Alex Eaton-Salners author page

Wed 8/30/2023

U

P

O

N

L

O

N

G

T

H

E

R

E

S

O

L

E

O

B

O

E

H

O

N

E

D

C

L

A

R

I

N

E

T

S

A

D

D

E

D

L

Y

F

T

Y

E

T

T

G

I

F

B

O

R

E

D

E

D

E

N

T

U

B

A

I

D

L

E

D

S

T

O

W

S

M

I

L

E

D

Y

O

G

A

E

R

A

A

I

R

L

E

A

K

S

I

G

N

A

L

S

R

A

D

E

B

A

Y

N

E

U

R

O

N

S

K

I

P

L

Y

I

N

G

I

S

N

T

N

O

S

E

D

O

S

E

S

C

H

I

P

A

D

O

M

A

L

I

G

H

A

N

A

R

I

G

H

T

N

E

S

S

M

O

N

T

Y

A

S

I

A

C

O

L

E

S

O

D

A

S

T

H

E

Y

E

V

E

R

Day three of "Gotta JET" (Jeff's expressions of thanks)! You would think that with the link salad on our front page, we would have a page dedicated to unique crosswords that fit no molds. However, there's no possible way that Jim Horne and I could have collected them all, given the sheer level of innovation in the crossworld. I appreciate that there are so many creative people out there.

One might think that after 15 years of solving crosswords and 10 of analyzing them, I would have seen everything. Alex Eaton-Salners proves that wrong yet again. There are some brilliant minds in the crossworld, generating some of the most innovative concepts, and AES is among the best.

I wasn't in love with the story — it's unlikely to win any short fiction prizes — but to weave 40 consecutive Across entries into a remotely cohesive tale is a win. Bonus points for connecting so many related entries, like OBOE / CLARINETS / TUBA, BORED / IDLED, and MALI / GHANA.

Most importantly, I'm thankful to AES for laying the perfect groundwork today to express my appreciation for novelty and innovation. Over the years, I've loved sharing my joy around some of the most novel and ground-breaking works, in any form of art, period.

POW Tue 6/21/2022

G

O

B

I

F

B

I

L

A

B

G

P

S

E

N

O

S

O

L

D

E

L

I

L

A

T

N

O

W

W

E

R

E

E

V

E

N

U

S

E

L

E

N

W

A

I

T

F

E

T

A

A

H

E

A

D

A

M

S

T

E

R

D

A

M

G

A

R

R

S

K

A

E

A

U

A

S

H

R

H

I

N

O

Z

I

P

I

T

S

T

A

T

U

E

S

D

A

Y

T

O

N

A

P

E

T

R

I

S

W

O

L

E

K

F

C

A

N

A

E

R

A

G

E

E

K

S

N

O

W

G

L

O

B

E

T

A

R

R

Y

E

A

R

L

L

I

S

A

O

U

R

W

I

G

S

P

L

I

T

S

E

C

O

N

D

E

V

A

G

R

E

T

E

L

H

O

U

R

R

E

N

T

O

R

E

R

O

E

M

T

S

★ I'll never split hairs when a puzzle outduels me in a fair manner. Appropriate that I finished SECOND today; the clever wordplay making me more than happy to lose at "Name That Theme."

Most editors don't take "split word" puzzles if the target word is repeated. Once you uncover the second instance, you can confidently write in the rest of them, and the puzzle is over. No fun! It's even getting difficult to garner an acceptance for a "split words" where the words are different. If the solver can see what's coming too early, it spoils the fun.

The harder Matt Gaffney Weekly Crossword Contest puzzles are often my favorite solves of the month, and one from a few years back was no exception. I wrung my squares in so many different ways for two solid days before finally landing on the connection between BLUE, ARIZONA, YEMEN, OCTOBER, CLINTON, X: they're all antepenultimates in a well-known(ish) series.

That level of off-the-charts difficulty wouldn't fly for an NYT Tuesday, so I appreciated Alex's easier approach, which still captured some of the fun. Incorporating the SECONDs in SPLIT fashion made for a great additional layer, making the concept stand out even further.

I hesitated on TUESDAY, wondering if most calendars go from Sunday to Saturday, or if Monday to Sunday was more "standard." Given that there's a lot of debate on this, a different series might have made for a better choice. Not sure I'd have figured out that TAURUS was second in the Zodiac, but if I have a third child (thank goodness for the world, I won't), I'd name him/her BRU ARYA Chen to throw Alex a bone.

A great aspect of "split words" themes is that they give you so much flexibility to incorporate great bonuses, and Alex took full advantage. The pattern ???AD is so flexible that it's a constructor's responsibility to weave great material around it. BOWLER HAT and I SWEAR? Hell yeah, I swear! Weaving BLEW A KISS and WEBSITE / ODOR EATER through pairs of themers is even better.

Such a fun solve. I knew this was POW!-worthy not even a SPLIT SECOND after the revealer.

Sun 10/31/2021 CHOICE WORDS

P

A

T

R

A

S

C

A

L

S

P

E

N

S

E

P

E

C

O

E

M

M

Y

L

O

U

W

A

G

E

A

P

E

T

H

E

W

H

E

A

L

B

U

M

H

I

T

O

R

M

I

S

S

F

E

T

A

S

R

O

D

E

P

O

R

T

D

I

D

I

T

O

D

O

R

S

T

N

T

R

E

M

E

E

T

A

B

L

E

O

F

T

A

S

I

S

A

Y

P

E

T

R

I

M

O

O

R

D

O

O

R

D

I

E

L

I

V

E

R

A

N

D

N

I

O

N

S

R

E

A

D

S

M

U

N

I

P

S

S

T

M

E

T

R

E

S

L

O

L

T

H

R

I

L

L

I

M

P

O

S

E

O

N

B

E

H

E

A

D

O

D

E

A

M

O

U

N

T

R

U

S

H

M

M

O

R

E

O

R

L

E

S

S

P

O

P

E

E

A

S

E

L

S

S

U

R

E

L

E

T

S

S

T

A

S

I

S

N

S

A

N

O

S

I

D

E

S

H

A

H

T

H

O

N

A

D

D

T

O

M

A

R

C

H

I

G

O

R

D

E

R

S

I

N

O

R

O

U

T

A

V

E

R

A

R

T

I

E

H

E

P

C

A

T

U

T

E

D

A

Z

E

T

O

N

N

E

S

S

H

E

S

A

C

H

S

E

R

O

D

E

N

E

S

T

E

A

A

B

C

S

H

O

T

W

I

N

O

R

L

O

S

E

W

H

I

R

L

W

D

T

O

U

R

A

C

E

A

I

M

S

U

S

R

O

U

T

E

F

S

U

Y

E

S

S

P

Y

P

O

S

S

E

S

S

F

E

N

Literally, CHOICE WORDS squeezed into a single square. We've written them below in teeny-tiny letters — hopefully, paper solvers used extremely sharp pencils today!

Great selection of common X OR Y phrases. Even better, fantastic idea to include those phrases within the grid — in the same row as the matching entry!

I'll admit, I was annoyed at having to squish HIT/MISS into the first special square, but uncovering HIT OR MISS next to it made it much more HIT than MISS. It's a feat of construction to get matching pairs of length, but it's so much more than a constructor's flourish. Without this added layer, the puzzle wouldn't have been nearly as much fun to solve.

The layout challenges did come with a few trade-offs. Because many of the themers are short, having to stick to the 140-word maximum meant that Alex had to make his fill slots longer than usual. For example, check out the big swaths of real estate between MARCHING ORDERS and WIN OR LOSE, chock full of 6-8 letter entries. That's a themeless-esque filling challenge.

Given this constraint, Alex did well, even a bit better than a typical Sunday puzzle. DES, FSU, IDEE, SEP, etc., are common enough. AST (Atlantic Standard Time) and the racially charged AH SO are harder to swallow. METRES and TONNES are passable by themselves, but using too much of one type of crossword glue reinforces the feeling of inelegance.

The juxtaposition of the X OR Y phrase next to its matching themer made this a strong concept, enjoyable to solve. It's a shame that there are so many letters to write into such a tiny box, though — I'm curious to see if there's an online solution that would make this aspect of it less frustrating.

Wed 9/29/2021

A

M

U

S

E

S

T

A

B

A

S

S

R

E

S

I

G

N

P

A

P

A

S

H

H

E

N

E

R

G

Y

O

P

U

S

M

A

R

S

R

I

T

E

R

I

H

E

A

V

E

O

W

N

C

O

V

E

R

T

M

R

E

D

R

E

A

L

A

L

E

O

C

E

A

N

S

G

A

M

E

R

N

U

D

G

E

R

R

E

V

O

L

U

T

I

O

N

A

R

Y

E

L

O

P

E

S

S

L

O

O

P

L

E

S

L

E

A

U

S

E

D

C

D

S

A

X

L

E

F

E

A

S

T

S

K

E

Y

T

H

E

R

E

A

L

E

E

D

H

L

H

U

E

M

A

G

I

P

H

I

A

L

S

E

M

T

I

S

L

E

S

E

C

R

E

T

R

E

Y

T

H

E

N

R

E

D

D

Y

Cool finds with RESIGN flipping to REIGN, and HEAVE to HAVE. I hadn't run across those before, and the first one is impressively specific (to kings and queens). A dropped letter in the middle of these words makes these discoveries much more novel and interesting.

FEASTS is fun, too, although I've seen enough Kangaroo Word puzzles that I've run across the FEASTS / FASTS pairing several times, including in one of Alex's other puzzles this year.

The others weren't as impressive. Most crossword constructors have churned through the opposites COVERT / OVERT and THERE / HERE, even REVOLUTION / EVOLUTION. The disappearance of the first letter makes them easy to notice and file away.

Fun that the circled letters spelled out a word. I'm not sure that SECRET is perfectly apt, though. Why would SECRET letters flip their entries' meanings? I might have had a stronger a-ha moment if the circles had spelled out REVERSE or SWITCH or FLIP.

POW Mon 8/9/2021

O

R

S

N

O

H

O

W

C

O

R

A

L

H

E

H

E

T

U

D

E

O

P

E

R

A

O

V

E

R

C

O

M

E

S

U

T

T

E

R

H

E

L

I

C

E

S

T

E

C

I

N

K

I

F

S

O

H

I

G

H

S

E

A

S

E

L

L

E

I

R

O

N

A

G

E

E

L

I

C

N

E

T

L

A

S

E

S

L

E

F

T

O

F

F

R

I

G

H

T

O

N

S

E

E

M

E

L

O

T

S

S

U

E

A

B

R

E

E

Z

E

P

Y

R

E

L

O

W

L

A

N

D

S

D

I

S

C

A

C

E

T

O

M

E

L

A

N

T

R

A

S

E

L

M

A

U

N

D

E

R

G

O

E

S

S

A

L

O

N

N

O

I

S

E

R

A

T

O

N

S

E

T

D

R

E

S

S

E

M

O

★ Fascinating set of finds: two-word base phrases where if you substitute in their individual word opposites, you get another valid two-word phrase — one that isn't the opposite of the base phrase!

I reworded that explanation ten times already; I'm sure there's a more efficient way of explaining it. Best is to give an example. LEFT OFF vs. RIGHT ON — left/right and off/on are opposites. However, not only are these two phrases not opposites, but one's an add-a-preposition workhorse while the other's a fun exclamation. Couldn't be more different!

(Alex's other examples he couldn't include: COLD FEET / HOT HEADS, CATWALK / DOG RUN, STANDOUT / SIT IN. So hard to discover since it's not trivial to search for these programmatically — and such fun finds!)

Solid gridwork, too. Six shortish themers give a constructor the opportunity to add in a ton of colorful bonuses, and Alex confronted the problem head-on: SHELF LIFE, ETSY STORE, IRON AGE, SOUR CREAM, REVEILLES, and some fun mid-lengthers in EGALITE, HELICES, INFERNO.

I added COUCH GAGS to the XWI Word List years ago, back when I was a huge fan of "The Simpsons." The fact that they came up with something new for every episode, even after hundreds of episodes, was incredible. I don't love the entry as much anymore because it's been years since I've watched, but even if you're a Simpsons-hater, at least it's two words that you can recognize, making it possible to successfully finish the Monday puzzle.

I'd have liked the themers to be the longest Across entries in the puzzle since IRON AGE overshadowed LEFT OFF as a much more vivid phrase. Achieving that by shifting a few black squares around, and this could have been a perfect grid. (Although not for a Monday since some of the vocab like EGALITE is tough ….)

It's rare that I get the opportunity to laud a theme that feels this fresh, that adds a new modality into the crossword pantheon. It's common that Alex's name is on the byline when that happens. Extremely well done!

Thu 3/25/2021

P

E

C

S

Y

A

L

U

G

S

P

O

T

A

C

A

I

A

T

O

P

O

N

I

C

E

W

O

N

D

E

R

F

U

L

N

O

L

T

E

D

C

O

N

I

S

U

R

E

A

M

A

R

Y

A

N

E

F

F

E

C

T

I

V

E

R

O

B

E

K

E

I

T

E

L

N

E

D

F

E

A

S

T

I

N

G

P

E

P

G

R

A

I

N

Y

C

O

A

R

S

E

R

E

D

P

R

U

R

I

E

N

T

T

I

L

D

E

F

E

A

T

S

T

I

R

A

N

I

M

O

S

I

T

Y

T

O

A

D

Y

T

A

L

E

N

T

S

T

A

N

G

A

B

A

T

E

C

O

U

R

T

E

O

U

S

M

I

C

R

O

A

L

P

O

R

A

S

P

I

T

S

O

N

L

E

S

T

S

L

A

Y

The English language is chock full of interesting oddities. I came across "kangaroo words" a while back; fascinating. Then Will Nediger one-upped that concept in an MGWCC guest puzzle; blew me away with his sheer genius! What's next?

There are well-documented variants of kangaroo words; several lists have been compiled. Most of the words aren't that interesting because they're short, easy to discover, or the antonyms aren't exact. I like the ones Alex picked, solid examples. ANIMOSITY to AMITY is my favorite because the letters in AMITY are spread throughout, much harder to discover than FEASTING to FASTING.

Intricate gridwork, rarely easy to execute on six themers. One might think that spacing them out, every other row, is optimal, but it can be extremely tricky. Stacking pairs can be easier, but there's something more visually pleasing about this every-other-row presentation.

Alex did amazing work in the middle of the puzzle, where problems usually arise. Not a drop of glue in sight. Having the flexibility to swap ANIMOSITY, COURTEOUS, EFFECTIVE, and WONDERFUL — as well as FEASTING and PRURIENT — gave him great latitude to try out different arrangements.

I wondered if EFFECTIVE would have been more effective where ANIMOSITY sits since the double-F can be easier to grid around when isolated. Here, it seems to have forced UPLIFT and thus YALU. It's not the worst offender, but the category of "constructor-friendly foreign rivers" gets a lot of eye-rolling from solvers.

As a musician, I loved the OCTAVE clue. It took me a few re-readings to understand what it was getting at, but singing "Some … where, over the rainbow" gave me a great a-ha, noting that both "some" and "where" are the same notes, one OCTAVE apart.

Great clue for GRAINY, too, referring to pics of the Yeti. Those touches go a long way toward making a solve playful and entertaining.

Thu 2/11/2021

O

T

T

O

G

I

N

S

I

L

L

S

C

R

A

N

A

C

O

R

N

N

O

L

A

C

O

M

E

D

I

E

D

I

E

F

F

E

C

T

A

P

P

A

R

A

T

S

V

I

E

W

S

M

E

A

R

A

O

B

I

E

S

T

W

E

L

F

E

L

F

T

E

P

S

O

N

T

H

E

L

E

F

T

S

L

O

E

M

O

E

R

I

M

C

D

C

M

O

M

A

R

A

B

M

A

H

A

R

I

S

H

I

N

A

M

A

N

M

A

N

A

M

E

S

B

O

A

S

T

D

I

N

A

R

G

A

Y

L

Y

I

R

R

I

T

A

T

E

C

O

F

F

O

O

T

F

O

O

T

A

B

L

E

A

R

E

A

R

O

O

M

S

R

O

A

D

N

E

W

T

E

G

O

S

T

O

S

S

Oh, I get it! COMEDIE DIE EFFECT is when Bill Burr goes onstage.

So much for comedic effect.

I liked the play on "hidden plural expressed as two consecutive singulars." I feel like I've seen this several times before, but after ten minutes of searching, I couldn't pull one out of my cheek cheek. (I did find one that used a repeated instance, and a similar notion that blew me away; Paolo so creative!)

I found it curiously hard to enter the themers. Even though I knew TWELFELFTEPS had to be "twelve steps," it's so difficult to visualize the hidden ELVES without it written somewhere. NAMANMANAMES was even worse, what with yet more repetition in "name names." The result is so dastardly nonsensical, like something out of the Muppets.

As always, solid gridwork from Alex. Neat to get a MAHARISHI, APPARATS, some BABY FAT, you BETCHA. These aren't entries you see every day, and I appreciate that.

I didn't have that much fun overall since it was hard to imagine where the hidden plural should fit, but I admire the creativity. Great clue for ACORN, too — "in a nutshell," indeed. Now that's comedic effect!

Wed 12/16/2020

T

O

P

S

S

K

O

S

H

P

O

S

H

R

H

E

A

T

E

P

E

E

A

B

L

E

A

I

R

C

R

A

F

T

C

A

R

R

I

E

R

C

O

S

A

M

I

P

E

E

W

E

E

H

A

I

R

S

P

R

A

Y

S

N

A

P

S

E

R

S

E

S

C

A

L

E

N

Y

Y

A

T

T

A

C

H

T

W

I

R

L

S

C

R

E

E

N

S

A

V

E

R

H

A

I

T

I

R

E

V

O

L

T

A

K

C

C

R

O

C

S

A

S

E

A

M

E

R

C

K

N

E

A

T

F

R

E

A

K

I

N

A

R

E

A

I

I

I

A

D

E

G

O

V

E

R

N

M

E

N

T

B

O

N

D

S

A

B

E

T

T

O

O

T

H

I

N

O

T

S

I

N

E

S

E

N

S

E

L

E

G

O

Third day in a row we've had a debut! It's always fun to see a family collaboration.

As a finance guy, I can talk for hours about GOVERNMENT BONDS. As a crossword person, don't get me started on T NOTES and T BILLS, or I'll never stop! How do GOVERNMENT BONDS relate to this theme, though ...

A-ha! I like it when a revealer doesn't totally make sense on its own, but its clue finishes the job. Each of the phrase components is "joined" by a government agency, i.e., AIRCRAFT and CARRIER are "bonded" by FTC (Federal Trade Commission). That's a clever way to elevate what might normally be dismissed as an ordinary "hidden words" theme.

Also clever: Ed and Alex's use of low-word count gridsmanship. Many constructors shoot for this tough territory, thinking that if they push their envelopes and strive for a 72-word themed puzzle, they'll deliver solvers an extra-colorful experience without too many compromises. The results rarely reflect that, but today, Ed and Alex achieved liftoff.

Take the NW corner, for instance. Typical layouts would break 1- and/or 2-Down in half, making the region much easier to fill. Solid results, with TRACHEA and PERSISTS as bonuses not seen in crosswords nearly as much as the usual 3-5 letter stuff.

I also liked how Ed and Alex kept the middle fairly open. Many constructors would put a black square at the E of SCALE, restricting the middle, making their job a snap. Given Alex's impressive gridding skills, it's not a surprise that the difficult center is so smooth. Nothing snazzy, but everything so rock-solid: RESERVE, REVOLT, CRACKER, SAINTS.

Will Shortz is taking fewer "hidden word" themes these days, but today's puzzle demonstrates that there's absolutely still room for ones that elevate through a clever extra element.

POW Sun 11/22/2020 IT ALL ADDS UP

M

E

N

U

R

A

G

U

C

A

P

O

I

C

I

C

L

E

U

N

I

T

A

T

O

P

O

A

R

S

N

O

O

N

A

N

S

O

N

E

O

P

O

O

L

T

H

E

L

A

S

O

N

E

R

D

E

K

E

R

A

N

D

O

M

S

M

I

L

E

E

T

A

I

D

B

E

T

G

A

T

S

A

N

A

C

I

N

E

L

S

H

A

D

A

K

I

D

S

U

N

T

R

A

P

B

A

D

E

A

I

M

R

I

S

E

S

R

E

H

I

R

E

A

L

B

A

S

T

E

F

A

N

I

T

H

E

R

U

L

E

S

H

E

A

R

T

H

S

T

R

O

T

T

E

D

T

R

E

N

T

T

E

R

S

E

R

E

R

A

T

O

P

T

S

T

S

A

D

A

Y

S

O

T

W

O

L

I

V

E

S

C

A

M

M

O

T

O

O

V

E

N

P

E

O

P

L

E

L

O

G

A

N

R

E

P

U

T

E

D

A

T

E

C

R

O

W

I

L

I

K

E

I

K

E

R

E

R

O

U

T

E

C

E

D

E

S

O

L

E

M

N

M

O

D

E

L

N

I

T

U

S

E

S

P

R

E

S

E

T

S

O

U

T

O

F

I

T

G

P

S

W

A

H

W

A

H

H

O

O

T

B

U

Y

E

R

O

A

F

E

A

R

L

S

K

R

A

K

E

N

V

A

C

F

R

F

O

U

R

T

R

A

I

N

B

R

E

A

K

Z

E

R

O

U

S

A

U

S

A

O

L

G

A

E

D

E

N

A

N

E

W

M

O

R

R

O

W

W

A

N

T

S

S

N

S

C

T

R

L

★ Last week, I mentioned that I'd love to see Will Shortz hire a Sunday squad tasked with invigorating the flagging NYT Sunday crossword. Alex Eaton-Salners is one of the first people I'd tap. He has such a wide range of creative ideas, and today's worked so well.

I didn't have the greatest first impression since the concept fell quickly from the title and the first instance. S(TEN)O POOL isn't the most exciting answer, either. However, stepping back, I admired the creative way Alex played on sums.

Ah — then I noticed that the crossing numbers look like plus signs! What a great extra element. Granted, you can't have two words cross without having them look at least a little like a plus sign, but that's okay. Alex still gets credit.

The themers kept getting stronger and stronger, DAYS O(F OUR) LIVES and I(T WO)N'T HURT fantastic. SKIN O(F OUR) TEETH and MAKES W(EIGHT)? My momentum built like a runaway FREIGHT TRAIN.

I enjoyed the theme concept well enough but felt it might be too simple. Then, the coup de grace. I knew BREAK(S EVEN) had to include SEVEN. Based on the number of circles, it had to be FOUR plus THREE. Drop the mic; I'm done!

Wait. GPT isn't "something helpful in a dash." Is it? Maybe it is. Kids these days have all kinds of tech devices. No … it has to be GPS, as in a unit helpful in a dashboard. But then—

SEVEN plus ZERO. Dang, that's a clever trick! It made me wish Alex had tossed in a NEGATIVE ONE plus ONE to make ZERO, but good luck finding a phrase containing NEGATIVE ONE.

All this, while obeying crossword symmetry? Gridding around five crossing themers, AND weaving in GOOD GAME, I LIKE IKE, IN THE RAW, MT ARARAT, THE RULES? Yeah, there were a couple of entries some could classify as weird — BAHT, ALEE, BLEARS — but that's way better than an average Sunday. Considering how much tougher this theme is to pull off than usual ones, this is exemplary gridwork.

#SundaySquad. Will, please make Alex an offer!

Sun 9/27/2020 PLAYING WITH FOOD

A

J

A

R

P

C

P

I

S

P

O

S

E

D

R

A

P

E

G

O

D

O

F

W

A

R

T

H

E

N

H

L

R

E

N

A

L

O

H

I

D

U

N

N

O

B

A

N

K

O

F

G

U

Y

A

N

A

U

N

D

I

D

T

H

A

W

P

R

I

A

M

K

I

P

T

O

A

N

D

D

I

E

I

N

L

A

E

N

G

R

A

I

N

S

I

R

S

L

A

G

G

E

D

W

A

S

R

O

N

N

I

E

S

E

R

G

E

S

T

A

X

H

U

L

A

S

P

I

N

E

Y

E

B

A

S

E

B

A

L

L

C

A

R

D

O

R

G

I

E

S

B

A

T

H

E

V

E

I

N

R

E

F

O

O

T

P

A

T

R

O

L

S

A

L

E

A

N

N

A

L

A

T

T

P

Y

R

I

T

E

G

O

L

I

M

P

A

T

E

R

E

Y

E

S

I

N

S

B

A

N

A

N

A

S

P

L

I

T

A

S

O

F

L

A

S

M

E

M

E

S

E

R

E

N

E

S

T

U

F

F

E

D

O

L

I

V

E

L

I

T

E

E

G

S

E

R

A

S

A

M

Y

R

E

D

O

E

S

S

P

A

C

E

R

O

P

I

C

I

A

L

I

S

I

D

O

L

I

S

T

E

N

U

P

C

H

O

P

P

E

D

S

A

L

A

D

A

R

K

Z

E

P

P

O

O

L

A

Y

A

M

O

R

E

M

A

S

H

E

D

P

O

T

A

T

O

E

A

S

Y

W

I

N

S

O

T

T

E

R

E

S

T

H

E

R

A

R

T

S

A

L

E

S

N

E

O

N

S

R

E

O

I

L

S

R

E

P

Y

O

D

A

PLAYING WITH FOOD, this is a puzzle for my kids! Tess likes to powder her nose with marshmallows, while Jake smears things everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. It's better if you don't ask for details.

Four plays on PLAYING WITH FOOD today, like letters demonstrating a literal BANANA SPLIT = BAN / ANA bookending a phrase. Although I'd seen all of them before in various incarnations, STUFFED OLIVE was neat. There's something about the circle looking like an olive that pleased me. I wish all of them had such a delightful visual effect.

I bet the overall punch of the puzzle would have been stronger if Alex hadn't used pairs of themers; instead, using the referenced food inside the clue, i.e. BANK OF GUYANA = [Financial institution investing in banana splits?] I know, it doesn't quite make sense, but I bet there's some fun way to tie them together.

Cutting the themers from pairs to singles would free up valuable real estate to introduce a greater variety of foodplay. Maybe a SPARE RIB (extra R I B inside an entry), SLICED HAM (letters H A M slashed out), UPSIDE DOWN CAKE (entry containing E K A C), etc.? Having seven wildly different literal takes on food would have been more fun.

It would also have freed up room for more interesting fill. I did like DRUM ROLL, EASY WINS, GOD OF WAR, but I wanted so much more. Plus, the collection of oddballs like FUDDLE, RINSO, ENGRAINS detracted from the solving experience.

I appreciate that Alex chose a narrow field for his wordplay examples — it's much better to limit it to food, rather than have any kind of SPLIT, any kind of STUFFED ___, etc. I'd have loved a richer, meatier solving experience, though.

Fri 8/21/2020

C

A

R

R

S

A

I

N

T

B

A

S

H

A

S

I

A

E

R

D

O

S

A

U

T

O

B

A

S

I

L

S

C

A

T

H

E

D

R

A

L

O

N

E

N

O

T

E

P

I

L

L

A

G

E

T

A

N

G

O

E

D

C

R

E

A

S

E

S

O

P

T

T

N

N

R

E

D

D

Y

J

O

B

A

D

D

T

O

E

X

E

S

S

E

A

R

S

S

E

A

N

D

H

S

G

O

T

R

E

A

L

A

Q

I

S

A

D

P

U

L

S

A

T

E

D

U

O

Q

U

E

P

A

S

A

K

I

T

C

H

E

N

U

S

M

A

A

G

R

E

E

L

O

R

D

A

T

O

N

E

G

O

V

M

A

R

I

O

R

E

N

A

L

E

V

E

A

S

S

A

M

E

D

A

M

S

D

E

N

T

H

E

S

E

I loved Alex's PANDA grid art, and today's imagery is strong as well. I wasn't familiar with SAINT / BASILS CATHEDRAL, or what shape I should be expecting, but compare the grid below with the pic to the right. A great facsimile; not an easy task when you're working with big pixels.

It's a fantastic construction, too. It's tough to stay at 72 words (qualifying for a themeless), while working with 5 + 15 + 9 + 9 = 38 theme squares. Plus, a grid visual! Alex still managed to treat us to DESDEMONA, TAQUERIAS, QUE PASA, BREAK EVEN, GOT REAL.

Plus, JETLAGGED has such a great clue. I hated it at first, feeling like the only point to use high-falutin' medical jargon is to make laypeople feel dumb. But wait! Once I read the word desynchronosis … de-synch-ronosis … of course, it has to be JET LAGGED!

KITCHEN isn't an exciting entry in itself, but oh, that delicious clue: [Island locale]. So innocent! I was fooled, and my family eats around our KITCHEN island every meal.

So why didn't I enjoy it as much as I should have? Because on Friday, I want a themeless. I like a smart, subtle mini-theme, but today's had to be overt. When you have to Wikipedia-style clue so many entries to make solvers understand they're thematic — SAINT, BASILS CATHEDRAL, RED SQUARE, ONION DOME — you're giving up so much clever cluing potential.

Beautiful artwork. If it had been run on a Wednesday, with a less ambitious grid, and maybe one more themer — it's supposed to look like a BONFIRE rising to the sky, for example — it would have gotten POW! consideration.

Mon 7/20/2020

N

A

S

H

A

S

I

A

H

A

H

A

S

A

M

I

E

V

A

N

S

E

N

A

C

T

R

I

G

H

T

O

N

T

H

E

M

O

N

E

Y

W

A

N

U

N

D

R

E

S

S

D

H

L

H

B

O

M

B

U

S

C

E

V

I

E

A

L

F

A

G

O

T

D

R

A

G

S

L

E

F

T

I

N

T

H

E

L

U

R

C

H

O

A

T

T

E

N

F

R

O

N

T

O

F

T

H

E

L

I

N

E

J

E

E

P

S

L

E

I

I

C

O

N

A

R

F

S

I

O

U

E

L

E

C

T

B

R

O

I

W

A

S

H

A

D

C

A

R

B

A

C

K

T

O

T

H

E

F

U

T

U

R

E

E

R

U

P

T

H

O

R

A

A

B

B

A

D

I

S

H

Y

S

T

A

R

B

E

S

T

Great example of consistency, all four phrases in the form of (direction) + (two-letter preposition) + THE + (word). Nice touch that Alex didn't repeat a two-letter preposition, ON IN OF TO all having their places.

Places … it would have been a great touch to orient all the themers vertically, with FRONT and LEFT on the left half, RIGHT and BACK on the right. This would have given this puzzle so much more raison d'être. Consistency is a fantastic thing, but not if it's only for its own sake. It felt so odd to get RIGHT on the left-hand—

What? I'm the one that's odd, not the puzzle? Hmm. Yes, the odds of that are right on the money.

I loved the way the puzzle started, that line from Ogden NASH hilarious. Rhyming rhinoceros with "prepoceros" … I'd listen to way more rap if lyrics were as clever as this.

Not as hot on AMIABLE crossing AMIE, entries sharing etymology. There's no hard and fast rule against this, but it doesn't seem that different from using, say, H BOMB and A BOMB or SAND and SANDY in the same puzzle.

I love bonuses like NARWHAL, FERRARI, IN TRUTH, FLU SHOT, HAND VAC, ICE CUBE, ACE HIGH, although I'd sacrifice a couple to eliminate the newb-unfriendly entries ETTE and LEHI. These aren't terrible, but seeing [Esoteric Biblical region …] can give a newb a reason to put down the puzzle.

A shame that the directions weren't placed in their respective directions. That could have made for a TOP OF THE LINE theme. Overall, though, a fine Monday offering with an impressive number of colorful bonuses.

Tue 6/16/2020

T

E

S

L

A

G

P

S

R

O

N

C

O

O

R

K

I

N

O

R

E

O

N

I

O

N

B

R

I

N

G

I

T

O

N

S

E

I

N

E

Y

S

L

R

A

N

H

I

G

H

C

S

I

G

U

A

N

O

D

O

N

A

H

I

G

O

F

O

R

F

U

R

L

M

U

S

E

A

L

T

O

I

D

N

A

D

E

R

D

E

S

S

E

R

T

B

E

D

H

E

A

D

E

L

E

G

Y

M

I

Y

A

G

I

A

P

P

S

D

E

E

D

C

D

R

O

M

B

A

H

F

A

L

S

E

S

T

E

P

S

M

I

L

E

Y

O

F

T

I

M

P

E

E

L

E

D

G

R

A

Y

A

R

E

A

S

I

L

L

G

O

I

N

N

R

O

C

K

S

L

A

Y

O

N

N

O

G

T

W

E

E

T

Day 2 of the CUJO (Cracking Up Jim Horne with Overthinking) show!

Jeff: So …

Jim: Oh, this is going to be good. (rubs hands together)

Jeff: Did you find it odd that the (square) INCH is the same size as the (square) MILE?

Jim: Bwa ha ha!

Jeff: What? Is it because you grew up in Canada? Would this have been more accurate using that bizarre metric thingy?

Jim: (choking on his peals of laughter)

Overthinking aside, I enjoyed the stepwise progression, INCH to FOOT to YARD to MILE — each of the measures exactly four letters, perfect for crossword squaring. I thumb my nose at metric system snobs. See how beautiful our totally not wonky units are?

Also elegant: Alex's gridwork. It's notoriously difficult to build around square themers, since they affect four crossing answers and so much of the surrounding region. Aside from the tough NIIHAU and ABSEIL, the grid is amazingly smooth, with dashes of IGUANODON, BEDHEAD, FALSE STEP, HOLD EM, to boot. I like how Alex always says BRING IT ON to challenges.

The theme wasn't an instant light bulb flick, rather a slow illumination of candles: units of measure … going from small to big … in squares … meaning "square" measurements … that's how you measure area … those areas are gray … thus GRAY AREAS. Not as sharp an a-ha as I like, but an interesting set of connections.

In some weeks, I would have given it POW! consideration, because of the superb execution. Yesterday's puzzle was more playfully entertaining, though.

Thu 4/9/2020

U

N

O

L

A

U

R

A

A

S

A

N

A

M

A

P

A

S

S

A

D

R

E

M

I

X

P

U

T

O

N

H

O

L

D

T

E

A

C

H

I

T

I

N

A

P

I

N

Z

O

E

R

I

M

E

S

C

H

N

O

Z

Z

O

L

A

E

L

I

P

L

O

S

T

A

I

N

E

D

D

I

S

C

O

E

R

A

S

N

L

M

A

D

E

A

C

H

O

I

C

E

R

I

P

L

I

F

E

H

A

C

K

M

Y

F

A

U

L

T

T

A

R

T

I

E

R

O

A

D

M

A

R

K

E

R

M

A

C

Y

T

U

T

B

U

N

L

A

L

A

W

O

L

I

V

E

M

O

R

S

E

C

O

D

E

A

I

M

A

T

P

L

U

O

T

N

A

S

D

E

A

N

S

S

L

E

D

S

E

S

T

In high-echelon puzzling circles, crosswords are disdained, treated as pooh-poohed poo caked onto the gumshoe's shoe. Crosswords? Crosswords? Why don't you do some word searches? How about a spot the differences? I have a few Highlights magazines that might occupy your tiny pea brain for an hour.

Thankfully, I run with a group of humble solvers who love complex puzzles and aren't afraid to admit being completely stumped. We work our asses off, familiarizing ourselves with any code ever devised, memorizing alphanumeric substitutions so we can reel off the fact that Q = 17^th letter of the alphabet, letters in ASCII tables are coded from 65 to 90, and communicating easily in tap code.

So it's particularly embarrassing that I couldn't come up with the letter represented by a single MORSE CODE dash. A single dot? Easy! It's E, appropriate for easy. A dash … should be a common letter. S! No, that's dash dash dash, as in the dash dash dash dot dot dot dash dash dash of S O S.

(Astute reader Larry Byrd points out that I got that wrong. It's dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot. D'oh d'oh d'oh!)

R? The first free letter they give you in "Wheel of Fortune"?

L, as in long?

My team just assigned me dog poo duty.

Point is, I don't know how many solvers will make the connection, that the dots and dashes in the theme clues stand for Es and Ts, respectively. Listed out:

• -able = Table = PUT ON HOLD
• Big nos. = Big nose = SCHNOZZOLA (do people say this these days?)
• Op-ed = Opted = MADE A CHOICE
• Mil. post, say = Mile post = ROAD MARKER

Luckily, Alex's gridwork was so stellar that my solving experience was still pleasant. I completed it as I would a themeless — a strong themeless at that — and enjoyed so much of NAUTILI, OPTIMISM, DISCO ERA, SLEEP LAB, MY FAULT that the theme didn't matter.

Adding DOT (clued as [E, in MORSE CODE]) and DASH (clued as [T, in MORSE CODE]) into the grid would have helped immensely. That would have presented some construction difficulty, but making the theme work is well worth the price of fewer great bonuses.

Thu 3/26/2020

L

E

S

S

E

R

R

O

R

A

T

O

R

A

L

A

N

Y

O

U

P

E

A

R

C

E

W

N

B

A

T

E

A

M

I

S

S

U

E

S

F

I

E

R

O

R

O

G

U

E

E

L

I

U

N

R

E

P

S

R

O

M

A

N

G

O

D

L

O

S

G

U

M

A

S

T

A

R

T

E

E

U

R

A

I

L

K

I

S

S

I

N

N

E

R

P

L

A

N

E

T

O

H

N

O

C

O

I

N

E

D

S

O

A

K

A

G

E

N

Y

E

B

B

S

M

U

S

I

C

I

A

N

A

D

V

E

R

T

O

D

E

C

L

U

E

S

T

A

H

O

E

S

I

N

G

E

D

A

U

T

O

M

A

K

E

I

N

S

I

D

E

R

I

O

O

V

A

L

S

I

E

G

E

D

S

T

Y

S

E

W

S

Convo from inside the top-secret Gridmasters and Gargoyles Group (D&D : ridiculous dorks :: G&G : geek elite):

Alex: Surprised to see this one running on Thursday. It was slated for Wednesday, but I guess the puzzle proved too difficult for the test solvers in that slot. Maybe the theme would have been better served by a less audacious grid. I suspect there will be grumbling that the theme isn't tricky enough for a Thursday puzzle.

Jim: Hey, you stole my line! This was a fine Wednesday puzzle.

Jeff: Bah, what smart thing am I supposed to say now? Hmm … the only thing that will cure me is Mercury?

Jim: Bring me the paddle.

Alex hit two nails right on their heads. #1, wham! It's a fine theme—especially after you notice that it's not just two random planets for each themer, but always MERCURY plus another one (it totally didn't take me a solar year to figure this out, no sirree!). It's an extremely straightforward one, though, not worthy of the Thursday slot.

#2, bam! A simpler grid would have befitted this simpler theme. I love the drive to do something more, but a 72-word grid with five themers almost always comes with compromise. Amazing avoidance of short glue, but today, it came in the form of oddballs:

• ASTARTE isn't of the same level as Isis or Osiris, and to have her muddying things up under ROMAN GOD should be avoided.
• SIEGED … is passable. "The city is under siege!" is terror-inducing. "The invaders have sieged our castle!" is more "WTF kind of mead have you been drinking?" inducing.
• SOAKAGE. Let us not discuss thee, prithee well nay?

There are huge benefits of going down to 72 words—HOUDINI / OSMOSIS is almost worth it all by itself! The more I study it, the more I try to convince myself that maybe it was the right decision. LAWFUL TRUE GRIT. TOP GUN took my breath away. GO ALL IN, yeah?

Yeah, not with the compromises.

Overall, a fine theme that could have been made much sharper and more fun, if it had been fine-tuned for a Wednesday, where it belonged.

POW Fri 3/13/2020

V

E

R

I

S

M

O

N

O

T

E

N

O

U

G

H

B

O

W

A

N

D

A

R

R

O

W

P

L

U

S

F

E

N

E

S

A

S

L

E

A

N

P

A

N

D

A

E

S

P

N

E

S

C

I

T

S

H

I

E

A

C

K

O

R

E

O

S

I

R

A

S

E

A

I

V

E

R

S

O

N

N

I

P

A

T

N

I

N

E

L

O

N

G

T

O

L

A

D

D

E

R

D

I

S

T

A

L

O

R

W

O

R

S

E

M

A

R

C

O

N

I

N

I

H

T

E

A

R

O

S

E

N

I

T

G

A

I

N

E

C

O

L

I

O

Z

M

A

A

N

T

I

S

H

O

E

S

J

O

A

N

S

E

X

S

O

L

★ SQUUUUUEEEEE!!!!

The grid art is so delightful that the crossword could have strangled and eaten a PANDA and I still would have given it the POW!. This might be my favorite piece of grid art of all-time. That's saying something, considering how long our list is — check out the collection.

Alex intended to have those two letters circled — like PANDA eyes! — but Will Shortz went back and forth on this, ultimately deciding that it might confuse solvers. I like that decision.

Ooh! Can you imagine if the lone P and A had some other function; some strong reason for being unchecked? That might have made it my favorite puzzle of all time.

Are there famous PANDAs whose names start with P and A? Researching ... drat, no. Stupid panda namers, get your priorities straight.

Yeah, there's some weirdness in MUR, way too many short words that broke up the flow of my solve, and INDENTER is an inducer of eye-rolling. That's all simply noise that hardly registered against the tremendous signal in this amazing graphic.

Wed 2/19/2020

F

I

S

H

E

T

R

E

P

E

R

O

T

B

A

N

T

U

L

A

O

S

G

R

A

P

E

R

I

C

E

S

L

Y

F

T

D

R

I

V

E

R

B

L

U

E

S

T

E

E

L

R

A

C

E

R

S

S

P

A

R

T

A

T

N

A

E

T

O

T

R

E

U

P

I

N

I

T

A

T

O

M

K

N

I

C

K

K

N

A

C

K

S

S

O

D

A

S

S

P

A

T

G

R

O

A

N

K

E

Y

S

T

O

N

E

K

O

P

P

O

L

O

H

A

N

A

E

K

E

S

K

E

G

I

D

S

R

A

P

R

E

F

I

N

E

P

A

L

I

S

W

I

P

E

L

E

F

T

S

W

I

P

E

R

I

G

H

T

K

O

J

A

K

E

A

R

P

S

I

T

I

S

E

R

A

T

O

T

R

E

S

S

I

S

P

Y

R

A

R

E

My recent Google search history:

"What does LIFTNICK mean in Tinder slang?"

"When young kids say LYFTKNICK what does that mean?"

"LIPHNIK definition"

"Is LK a thing? Or ELL-KAY?"

"Are you sure ELL KAY isn't a thing?"

"Are LYFT drivers notorious for side swiping other cars?"

"Why doesn't today's NYT crossword make sense?"

"Tinder terminology that uncool people don't understand"

"Will Jeff ever figure this out or will his rage continue to accelerate?"

"STOP SENDING ME TINDER ADS GOOGLE"

"HULK SMASH!"

For those of you (us) that need the theme explained (by the person that explained it to me):

• SWIPE LEFT refers to the leftmost parts of LYFT DRIVER and KNICKKNACKS, and ...
• LYFT and KNICK are homophones of LIFT and NICK
• SWIPE RIGHT refers to the rightmost words of BLUE STEEL and KEYSTONE KOP, and ...
• STEEL and KOP are homophones of STEAL and COP
• LIFT, NICK, STEAL, and COP are all synonyms for SWIPE

But why is SWIPE LEFT on the right side? And SWIPE RIGHT on the left? Is this some tricksy Tinder thing?

GOOGLE, DAMMIT! I SAID STOP SENDING ME TINDER ADS!

Presentation of hidden synonyms is a tried and true theme type. I like Alex's finds and his attempt to do something a little different — there is a ton of stuff going on. Just like LYFT's old pink mustaches, this crossword is so crazy that maybe it's genius.

Okay, maybe not. There's so much potential for solvers to get left in the dust; so many steps to trip people up and cause frustration. A more straightforward approach, planned for a Monday or Tuesday, would have been so much more satisfying.

Still, I admire Alex's efforts to push the envelope. Not every new concept will work, but maybe they'll inspire other creative thinking.

Tue 2/4/2020

I

O

T

A

S

A

M

I

S

C

O

P

E

T

O

R

C

H

E

A

R

O

R

K

I

N

S

H

O

E

H

O

R

N

S

M

A

I

N

E

Y

S

L

M

A

O

B

A

I

L

S

L

O

V

E

T

R

I

A

N

G

L

E

S

B

A

N

E

D

N

Y

B

T

W

O

C

C

A

M

A

L

F

C

I

T

I

C

H

A

M

P

A

G

N

E

F

L

U

T

E

S

T

I

N

A

C

U

T

U

B

E

R

S

E

C

O

B

R

A

B

I

K

E

T

A

P

E

R

E

C

O

R

D

E

R

S

N

E

V

I

S

B

E

N

C

I

A

P

E

N

I

N

S

E

X

O

R

G

A

N

S

C

R

E

T

E

P

S

I

A

N

D

R

E

P

Y

R

E

S

Y

E

T

M

U

S

I

C

Wonderful early-week theme. You'd think that a musician with a 25-year history of playing in orchestras, jazz bands, symphonies, string quartets, etc. would pick up on instruments hidden at the ends of theme phrases. Only a dunderhead would say YES, I KNOW THIS THEME; IT'S GEOMETRIC SHAPES!

Bah. CHAMPAGNE FLUTES are cylindrical, and I stand by that fact. Er, "fact."

But TAPE RECORDERS ARE RECTANGULAR BOXES!

Maybe I shouldn't comment on SEX ORGANS.

If only the gridwork had been as strong as the theme. Take that southeast corner, for example. Parallel placement of a themer and a revealer, squished together in one corner, rarely works out. You never want to subject newer solvers to something like INRI. These types of "I have to know THIS if I want to do crosswords?" entries are no good, hearkening back to the days of Maleska taking smug pride in making crosswords esoteric. Sure, the crossings are fair, but it's still not a fun entry for most people to encounter.

As much as I enjoy having a revealer in the "omega position" (the final across answer), I'd much rather give up some elegance to preserve a better solving experience. Shifting MUSIC all the way to the left might have helped, but that, of course, would require a complete grid redo.

It's such a shame that Alex and Queena's intent didn't align with Will Shortz's vision. I prefer Will's approach — the delayed a-ha is fantastic — but shooting it back to the constructors would have resulted in a much more polished grid. That's a big ask, given how many puzzles Will has to churn through, but even if he had to hire another assistant to get this done, it'd be well worth it.

There are benefits to this audacious grid layout, no doubt. I love the word CHICANERY, and to get so much CAN OPENER, PIN SETTER, BREXIT? OK, I'LL BITE! If the theme had been harder, more like Wednesday or Thursday difficulty, I'd have happily given the thumbs-up.

Other solvers without a pesky constructor's voice in their head might have a stronger solving experience. There is something to be said about some Tuesdays pushing boundaries, after all. Such a shame (that I can't get past my insistence on technical excellence), as the theme was POW! quality.

Wed 1/22/2020

S

N

O

B

R

I

P

S

R

A

C

E

D

A

B

E

L

O

R

G

Y

E

L

A

T

E

C

A

R

I

B

B

E

A

N

C

O

R

A

L

N

E

O

N

C

H

I

N

A

A

D

R

I

A

T

I

C

U

P

E

N

N

L

E

E

N

I

C

O

I

S

E

T

I

P

B

A

L

T

I

C

I

C

K

W

E

A

R

I

L

E

N

E

G

N

U

T

I

N

G

E

N

E

A

T

L

A

O

R

E

I

N

A

S

O

R

S

C

A

S

P

I

A

N

A

R

E

S

E

N

O

R

S

N

I

P

E

S

A

T

D

I

O

D

E

E

M

I

T

B

L

A

C

K

S

E

V

E

N

S

E

A

S

L

A

T

H

E

O

M

E

N

E

D

N

A

T

W

E

E

D

S

O

R

T

Q

U

A

Y

Reaction 1: CRITICAL. What's with all the circled Cs? Having the same letter in all the circles makes it too easy to figure out what to put in the next one.

Reaction 2: CUTTING. What, you couldn't cut out the other Cs that weren't in circles? CCCCC the opportunity to make it more elegant!

Reaction 3: CONFUSED. SEVEN SEAS … I have to connect the Cs to form … a picture of a sea?

Reaction 4: CUTE. It's a decent 7. A bit wonky, but there are a lot of stylized 7s.

Reaction 5: CURMUDGEON. Wait. Why the hell not put the 7 in the middle of the grid? Come on! Shoving it into the northwest corner is just plain lazy ...

Reaction 6: CATCHING ON. ... those seven Cs. THEY'RE ALL PART OF …

Reaction 7: CAPTIVATING. … ENTRIES THAT ARE SEAS! I didn't even notice, since every one of those seas had a misdirecting clue. Such a CLEVER execution!

I hope a lot of solvers get to Reaction 7, and the clever conclusion clicks more cannily than it did for me. It's a brilliant set of layers upon layers, all coming together so beautifully — amazing work to arrange everything so precisely to form the 7.

I was leaning toward giving it the POW!, but I worry about how many chumps like me won't get past Reaction 3.

Thu 1/9/2020

P

C

H

E

L

P

C

O

S

E

L

L

B

R

O

O

D

E

R

O

N

E

R

E

E

L

H

E

R

O

I

N

E

P

I

C

A

N

T

E

A

L

O

R

A

I

I

M

S

J

U

N

O

R

I

P

L

E

R

E

E

S

I

D

E

S

U

G

B

O

A

A

N

G

O

S

E

T

T

E

E

S

T

R

E

N

T

O

N

A

N

D

O

M

S

M

I

S

R

E

A

D

R

U

P

I

A

H

S

I

N

O

R

O

U

R

O

U

A

S

C

O

R

A

P

S

E

I

M

I

D

S

T

O

U

O

P

T

H

A

R

E

S

S

M

A

R

L

O

W

E

D

U

R

A

N

T

E

A

L

R

O

K

E

R

I

R

O

N

I

E

S

L

O

N

E

L

Y

E

N

D

E

A

R

Long ago, the "Four T Puzzle" hooked me on physical puzzles that require clever manipulation. It's so satisfying when after a long period of intense study and logical reasoning, you finally crack an elegant stumper. (It's less satisfying when you crack the darn thing with a hammer, but there's still something to be said for that.) If you don't know about Chris Ramsay's YouTube channel, it should be the next URL you check out. Heck, stop reading and go there right now; he's way more interesting than me!

The "Four T Puzzle" is my go-to when someone exhibits a seed of interest in logic, craftsmanship, and/or puzzles. It broke my mind when I first experienced it, blowing up my entire sense of dignity. I had never seen something so elegantly breaking the rules I had assumed, showing that sometimes solving a problem takes a dramatic shift in mindset.

Alex gave himself a major challenge with this construction, fitting in his four black Ts while requiring EVERY SINGLE ANSWER that abutted one (or two!) of them to use said T. I've seen plenty of puzzles like this — I made one a few years ago — but this goes above and beyond. As a constructor, I love experiencing a puzzle where I can't quite figure out how I'd make it. I'll be studying this for days; so many interesting two-T entries like TUGBOAT, TRAP SET, TRUE DAT, just TO START. I doubt I could TOP THAT.

I'm studying it all again, and I'm even more impressed than before. Twelve entries that needed to work with two of the black Ts? And 24 more that have to work with one T? That's such a ridiculous level of difficulty, like attempting a 720 triple tail whip on a dirt bike — without shoes! Or feet! I'd be impressed even if Alex had wiped out. Far from it. Given the severe constraints, it's a fine result.

I wanted to give it the POW! because it's so crazy, so incredibly audacious. So why didn't I?

1. My solving experience was tainted by the oddballs SOROCCO, TOULON, HOISTER, ONE REEL, SUDSES, PRERIGS. Some (all?) are worth knowing, but as a whole, it left a bad taste.
2. One of the NYT's production people, one of the best solvers in the world, didn't get what was going on. If she couldn't grok the concept, how many others would be left sending angry emails (not to me, no not to me, please!)

Overall, wonderful execution on a concept that made my constructor's eyes pop out of my head, Looney Tunes-style. Hilarious observations by Alex, too. I couldn't get the solver in me to set aside all his hitches, unfortunately.

Tue 12/24/2019

D

E

F

R

A

Y

H

E

E

H

A

W

M

O

L

I

E

R

E

S

I

X

P

A

C

K

C

O

L

D

C

U

T

A

R

E

O

L

A

R

G

R

A

D

B

I

N

D

E

R

C

L

I

P

L

E

A

S

E

T

H

E

S

T

I

E

G

A

L

S

A

B

C

S

W

I

N

D

O

W

T

R

I

M

L

E

A

N

I

B

M

N

E

A

M

E

T

R

N

A

M

I

E

N

B

U

M

P

E

R

C

R

O

P

S

A

M

E

B

T

W

U

H

Y

E

S

O

W

S

A

T

S

E

A

B

A

R

B

E

R

S

H

O

P

I

S

L

A

O

R

I

O

L

E

S

Q

U

A

R

T

E

T

S

T

A

R

M

A

N

U

N

W

E

A

V

E

H

Y

M

N

A

L

E

K

E

D

B

Y

A roller-coaster ride today, full of ups and downs:

UP: COLD CUT, BINDER CLIP, WINDOW TRIM … how could these possibly be related? Ooh, I'm going to get a strong a-ha!

DOWN: BARBERSHOP. Synonyms for haircut. Huh. It works, but it's not exciting.

UP: That's unfair. Alex did a great job of concealing the synonyms' meanings. The CLIP in BINDER CLIP has nothing to do with cutting. Same with TRIM in WINDOW TRIM. I did admit defeat at "Name That Theme," after all.

UP!: BARBERSHOP … QUARTET! Ah, a quartet of "cut" synonyms … WAIT! Each one has EXACTLY FOUR LETTERS! Okay, that's much stronger than I thought, approaching POW! consideration for taking a tried-and-true theme to new places … hey … wait.

DOWN: Math is hard.

Many solvers would miss the heavenly elegance of four BARBERSHOP words, every one with precisely four letters. (Some will probably miss the QUARTET part today, even.) I would have loved if the theme had gone that extra mile, though. Maybe BRAINWASH, to start the haircut? That would have gone away from straight-up synonyms, but I enjoy it when a crossword tells a story — kicking things off with a WASH, going to a HONEYCOMB, to a CLIP, to a TRIM?

It's hard for us bald guys to tell a good BARBERSHOP story.

I appreciated all the bonuses, HALLE BERRY and IN MEMORIAM excellent, and SIX PACK, MOLIERE, NEWBORN, too. Not so much the compromises, EGON EPHOCAL SMEE — a trio newbs shouldn't have to wade through. Along with the crosses Alex mentioned, HEEHAW crossing WKRP might turn off younger solvers, who could justifiably guess a wide range of letters for HEEHA? / ?KRP or a few other things, too.

It's hard to avoid this kind of crossword glue when working with six themers. I'm curious if crossing BARBERSHOP with QUARTET might have helped (having no symmetrical themer to QUARTET). You'd have to rejigger every other themer, but it might have been worth it.

I like when constructors try to add an extra layer into a standard theme type. There were too many hitches today, but I'd much rather have this than simply four circled synonyms.

Thu 12/12/2019

G

E

L

L

E

R

G

A

R

N

E

T

M

A

R

I

A

N

A

O

I

L

E

D

U

P

A

L

A

B

O

N

F

I

R

E

U

R

L

C

A

E

S

S

E

N

E

S

T

I

E

T

A

I

L

M

I

G

S

T

A

L

E

S

E

R

F

L

A

G

O

S

H

I

E

D

A

T

O

M

I

C

N

U

M

B

E

R

S

D

R

U

N

K

T

A

U

N

T

B

E

G

G

E

D

F

O

R

M

O

R

E

A

R

C

O

D

A

U

N

T

S

A

L

S

S

O

O

T

Y

B

R

A

H

E

N

I

E

S

N

I

W

I

L

L

S

O

X

E

E

S

C

P

A

N

S

I

E

S

L

I

T

S

O

O

N

E

S

T

M

A

E

S

T

R

O

N

O

D

S

T

O

B

L

A

M

E

S

Quiz! How many of these chemical symbols can Jeff translate? The clock starts … NOW!

Li: lithium

Ne: Nebraska? Neon, ha ha, just joking.

Ca: Ca … lifornium. No wait, calcium!

Ti: titanium

Sn: tin (you narrowly avoided a pedantic lecture about the root word "stannum" and my so-crazy-they're-genius theories on Stannis Baratheon)

Xe: xenon, this is far too easy!

Nd: … wait … hmm … North Darkotium? Nerdvedium? Bah!

Sm: ... Hulk SMASH(IUM)!

This former science wonk, who hit an easy 5 on his AP chem test and received a couple of chemistry scholarships, scored only 6 out of 8. (Neodymium and samarium.) That bodes poorly for even the advanced Thursday solver. God have mercy on John Q. Solver.

Fun treat to get so many long pieces of fill. RAN SMACK DAB INTO, GOING OUT ON A LIMB, BEGGED FOR MORE are all excellent. It's rare ever to get a themed grid where we get so many grid-spanning bonuses. It wasn't necessary — ATOMIC NUMBERS could have gone in the middle row — but I appreciated having more to enjoy inside my puzzle.

Creative idea, and I appreciate bizarre, mold-breaking grids. From a construction point of view, though, the idea is a little too easy to execute on, since once you go past the teens (in terms of atomic numbers), nearly every chemical symbol contains two letters.

I would have enjoyed it more (I BEGGED FOR MORE, yes I did) if Alex had shown us a Rutherford-Bohr model! (Said no one but this science dork.) At the very least, I would have liked a rectangular grid, approximating the periodic table.

Thu 11/14/2019

G

N

A

T

B

L

A

I

R

S

P

A

S

P

O

L

O

B

O

W

T

O

I

A

G

O

A

M

I

R

E

Q

U

E

S

T

G

R

A

F

P

T

S

D

I

S

N

T

I

T

S

I

D

E

A

E

A

U

S

K

I

I

N

G

C

O

E

D

U

N

P

C

I

N

N

U

N

B

O

R

N

S

L

A

M

G

A

P

F

I

T

E

T

E

C

A

M

P

W

H

O

F

C

C

C

O

C

O

A

Y

E

A

Y

E

E

P

A

C

R

I

T

L

Y

E

S

O

U

I

I

N

D

E

E

D

M

I

S

S

Y

I

M

L

A

T

E

U

S

E

R

L

A

I

N

F

R

E

N

C

H

O

P

E

N

U

M

N

O

A

E

T

N

A

T

I

R

E

P

I

G

S

T

Y

S

O

N

H

E

A

T

Alex has such innovative ideas. I'd have never thought of interpreting FRENCH OPEN as "translate first words of phrases into French." I struggled mightily with the first themer, figuring there was some crazy transmogrification of FRIEND — maybe END, with FRI cut off as the Thursday trick? Days of the week ... end!

Um, no.

I enjoyed the a-ha; a concept I'd never before seen. I also appreciated the consistency, Alex using only three-letter French words often seen in crosswords; a bit of an insider's nod.

The notion got repetitive quickly, though. By the time I reached OUI INDEED, the puzzle felt like it was Marmotte Day.

Speaking of rodent-like creatures, an AYE AYE is … cute? Creepy? The etymology is reported to be from a French cry of astonishment. Appropriate for this puzzle!

During my solve, I had the vague notion that the grid wasn't nearly as strong as Alex's usual products. Upon second glance, though, most of that was due to the annoyances of seeing some usual crossword gloop featured, AMI and ETE in particular. Now, I wasn't a fan of LOUDEN, but aside from some ECCE AMAT, my first impression was too strongly negative. I hope other solvers will allow Alex similar leeway.

Experiencing this novel theme triggered some other notions in my own brainstorming, and that's rare indeed.

Sat 9/28/2019

T

H

E

S

H

I

E

L

D

S

E

A

S

H

A

N

T

I

E

S

C

H

A

R

L

O

T

T

E

S

W

E

B

G

L

A

R

E

S

P

I

C

E

S

M

E

W

S

U

S

E

S

S

T

R

E

W

A

A

A

H

P

I

N

T

A

T

E

R

I

I

N

R

E

I

M

F

I

N

E

T

B

S

L

U

M

E

N

P

U

R

T

Y

W

A

S

P

A

T

I

S

S

E

R

I

E

E

R

R

S

T

O

O

G

E

S

T

A

R

O

L

A

D

S

Y

N

O

D

L

A

P

E

L

E

V

E

S

R

E

P

O

L

L

W

A

L

L

A

C

E

S

T

E

V

E

N

S

D

I

V

O

R

C

E

P

A

P

E

R

S

L

E

G

I

S

L

A

T

O

R

S

I love "The Great British Bake-Off," where SWISS ROLLs have been the subject of many challenges. The basic recipe is simple, but seeing the imagination and creativity bakers inject (sometimes literally) into their creations can be mind-blowing. There's so much artistry involved, trying to figure out how to pull of a wild design, while living within the main criterion: above all, it must taste delicious.

When judging SWISS ROLLs, Paul Hollywood has no hesitations when pointing out the imperfections. Consistency of layer thickness is one of the most common issues. Not today! Such a regular layer of jelly inside, no thin or thick spots, the entire roll three or four letters wide.

Only three letters wide didn't provide for much flavor, though. One of the rules of thumb for a themeless is to minimize your short fill, since it's generally not that interesting and can chop up a solving experience. I was sure my stop-and-go solve would point to a large number of shorties, and indeed — 16 3-letter words and 13 4-letter ones. Not ideal.

I also wanted more spice. SECRET WEAPONS and BEER BARRELS, yes! WALLACE STEVENS and LEGISLATORS, though — that part of the sponge didn't rise as much as it should have, falling flat. A grid like this has such a limited number of long and medium slots that it's critical to use every one to its fullest potential. STIRRED, CLEAN UP, SIMPSON, and the long entries along the bottom … unfortunately not as en fuego as EN FUEGO.

A serviceable themeless with a pretty visual and not many outright technical flaws (aah, perhaps AAAH). Style over substance, though; not nearly enough overall to garner a Jeff handshake.

Thu 9/5/2019

C

O

W

L

W

I

T

C

H

L

A

C

E

A

R

E

A

H

A

I

L

E

I

M

O

K

B

E

E

R

I

N

N

E

S

N

I

N

E

L

A

D

D

E

R

G

A

S

T

A

N

K

S

E

D

S

E

L

H

E

R

E

I

G

O

R

I

M

E

S

T

E

A

M

J

E

S

S

G

R

I

T

A

S

C

O

T

O

A

T

E

M

O

T

I

O

N

I

P

A

T

R

O

L

L

N

O

N

O

S

D

S

U

P

L

A

I

D

C

H

I

C

E

P

A

U

L

E

T

C

H

O

R

E

S

A

N

D

S

P

U

R

L

U

M

B

E

R

L

U

C

E

O

N

I

C

E

E

A

R

N

I

R

A

S

N

A

C

H

O

A

M

A

S

P

A

R

K

T

R

A

I

N

R

A

N

T

Jim and I worried that solvers would miss all the symmetric, but short, theme material, so we've highlighted it below.

Interesting concept, playing on "more than" and "less than." EMOTION is more than a MOTION, but less than a DEMOTION, for example. The concept reminded me of a genius puzzle by David Steinberg that won an award in 2015. Puzzles so rarely blow my mind, but seeing what David pulled off there required a hundred Q-Tips to wipe away the gray matter oozing out my ears.

It made me wonder how many words fit that double beheading possibility. Five minutes of coding showed there are hundreds of them, including many long ones — longer than EMOTION even. My favorite from that list was CHARMLESS HARMLESS ARMLESS. It would have been great to use at least one pair of long ones since all the shorties got lost in Alex's grid.

Obsessive as I am, I wondered how many triple beheading words there are. Surprisingly, also hundreds! My favorite: GESTATE ESTATE STATE TATE, although ISLANDERS SLANDERS LANDERS ANDERS was fun too, as was NASCENT ASCENT SCENT CENT.

We all know I can't leave well enough alone, so onto quad and quint beheadings! Dozens of quads, but just one notable quint: BRAIDING RAIDING AIDING ID'ING DING ING (the Dutch bank).

Overall, Alex's idea was solid, although it was unsatisfying to never see the missing letter, e.g., the D in front of DEMOTION. I wondered if they'd spell something out — now that would have been neat! S T was a good start, but then it all went to hell with S T P B, etc. Given how many double beheading options there are to choose from, having a secret answer would have been doable and would have elevated the puzzle concept.

Sun 8/11/2019 BIRD PLAY

P

O

S

T

C

H

A

R

S

T

S

A

A

K

A

E

U

L

E

R

T

A

I

W

A

N

H

I

L

A

R

Y

S

K

S

C

E

N

E

O

R

G

A

N

A

A

M

E

S

I

O

W

A

T

H

E

P

L

O

T

T

H

I

C

K

E

N

S

E

A

T

A

T

P

I

A

N

O

T

H

E

Y

S

A

L

O

N

O

P

E

N

T

O

S

P

E

D

E

S

S

O

F

A

R

S

I

V

E

R

D

I

S

C

O

F

F

B

I

O

T

A

C

N

E

A

L

E

P

O

P

U

L

A

R

K

I

D

S

E

V

A

N

G

E

L

I

Z

E

R

O

B

S

I

E

G

E

L

N

O

R

A

L

E

G

M

A

O

T

A

I

A

N

D

S

O

P

S

S

T

G

E

R

M

S

P

O

R

N

V

E

S

P

A

S

H

O

R

T

E

O

H

M

E

T

D

S

E

X

C

I

T

E

E

L

I

O

F

F

O

N

A

L

A

R

K

S

P

R

E

A

D

E

A

G

L

E

R

U

N

I

T

K

O

I

T

O

Y

N

E

W

T

O

S

P

O

S

E

E

M

E

N

D

N

E

S

T

C

A

G

E

D

A

I

S

E

S

P

L

E

B

S

H

E

A

L

S

A

L

S

A

P

R

O

B

E

H

E

A

D

L

E

S

S

C

H

I

C

K

E

N

C

O

C

O

A

M

I

X

G

A

T

E

A

U

V

A

N

D

Y

S

W

A

N

D

I

V

E

A

T

T

E

N

D

E

L

E

N

A

S

L

Y

R

E

C

R

E

E

D

S

L

E

A

D

Total birdbrain of an idea! In a good way.

Word play -> bird play -> riffing on bird-related figures of speech. Great find in THE PLOT THICKENS = HEADLESS CHICKEN. Easy to understand and clever.

SPREAD EAGLE worked well, too, as the letters E A G L E were so nicely spaced throughout EVANGELIZE. Pretty, that.

HILARYSK? Tougher to grok, since you have to figure out that the SWAN "dives" within the phrase, making HILARY(SWAN)K. Still works, though.

OFF on a LARK wasn't as interesting, since "X on Y" themes are somewhat overdone by now.

Master class in gridwork today, Alex such a consummate pro. He did everything right. Sticking at 140 words. Liberally using extra black "cheater" squares to smooth things out. Maintaining unyielding adherence to smoothness. With just ETDS as glue, this is a better product than most NYT weekdays, much less NYT Sundays, which on average, have enough gloop that solvers have to put on their waders.

Even better, so much bonus material. With such exacting detail paid to the short fill, you'd expect little to no sparkle. Nope! POPULAR KIDS, SLEEPER CAR, TAKES A KNEE, COCOA MIX, GOLGOTHA, RANCH DIP. So much sizzle and so little cruddy short fill shouldn't be possible.

There's no secret to it — I'm sure Alex set his minimum word score to a high level and never said good enough was good enough, backtracking every time he hit a problem spot. Every constructor can and should produce Sunday 140-word grids like this; it's a matter of practice and the willingness to spend dozens of hours finding a final solution with virtually no trade-offs.

The overall concept is tight in that it's all bird-related figures of speech, but the visuals are nothing new. While it wasn't nearly as interesting as I like for POW! consideration, the gridwork was easily in POW! territory. A much better Sunday than we've seen in a while.