David Harris author page

First solo! I was still so new for my debut collab in 2021 that my co-constructor had to do most of the heavy lifting — I've developed a bunch as a constructor since then. I've also gone into video game law & joined a competitive Only Connect fan league since then, it's been a wild few years.

A couple of puzzles have used this central themer to signal answers circling back on themselves, but the phrase "square one" feels so literal in crosswords that I kept wondering if I could make it work with a different take. My ground rules:

• Both across and down themers, each keeping direction like they emerge from a portal.
• 1A/1D should feel like complete entries, not suffixes, so the puzzle doesn't start with something gluey.
• 1A/1D have to finish lots of words without feeling repetitive or cheap, so there weren't too many viable options that started with the same letter.
• The themers shouldn't just take a suffix to make a different version of the same word, there should always be a twist.

I really like the variety of themer changes. A couple do have semantic links — VICARs stand in VICARIOUSly for higher-level clergy — but hopefully, none felt predictable. Interestingly, the submission suggested not flagging themers, but the asterisks are mildly less evil if you're into that.

Just a little look at my theme process. Come say hi @hero_complex on Twitter and suggest other fun themer pairs!

DAVID: This puzzle happened because the crossword community is full of great people encouraging newbies. Erik Agard's fantastic Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory introduced me to Nate Cardin, who helped me finish my first ever (rejected!) puzzle. Evan and I met at an Andy Kravis-led workshop in Brooklyn. It turns out we were both frustratedly gnawing at the exact same idea ("Monkey in the Middle") and decided to collaborate.

Getting our original idea actually to work in a grid was a struggle. Squeezing a 17-letter marquee answer in a 15x15 grid can make things complicated! We attempted a bunch of variations on the theme concept before hitting on the grid you see here, with its added visual element that we hope makes the puzzle accessible and interesting to new and experienced solvers alike. The theme ultimately covers *a lot* of real estate at 70 squares(?!), and the grid is a bit heavy on 3-letter entries and black squares, but we hope the fill is worth any tradeoffs. Props go to Evan for some of the fill's more modern and colloquial entries, but I'm claiming BANANA PEEL, which I *love* for this theme. Thanks for gibbon us a chance!

I post puzzles these days at GridProQuo.blogspot.com and @Hero_Complex — some nerdier themes, a couple of funkier concepts, and training to construct a Cryptic Crassword. (You read that correctly.) I've always been a big nerd, but at some point, did I become indie?

Am I cool now?!

EVAN: David was always cool! And thanks again to Andy for organizing the meeting that made this collaboration possible.

For a different take on this idea, try Ben Tausig's "Swingers," available for purchase at the American Values Club crossword website. (Or, skip to the puzzle review at Crossword Fiend.)

Even with a basic idea and set of theme entries in hand, this grid was a beast to develop. Fortunately, one late night I realized that we could incorporate the evocative 17-letter phrase — arc and all — utilizing mirror symmetry within the standard rotationally symmetric grid. That was the key to freeing up the grid enough to make things clean and sparkly. I fired off an excited email to David at 4:15 a.m. with the breakthrough.