Colin Ernst author page
3 puzzles by Colin Ernst
with Constructor comments
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Hello out there! Glad to be back with my second NYT puzzle. I am currently away from my desk in Seattle and being as old school as one can be with out falling off the face of the earth, I am not close enough to my notes to remember exactly how this theme got started. Most likely, I noticed that REAL ESTATE AGENT is a lovely spanner and took it from there.
All thanks to Cruciverbia for three very common housing options also being spanners. From there, jokes about overzealous sales people are easy. PEEK A BOO VIEW was also in the running but besides not being a spanner, it is a feature of a property instead of being a property, so it lacks the tightness of the theme as published.
The other notable thing about this puzzle is that my original submission was soundly rejected in a good news/bad news kind of way. Good news, we like your theme. Bad news, dull short uninteresting fill means no. So I took out some black squares to open up 2-, 3- and 6-Down and reworked it to a happily accepted grid which I hope you enjoyed solving.
Which leads to the question on many a constructor's lips... why not have a stage of submission to get approval of themes before filling and clueing an entire grid (especially in the realm of the SUNDAY)?!?! Obviously "Yes, we like this theme" isn't a guarantee but "No, we don't like this theme" could save one a lot of time. Thoughts?
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Hello out there in puzzle-land! Naturally, I'm thrilled to be making my NYT debut. Over 30 years ago, I sat in the lunchroom at Bronx Science, solving the daily puzzle with my friends, and today I wrote it. Which means I'm slow and getting old.
A big shout out to my fellow juggler and crossword mentor, Wren Schultz, who endured endless emails evaluating embarrassing early efforts and was always kind, helpful, and painfully honest. Besides pointing me to all the useful x-word resources, he came up with today's third themer (TIGHTEN YOUR BELT, replacing the not so hot WEARS THE PANTS). He said forcefully TIGHTEN YOUR FILL at least four times. Which, of course, I'm glad he did. Thanks, Wren!
My constructing has also greatly improved thanks to Jeff Chen and his amazing resource XWord Info (where you might be right now). His thoughtful but never pandering daily commentary and badass word list have really upped my game. Thanks, Jeff!
And, of course, a big thanks to Will, Sam, and the rest of the editorial team for always being helpful even when saying no.
Other fun facts about me: I juggled in a circus for ten years. I've built many bicycles (some wild and wacky, some practical) and in my youth did a 3000-mile European tour. I'm a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader (when not in quarantine), with uke being my main axe. I've been a stay at home dad for the last 13 years!
Mask up and happy puzzlin'!