Debbie Ellerin author page
5 puzzles by Debbie Ellerin
with Constructor comments
| A | M | B | E | R | R | E | L | Y | B | E | T | A | ||
| C | A | I | R | O | A | X | I | O | M | A | T | I | C | |
| M | I | N | E | O | Z | E | N | M | A | S | T | E | R | |
| E | N | G | F | R | O | C | K | C | A | U | S | E | ||
| S | C | O | O | T | E | R | S | S | A | L | ||||
| O | N | L | O | W | S | C | U | T | T | L | E | |||
| Q | U | I | D | P | R | O | Q | U | O | H | I | T | ||
| U | R | G | E | I | D | B | E | T | D | I | V | A | ||
| I | S | H | T | E | S | T | S | C | O | R | E | S | ||
| K | E | T | T | L | E | S | M | O | L | D | S | |||
| W | E | S | P | R | E | C | E | P | T | S | ||||
| A | M | B | I | T | P | L | A | N | K | A | R | A | ||
| J | A | I | L | B | R | E | A | K | P | O | R | E | S | |
| A | N | K | L | E | B | O | N | E | I | O | T | A | S | |
| R | Y | E | S | G | N | A | R | T | H | Y | M | E |
I submitted this puzzle in October of 2019. The seed entry was QUID PRO QUO which was in the news a lot at the time. I also like the entry JAIL BREAK which has been in the puzzle before, but not with this meaning. I like the new clues for 3-Down and 19-Across (new fun fact). I did not know when I wrote this puzzle is how relevant the LIVE STREAM entry would become, or how timely RBG would be.
I am donating my fee for this puzzle to VoteAmerica a nonprofit, nonpartisan, charitable 501(c)3 organization that assists voters to make registering to vote, requesting mail-in ballots and interacting with their local election officials easier.
| E | L | C | H | A | P | O | S | C | R | O | L | L | ||
| L | A | L | A | L | A | N | D | A | R | A | B | I | A | |
| B | R | A | S | I | L | I | A | D | E | T | E | S | T | |
| A | D | D | S | L | O | T | T | W | H | A | L | E | ||
| L | E | O | N | A | R | D | C | O | H | E | N | |||
| R | A | T | E | D | R | S | E | O | U | L | ||||
| E | X | I | S | T | I | C | A | N | T | E | V | E | N | |
| N | E | E | S | N | I | T | S | A | K | A | ||||
| O | L | D | S | C | O | R | E | S | J | A | P | E | S | |
| C | R | O | O | N | G | A | N | E | S | H | ||||
| I | S | T | H | A | T | A | T | H | I | N | G | |||
| M | A | I | M | S | D | I | O | N | R | O | L | F | ||
| I | M | P | I | S | H | S | U | S | H | I | B | A | R | |
| N | O | I | D | E | A | T | R | U | E | L | O | V | E | |
| G | A | N | T | R | Y | S | P | R | Y | E | S | T |
This puzzle began with IS THAT A THING and LEONARD COHEN. I like trying to find phrases that I've heard in real life, such as I CANT EVEN, and incorporating them into themeless puzzles. The phrase IS THAT A THING is what I often say to myself while constructing a puzzle. Also, I am a huge fan of the late, great LEONARD COHEN and have been trying to work him into a grid for a while, so I'm happy to debut this entry.
A few entries, like LISLE, GANESH, and GANTRY (as clued) are tough, but the crosses seem reasonable, so I think they're fair for a Friday. As always, I hope that the good outweighs the bad, and it's enjoyable to solve.
Thanks to Will Shortz and team for publishing this, especially on the weekend of my birthday — a nice birthday present!
| B | A | D | G | E | A | L | L | U | R | B | A | N | ||
| O | P | E | R | A | S | E | A | B | R | E | E | Z | E | |
| O | G | L | E | S | K | O | R | E | A | N | A | I | R | |
| S | A | T | E | E | N | I | V | A | N | U | Z | O | ||
| T | R | A | N | S | Y | L | V | A | N | I | A | |||
| G | I | T | A | B | U | S | H | W | A | |||||
| A | D | D | O | N | D | R | E | A | M | T | E | A | M | |
| H | E | R | B | A | L | O | N | G | A | R | I | A | ||
| E | V | I | L | Q | U | E | E | N | P | R | O | F | S | |
| M | O | B | I | U | S | U | G | L | I | |||||
| N | O | T | O | R | I | O | U | S | R | B | G | |||
| I | R | K | R | E | N | O | O | N | B | A | I | L | ||
| M | E | A | S | U | R | E | U | P | G | O | N | Z | O | |
| D | E | L | I | M | E | A | T | S | E | R | T | E | S | |
| B | L | E | S | S | L | E | I | S | N | O | T | S |
I am happy to have my third puzzle in the New York Times. I wrote this puzzle after seeing the documentary RBG. I am glad to debut her nickname, NOTORIOUS RBG.
Other answers I like are EVILQUEEN, DREAMTEAM, KOREANAIR, and the talented actress UZO Aduba.
My least favorite answer is LEOIV, but a 5-letter word ending in V did not have many good alternatives. Sorry about that one.
Enjoy your Saturday!
| A | C | R | O | B | A | T | S | T | I | F | F | S | ||
| F | R | E | N | E | M | I | E | S | E | L | L | I | E | |
| F | A | M | I | L | Y | G | U | Y | L | I | A | N | E | |
| E | N | A | C | T | H | R | S | L | A | M | A | S | ||
| C | I | N | E | S | T | A | C | K | D | E | L | T | ||
| T | A | D | K | O | W | T | O | W | S | W | B | A | ||
| T | U | B | A | S | A | U | P | A | I | R | ||||
| S | L | I | M | M | E | D | I | N | N | A | R | D | S | |
| K | I | T | C | A | R | A | N | Z | I | O | ||||
| I | V | S | R | U | F | F | I | A | N | B | U | M | ||
| L | E | A | N | P | A | R | T | A | R | A | M | A | ||
| L | A | S | I | K | G | O | I | C | A | R | P | S | ||
| S | L | I | C | E | I | P | A | D | M | I | N | I | S | |
| E | I | G | H | T | N | O | T | S | O | S | U | R | E | |
| T | E | N | E | T | P | E | T | N | A | M | E | S |
This is my second puzzle in the NYT. The first was a Monday puzzle over a year ago.
I started constructing this puzzle after I got a super nice and encouraging rejection letter from Will Shortz on a previous themeless submission. Jeff Chen, with whom I had collaborated on a different puzzle, was willing to help, and reviewed many different versions of this puzzle. (Thanks, Jeff!)
I tried to make the longer answers interesting while keeping the undesirable fill to a minimum. Hope it worked.
Originally, I'd thought this puzzle would be slated for a Friday, but I am happy to see it run on a Saturday.
| B | E | T | A | S | A | P | S | S | H | A | P | E | ||
| O | V | E | N | B | R | E | A | C | O | B | R | A | ||
| R | I | S | K | T | A | K | E | R | H | O | B | O | S | |
| E | C | L | A | I | R | L | I | F | E | R | A | F | T | |
| S | T | A | A | R | M | U | M | A | ||||||
| T | R | O | U | B | L | E | A | H | E | A | D | |||
| A | L | O | H | A | N | E | A | L | L | I | E | |||
| L | I | M | E | S | I | R | S | S | W | A | N | K | ||
| A | M | A | A | C | R | E | N | O | L | T | E | |||
| S | O | R | R | Y | C | H | A | R | L | I | E | |||
| E | E | N | S | I | P | A | C | T | ||||||
| C | L | U | E | M | E | I | N | B | E | T | T | O | R | |
| A | I | S | L | E | B | O | A | R | D | G | A | M | E | |
| P | R | E | E | N | A | T | R | A | I | R | A | N | ||
| S | A | R | D | I | R | E | F | S | F | I | S | T |
I've enjoyed solving crossword puzzles for a long time. About a year ago, I wanted to learn how to construct. Fortunately, I found a mentor, Nancy Salomon, who was willing to guide me through the process. Thank you, Nancy! I've always been a fan of board games and that led to the idea for this puzzle. This puzzle was my third submission to the NYT, and I was thrilled when it was accepted and slotted for a Monday. Exactly nine months later, here it is.