Deb Amlen author page
4 puzzles by Deb Amlen
with Jeff Chen comments
See the 18 answer words debuted by Deb Amlen.
Deb does not fully understand how she got here, but she is the lead columnist and senior editor of the Gameplay section of The New York Times. Her parents are constantly calling to ask when she will get a "real" job.
She currently lives in N.J. (don't judge) but was raised in New York City, which may explain the attitude. Deb is also the author of the humor book, It's Not PMS, It's You.
| C | A | S | C | A | A | M | Y | B | L | I | P | |||
| T | R | E | A | T | W | E | E | P | R | A | D | O | ||
| R | E | A | L | M | M | T | A | R | O | V | E | S | ||
| A | L | L | F | L | A | S | H | N | O | C | A | S | H | |
| M | E | I | N | I | F | C | ||||||||
| S | A | T | E | E | N | N | O | T | F | O | R | M | E | |
| I | C | H | D | O | O | R | E | L | I | A | S | |||
| T | H | A | T | C | A | N | T | B | E | R | I | G | H | T |
| B | O | N | Z | O | U | R | S | A | I | R | E | |||
| Y | O | G | A | P | O | S | E | T | R | A | D | E | R | |
| T | O | O | R | U | E | D | ||||||||
| J | A | Z | Z | U | P | T | H | E | P | L | A | C | E | |
| I | Q | U | I | T | O | O | H | I | G | A | V | E | ||
| L | U | C | K | S | M | B | A | E | I | D | E | R | ||
| T | I | K | I | B | O | B | F | O | S | S | E |
The NYT celeb series continues! I watched the first season of OitNB, and Nicky was my favorite character. It's a shame that this crossword didn't relate to her, but considering Nicky's … ahem … colorful personality, it wouldn't have been appropriate for the NYT.
ALL / THAT / JAZZ referring to the movie about BOB / FOSSE, the choreographer. These types of "first words hide a saying" themes live and die on 1.) how snazzy their theme phrases are, and 2.) the impact of the a-ha moment when the solver connects the words together.
ALL FLASH NO CASH is a great way to hide ALL.
THAT CANT BE RIGHT is a solid colloquial phrase, too.
I did hitch at JAZZ UP THE PLACE, as I wanted it so badly to be JAZZ UP THE JOINT. Even more appropriate given the setting for OitNB!
I didn't get a fantastic a-ha upon realizing ALL THAT JAZZ was the theme, mostly because I didn't immediately recall who BOB / FOSSE was. It works fine, but I might have preferred a revealer that meant "and related things," like ODDS AND ENDS or ET CETERA or best yet, YADA YADA YADA.
With such little constraints — ALL / THAT / JAZZ and BOB / FOSSE the only fixed requirements — Deb and Natasha had a lot of flexibility in their grid. I loved what they did with YOGA POSE, TZATZIKI, even BROCCOLI and COP OUTS. That's a lot of bonuses to PROFFER!
I wasn't sure about ZUCK, but perhaps that's what the kids are calling him these days? Generally good gridwork otherwise, just some minor dings in CTR ICH MEIN MTA. And yeah, MAHRE.
With this celeb series, I love when the crossword riffs on something specific to the celeb. But overall, a solid crossword with some great phrases worked in.
| M | E | D | A | L | E | G | A | D | A | S | I | F | ||
| A | L | E | X | A | M | O | L | E | F | A | T | E | ||
| R | E | M | E | M | B | E | R | P | R | O | F | I | L | E |
| A | N | O | B | O | R | I | S | M | O | L | L | S | ||
| T | A | C | T | N | I | L | S | I | R | |||||
| R | E | C | O | L | L | E | C | T | D | U | S | T | ||
| G | L | A | R | E | A | K | A | S | O | U | ||||
| O | A | T | M | E | A | L | G | R | A | M | M | A | R | |
| E | M | I | B | A | M | L | E | A | R | N | ||||
| R | E | C | A | L | L | W | A | I | T | I | N | G | ||
| C | U | E | R | N | A | S | A | G | O | |||||
| C | L | A | R | A | T | A | C | I | T | Z | E | N | ||
| R | E | C | O | U | N | T | C | A | L | O | R | I | E | S |
| A | G | E | S | B | O | A | S | M | A | N | S | E | ||
| B | O | D | S | A | P | S | E | S | W | E | E | T |
| M | A | T | T | S | T | E | A | L | S | A | I | L | ||
| A | R | I | A | T | E | S | L | A | E | T | T | U | ||
| D | E | E | R | I | N | T | E | L | N | E | A | L | ||
| S | T | I | L | L | E | R | A | N | D | A | L | L | ||
| S | L | O | N | E | B | L | O | A | M | Y | ||||
| M | I | N | C | E | S | S | W | A | N | K | ||||
| A | T | E | U | P | D | E | A | N | G | A | S | |||
| S | H | O | R | T | E | R | A | N | D | S | W | E | E | T |
| H | E | N | G | I | L | D | P | A | T | S | Y | |||
| L | O | O | P | Y | P | I | S | T | O | N | ||||
| G | I | A | N | T | E | O | N | O | P | E | ||||
| H | U | N | T | E | R | A | N | D | P | E | C | K | ||
| A | I | D | E | I | M | A | G | E | U | N | I | T | ||
| U | S | E | S | P | E | T | E | Y | T | O | R | O | ||
| T | E | X | T | S | N | O | R | E | S | W | A | P |
| D | E | S | I | I | Z | O | D | F | I | N | A | L | A | P | S | O | S | |||
| E | T | A | S | R | E | N | E | A | L | E | R | O | S | T | E | N | T | |||
| B | A | T | H | M | A | N | A | N | D | R | O | B | I | N | P | A | T | E | R | |
| T | I | T | A | N | P | I | A | R | A | N | G | E | S | H | E | |||||
| S | E | A | T | M | A | M | B | O | S | N | O | O | R | B | O | A | ||||
| R | A | Z | O | R | S | O | F | T | H | E | L | O | S | T | A | R | K | |||
| I | R | S | D | O | T | F | A | A | D | E | V | I | S | E | ||||||
| D | A | N | N | O | N | S | A | W | R | H | E | T | T | S | L | E | D | |||
| T | H | E | B | R | E | A | K | F | A | S | T | S | C | R | U | B | ||||
| A | R | E | A | M | Y | R | R | H | G | O | R | I | L | L | A | |||||
| G | A | Z | E | T | T | E | O | D | E | T | S | U | N | P | L | U | G | S | ||
| H | E | R | O | I | N | E | A | H | E | A | P | A | G | E | E | |||||
| P | E | R | M | S | O | F | E | N | D | E | A | R | M | E | N | T | ||||
| P | A | S | T | S | A | F | E | R | M | D | S | R | O | A | R | A | T | |||
| O | B | L | A | D | I | A | B | A | A | M | Y | S | S | S | ||||||
| S | H | A | V | I | N | G | P | R | I | V | A | T | E | R | Y | A | N | |||
| T | O | V | S | T | A | R | T | S | T | R | A | P | L | I | B | S | ||||
| D | R | E | C | O | L | A | S | C | A | R | A | W | G | E | E | |||||
| A | R | R | A | U | W | I | S | H | Y | O | U | W | E | R | E | H | A | I | R | |
| T | E | E | N | S | A | S | T | E | R | M | A | L | T | T | U | N | A | |||
| E | D | D | Y | S | Y | E | S | E | S | A | X | I | S | S | T | E | W |