Ben Zimmer author page
2 puzzles by Ben Zimmer
with Constructor comments
See the 10 answer words debuted by Ben Zimmer.
| S | U | R | E | D | I | D | M | A | C | A | B | R | E | |
| O | V | E | R | U | S | E | I | N | E | R | R | O | R | |
| T | A | X | I | C | A | B | C | A | L | C | I | U | M | |
| H | A | R | S | H | A | C | T | A | ||||||
| P | U | S | S | Y | C | A | T | W | A | D | E | S | ||
| O | P | T | S | U | N | A | G | I | ||||||
| S | T | O | N | E | P | R | E | S | E | A | S | O | N | |
| I | W | O | M | E | A | G | A | I | N | N | C | O | ||
| T | O | P | S | E | C | R | E | T | T | R | A | C | I | |
| I | N | T | R | O | A | F | A | R | ||||||
| G | O | R | D | O | N | O | S | E | E | U | M | S | ||
| T | R | I | O | A | S | H | E | N | ||||||
| H | A | L | C | Y | O | N | M | I | D | D | L | E | C | |
| I | S | E | C | O | N | D | A | K | I | H | I | T | O | |
| S | P | R | O | U | T | S | N | O | N | S | T | O | P |
BEQ: Before COVID forced me into "seclusion" (i.e. covering for Tabtiha's homeschoolin' and otherwise trying to keep Chez BEQ chuggin' along) and my schedule was a bit more normal, I would routinely buzz Ben about all sorts of nonsense. Maybe there'd be theme development (Ben covered this), or maybe I'd get his take on Matador's latest release. Loads of other topics in between.
But last year was a bit of, how do I put this?, "work when I can" kinda thing, so I missed out on a lot of regular chit-chattery. Not just with Ben, but with loads of people. Regardless, now that Tab's back in school, and I'm moving back to more (ahem) "normal work hours" (when you're a lifer like me, what truly is a normal work day?), I'm hoping to be talking to Ben again more frequently. Who knows? Maybe we'll come up with another theme.
BEN: It's a treat to be sharing a byline once again with longtime pal and crossword mensch Brendan Emmett Quigley. As with our previous collaboration from last May, Brendan and I joined forces on a phonetic theme. Over the years, Brendan has often consulted with me on getting the specifics right for phonetically themed puzzles he's worked on for various outlets, including his own site. Many's the time we've argued over linguistic fine points like whether to treat the unstressed "schwa" sound (/ə/) as equivalent to the vowel in "cut" (/ʌ/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet, aka "wedge").
This time around, Brendan had the idea for the MIDDLE C gimmick but needed help coming up with a good set of themers. Using resources like the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, we were able to put together a strong set of theme entries in which that middle /si/ syllable could be spelled in a variety of different ways. It was satisfying to be able to pack in seven themers plus the revealer without sacrificing the fill quality. As usual, Brendan's keen eye for gridwork and cluing ensured that the results would be top-notch.
These days, in addition to writing my weekly language column for the Wall Street Journal, I've been pitching in on a fun new venture called Beyond Wordplay, sure to be of interest to crossword puzzle fans. Check out our website and monthly newsletter, and also keep an eye out for the Beyond Wordplay crew at the virtual Game Night at the upcoming American Crossword Puzzle Tournament!
| S | O | C | K | O | A | G | O | G | B | A | S | S | S | T | O | L | I | |||
| A | B | O | I | L | D | E | A | R | U | S | M | A | T | O | K | E | N | |||
| H | O | U | N | D | S | H | A | K | E | D | I | E | M | A | L | I | E | N | ||
| L | E | N | S | H | E | R | N | E | D | F | L | O | U | N | D | E | R | S | ||
| T | H | E | I | R | H | A | R | I | T | A | B | L | A | |||||||
| A | A | M | I | L | N | E | E | D | G | E | D | N | I | E | L | S | E | N | ||
| S | H | I | P | M | E | N | Y | E | S | S | E | S | D | E | L | U | X | E | ||
| I | O | S | T | A | J | F | A | D | P | E | C | |||||||||
| S | Y | S | T | E | M | C | O | U | N | S | E | L | E | D | C | H | E | C | K | |
| A | N | O | M | E | N | T | O | R | R | E | A | I | R | S | ||||||
| S | M | U | D | G | E | T | E | L | U | N | A | R | M | S | ||||||
| S | T | E | R | E | O | S | I | S | T | E | R | L | L | B | ||||||
| M | O | U | S | E | M | A | R | K | E | T | I | N | G | T | O | O | F | A | R | |
| A | R | A | D | O | O | L | E | I | A | L | I | |||||||||
| Y | E | R | T | L | E | W | A | S | A | B | I | M | A | G | P | I | E | S | ||
| I | N | T | E | A | R | S | L | O | B | E | S | A | V | E | R | R | E | D | ||
| Q | U | I | T | E | L | I | N | T | M | E | D | O | C | |||||||
| T | R | O | U | N | C | E | S | T | A | T | E | E | A | R | P | O | S | T | ||
| R | A | B | I | D | E | T | O | N | F | U | Z | Z | Y | M | O | U | T | H | ||
| E | M | I | L | E | L | O | N | G | I | N | R | E | O | S | C | A | R | |||
| S | P | E | A | R | E | P | E | E | T | O | A | D | N | E | H | R | U |
BEN: It's a real pleasure to be making my debut as a Times crossword constructor, and it feels like it's been a long time coming. I've been addicted to crosswords — and word puzzles more generally — ever since I was a wee lad and joined the National Puzzlers' League. As an adult, seeing the documentary "Wordplay" rekindled my love of crosswords, and I started attending tournaments and falling in with the cruciverbalist crowd. Around the same time, I became executive editor of the Visual Thesaurus and got to know Brendan, who created a monthly crossword for the VT. Since then, Brendan and I have had countless conversations about puzzles, music, and life in general. I suppose it was inevitable we'd make a crossword together.
The original idea for this theme came from Erik Agard, who has been nudging me into crossword construction for quite a while. Erik actually suggested a phonetic theme going the other way, with the vowels changing from /aʊ/ to /æ/. (As a linguist, I feel compelled to use the International Phonetic Alphabet!) Erik's proposed title for the puzzle was "Shifting Sands." Brendan and I kicked the theme around and discovered there were better possibilities doing the phonetic substitution in the other direction, so we switched it up and called it "Shifting Sounds."
After we brainstormed theme entries, Brendan took the lead in grid construction, and then I took the first pass at filling the grid. Brendan fine-tuned the fill and also improved the clues I came up with, bringing everything up to his usual sparkling professional level. Thanks to Will and team for tweaking the clues even further.
I'm glad we were able to make this into a Sunday puzzle, since it's a delight to make a return to the Magazine, where I had the honor of writing the "On Language" column for a couple of years after the passing of William Safire. These days you can find me in the Wall Street Journal's weekend Review section, where I write a weekly column called "Word on the Street," as well as in The Atlantic, where I'm a contributing writer.