Daniel Kantor author page

JAY: With this puzzle, I had the phrase "Repeat after me" bouncing around in my head for a while, and naturally thought letters that repeat after the letters "M,E" might make for a nice puzzle. But I just wasn't sure it was NYT-worthy, so I forgot about it.

When Dan and I got together, as we often do (we are not only co-constructors but good friends) to catch up and talk puzzles, I mentioned it to him. His eyes lit up, and he said, "This is a great idea. We should totally do it." Dan has never been shy about giving me his honest opinion about my puzzle ideas before, so the fact that he sparked to it got me excited about bringing this one to life.

Unless you're a constructor, it's easy to assume the harder a puzzle is to solve, the harder it is to build, but building an easy puzzle can be more challenging because the parameters are more limiting. The high theme letter count (73) also contributed to the challenge.

The Revenge of the Grid

I believe the art of the crossword puzzle will wither and die if we don't keep breaking it open to make it new again. I get bored if all I do is create variations on proven concepts. So, whether you liked this puzzle or not, I did it to explore something new, to break a few rules, and to take advantage of a platform (the NYT) that celebrates the idea of taking risks.

In this puzzle, I was intrigued by the idea of exploring whether the grid itself could provide its own theme clues. I like to think that if puzzle grids had personalities and could talk, some grids (extroverted types) would say they wanted to be more center stage, to participate in the same things that the clues always do.

"Hey, why do you words always get to give the clues? Why can't we grids ever do that!? It's always empty square, black square, empty square, black square…"

I like to think that my grid is smiling at the idea that its theme fill points back to the grid. The theme fill is, in a way, subordinated to the grid. When the grid lives ABOVE the fill, it's a good day in grid-dom.

When pondering this puzzle, I wondered how far I could go with the design. Would I have to do it using already-accepted methods? Would Will Shortz be interested? How much would I be allowed to challenge standard grid design? My first draft even included CLUELESS in the fill, clued as "How one might feel trying to solve 17-, 33-, 42-, and 62-Across". In the end, Will advised that the CLUELESS entry was not necessary. The puzzle's grid would speak for itself. He got the point I was trying to make even more than I did.

One way to understand what goes into constructing a NYT-worthy puzzle is to follow this email thread (which has been considerably edited and shortened.)

Hi Jay,

Joel Fagliano, writing on behalf of Will.

Thanks for showing us your FOOD COURT 15x. Will worries about running a puzzle with BATTERED CHICKEN, as a pun on domestic abuse isn't likely to amuse many people.

Hi Will,

What If we rebuilt the puzzle using GRILLED PORK CHOP instead?

Hi Jay,

GRILLED PORK CHOP feels inconsistent, because the other entries all have to do with the offense committed (corruption, divorce, etc), whereas this only refers to what happens once the PORK CHOP enters the courtroom (what a weird sentence to write!). Anyway, we still like the core idea here.

Hi Will and Joel,

We worked hard to come up with a replacement to GRILLED PORK CHOP. Below are 3 options.

17-A Rolled tortillas prosecuted for being high? BAKED ENCHILADAS

17-A Fungi involved in a wrongful termination suit? CANNED MUSHROOMS

17-A Game fish suing for slander? BLACKENED SALMON

Hi guys,

Thanks for the reworked theme proposal.

None of your proposed new theme entries sounded terribly familiar. What if, instead, the theme consisted of the following:

BAKED BEANS (10)

CANNED CORN (10)

Hi Will,

We rebuilt FOODCOURT using the theme entries you proposed.

Hi Jay,

Thanks for the new version. While the grid doesn't have anything that's actually bad, it also doesn't have anything actually good — and overall it feels awfully crosswordy. Would you be willing to try this again with a little more oomph?

Hi Will,

Thanks for hanging in there with us. Have a look at this next draft.

Hi Jay,

Yes, much better! Clue this up for a Wednesday, and we'll be all set.

Thanks a lot.

--Will