Amy Schecter author page
1 puzzle by Amy Schecter
with Jeff Chen comments
See the 5 answer words debuted by Amy Schecter.
| P | O | M | N | U | B | S | G | A | S | P | S | |||
| A | M | A | O | N | T | O | C | O | L | L | I | E | ||
| P | A | T | S | D | O | W | N | R | E | S | A | L | E | |
| A | N | C | H | O | S | U | E | S | O | V | E | R | ||
| H | I | G | H | C | P | A | D | R | E | S | ||||
| D | A | W | N | S | O | N | I | K | E | A | ||||
| A | S | I | S | R | B | I | E | N | D | A | T | |||
| F | I | T | J | A | C | K | S | U | P | I | C | E | ||
| T | A | S | T | E | E | A | R | B | E | A | R | |||
| E | T | T | A | W | A | D | E | S | I | N | ||||
| C | H | A | S | E | R | S | L | A | T | E | ||||
| C | H | U | C | K | S | I | T | D | A | L | A | I | ||
| B | I | G | H | I | T | W | A | R | D | S | O | F | F | |
| G | N | O | M | E | S | O | L | A | Y | I | R | S | ||
| B | A | S | E | D | S | E | G | O | L | O | O |
Impressive array of (mostly) "plus preposition" selections. I wouldn't have thought that there could be so many options: DOWN, OVER, ON, UP … seven in total. Curious to figure out if others would fit this pattern — feels like *S OUT and *S UNDER should have some possibilities.
Down the internet rabbit hole …
The themers are all short, but working with seven themers is tough, no matter what their length. Mid-lengthers can even make life harder than longer ones, because they force black squares in unusual locations. Amy and Christina wisely deployed so many black squares in the center, minimizing the number of down answers working through two themers.
Beautiful result in the short fill, not a surprise given that Christina was involved. I've had the pleasure of working with her, and I appreciate how much attention she pays to keeping things smooth. Keeping the grid to a reasonable 76 words is a pro move. It's a sweet spot; much easier to achieve balance than with a 74-word layout like yesterday's.
I enjoyed the bonuses, JET SKIED, TEACH ME solid. I usually appreciate entries like MATCH WITS, GOES DEEP, but they bled together with today's theme a little.
It's hard to get excited about "plus preposition" phrases in normal fill, and even more so when it's featured as a theme. There was more potential than I thought, though; something interesting about the vast array. Perhaps if the clues had been more animated, even using an exclamation point or some more active verbs, I might have been as well.
Still, great to see the JASA class continue to be productive and a neat connection through the Fb group!
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(Finally back from the rabbit hole, phew! Aptly, I found TUCKERS OUT!)