% because Ada is an awesome human — we made this puzzle over zoom on opposite sides of the Atlantic and it was extremely fun). All this is to say: if the last Ada Nicolle puzzle you solved was her NYT debut then you have been *missing* *out*. Luckily you can atone by checking out her blog and all-bangers-no-skips subscription service.
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| T | E | A | M | U | S | A | S | Y | N | E | ||||
| Y | O | U | L | L | R | A | T | E | D | G | ||||
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| E | L | S | E | S | U | V | S | A | P | E | ||||
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| S | T | E | N | O | S | E | R | A | S | L | A | W |
I'm excited to be making my NYT debut! I am 17 years old, and since the age of 12, it has been a dream of mine to get a crossword published in the NYT. Aside from constructing crosswords, I also perform stand-up comedy and write music. They're all my favourite ways to appreciate words, pretty much.
I wrote this puzzle back in January. The seed for this theme was LAN[D ROVE]R, but the entry that made this puzzle possible was PENNY D[READ]FULS. I'm glad it got accepted!
My favourite clues from Will and Joel are [Something most people lie about?] and [Apple's first location?].
My favourite clue that I wrote is [Headrest for a couch napper, say].
Big thanks to Peter Broda for his amazing word list, as well as to Erik Agard for his feedback on my theme answers. Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to the online crosswording community for being a group of such talented and nice people.
I would also like to use this opportunity to plug my crossword blog lucky streak xwords where I post mainly themeless puzzles. My personal favourite so far is themeless seven so if you want a feel for what my puzzles are like I recommend you start there. Thank you!