Jason Mueller author page
6 puzzles by Jason Mueller
with Editor comments
See the 21 answer words debuted by Jason Mueller.
| T | S | A | S | C | A | N | T | R | A | N | A | T | M | A | T | |||||
| R | I | P | S | A | U | D | I | O | A | L | E | R | T | M | A | U | I | |||
| O | T | O | H | T | R | A | N | Q | U | I | L | I | T | Y | A | N | T | E | ||
| O | S | L | O | S | A | G | U | M | S | G | I | L | N | O | O | B | ||||
| P | A | L | E | O | T | E | L | E | P | A | T | H | S | O | U | N | C | E | ||
| E | T | O | N | O | O | S | E | A | S | T | I | N | T | R | A | |||||
| R | O | E | E | A | R | A | P | A | R | T | E | V | E | H | A | M | ||||
| S | P | L | A | S | H | A | R | A | M | A | I | C | E | G | R | E | T | S | ||
| E | D | M | U | N | D | R | B | G | Y | E | S | I | A | M | ||||||
| N | I | V | E | A | C | O | O | K | I | E | J | A | R | A | D | O | R | E | ||
| P | R | E | L | L | A | R | M | S | T | R | O | N | G | N | I | O | B | E | ||
| R | E | N | A | L | A | N | A | R | I | O | T | O | N | I | C | |||||
| I | S | P | E | N | A | C | T | E | D | E | L | S | ||||||||
| I | H | A | D | T | O | D | I | S | A | B | L | E | B | E | E | R | M | E | ||
| M | U | D | E | E | L | S | P | B | S | N | B | A | T | E | A | M | ||||
| A | R | M | P | O | O | L | S | G | R | A | S | P | I | I | I | |||||
| C | L | I | C | F | O | O | D | C | H | A | I | N | G | N | A | T | ||||
| T | H | E | E | A | G | L | E | H | A | S | L | A | N | D | E | D | ||||
| I | T | S | A | G | O | I | D | L | E | S | S | E | A | E | N | E | A | S | ||
| N | O | T | I | O | N | N | O | T | A | T | E | D | S | T | E | E | L | E | ||
| S | M | O | M | S | N | A | P | E | S | S | T | R | A | P |
Jason Mueller, of Lincoln, Mo., has degrees in physics, math and economics from the University of Missouri. He loves trivia and was captain of his college's quiz-bowl team. Nowadays he creates puzzles and works on his family's farm. Jeff Chen, of Seattle, is a writer and professional crossword constructor.
This is Jason's sixth crossword for The Times and Jeff's 100th.
| D | E | S | I | K | E | B | A | B | S | K | F | C | ||
| O | M | A | N | A | N | O | D | E | S | I | L | L | ||
| E | I | F | F | E | L | T | O | W | E | R | R | O | Y | |
| S | T | E | R | N | E | T | E | T | F | O | O | D | ||
| T | O | R | T | H | E | L | O | U | V | R | E | |||
| S | A | Y | N | O | T | O | K | E | R | R | ||||
| P | O | N | T | N | E | U | F | A | S | K | M | E | ||
| E | N | E | A | R | E | N | A | I | E | D | ||||
| D | E | T | O | O | S | O | R | B | O | N | N | E | ||
| G | R | I | P | N | E | R | F | G | U | N | ||||
| N | O | T | R | E | D | A | M | E | I | A | M | |||
| A | L | O | E | E | T | A | B | A | N | I | S | H | ||
| K | I | N | P | A | R | I | S | F | R | A | N | C | E | |
| E | V | E | A | T | O | N | O | F | G | O | A | L | ||
| D | E | S | R | E | N | E | W | S | E | S | T | D |
| A | B | B | O | T | S | T | A | F | F | I | T | T | ||
| W | A | L | L | E | C | O | L | O | R | N | R | A | ||
| F | R | E | D | A | S | T | A | I | R | E | S | I | X | |
| U | G | A | S | U | V | S | S | P | I | C | E | |||
| L | E | T | T | E | R | T | O | M | H | A | N | K | S | |
| O | R | E | S | H | I | A | T | U | S | |||||
| I | F | S | O | P | E | S | C | I | A | T | M | |||
| R | A | H | E | D | A | S | N | E | R | T | E | A | ||
| E | C | O | A | O | R | T | A | M | E | R | E | |||
| S | W | I | R | L | S | P | R | O | M | |||||
| T | I | M | A | L | L | E | N | E | X | I | S | T | S | |
| O | M | A | N | I | O | K | A | Y | P | I | E | |||
| R | I | N | E | D | M | U | N | D | G | W | E | N | N | |
| T | L | C | S | E | I | N | E | E | T | A | T | S | ||
| S | E | E | T | E | N | S | E | N | O | R | S | E |
| A | W | E | C | I | N | E | M | A | B | I | A | S | ||
| L | I | L | I | C | E | M | A | N | R | O | M | E | ||
| E | L | I | J | A | H | W | O | O | D | O | W | E | N | |
| C | L | E | O | T | R | E | W | A | N | D | ||||
| W | A | F | F | L | E | I | R | O | N | |||||
| S | A | I | D | I | D | O | S | M | I | D | G | E | ||
| A | T | E | G | I | L | D | A | G | E | O | R | G | ||
| W | A | S | P | C | L | U | B | S | S | W | A | G | ||
| T | R | E | A | D | S | O | N | A | R | N | C | O | ||
| O | I | L | R | I | G | E | M | E | R | G | E | S | ||
| A | D | A | M | D | R | I | V | E | R | |||||
| S | O | L | D | B | A | A | N | A | I | L | ||||
| T | H | A | I | L | E | M | O | N | W | E | D | G | E | |
| A | I | M | S | E | V | O | K | E | D | E | O | N | ||
| R | O | P | E | S | E | N | S | E | S | D | R | S |
| A | V | A | S | T | M | E | O | W | L | E | A | D | ||
| C | E | D | A | R | A | M | M | O | A | X | L | E | ||
| T | R | O | Y | A | I | K | M | A | N | I | T | L | L | |
| I | D | S | I | M | E | A | N | I | D | E | A | L | ||
| V | I | E | T | N | A | M | G | A | U | N | T | |||
| H | O | M | E | R | S | I | M | P | S | O | N | |||
| C | E | S | A | R | E | E | L | S | I | N | C | |||
| A | L | O | T | I | L | I | A | D | F | O | C | I | ||
| R | E | P | A | D | E | N | C | A | N | E | S | |||
| A | C | H | I | L | L | E | S | H | E | E | L | |||
| T | O | R | T | E | O | N | R | A | M | P | S | |||
| R | O | M | E | O | L | I | N | D | A | Y | E | P | ||
| A | R | O | N | P | A | R | I | S | M | E | T | R | O | |
| S | A | R | I | A | V | O | N | I | M | H | O | T | ||
| A | L | E | C | R | A | N | G | C | O | S | T | S |
In case anyone is curious about how crossword clues are fact-checked and edited, my assistant, Joel, taped us editing today's and tomorrow's puzzles, and he's transcribed a bit of our discussion each day. It illustrates our process as well as our back-and-forth, which sometimes goes off on tangents. We work together at a desk in my office. I'm on an iPad, surrounded by dictionaries and books. Joel sits next to me at the main computer. Below, we're working on the clue for 2-Down, VERDI. The constructor's given clue was "'Rigoletto' composer."
Will: Verdi. Hmm. [Reaches for the Oxford Dictionary of Opera]
Joel: How many people do you think own the Oxford Dictionary of Opera?
Will: Not many, not many. You know, I was thinking the other day ... I have not updated my reference library in a while. I think it's because ... I don't feel I need to. Just about everything is online. I wonder if most of these books are even being produced anymore. If I go to the bookstore and look in the reference section ...
Joel: [pointing to another book on the shelf] Well, you're not going to find Milton Cross's "Complete Stories of the Great Operas," probably.
Will: That's out of print. Great reference, though.
Joel: When was this made … oh, two dollars, good for you. Oh, 1952. It smells like an old book.
Will: It's still worth having, because I feel, first of all, I can trust it. And, second, I know my books so well that sometimes I can look things up faster in books than I can online.
[pause]
Will: [Thinking back to the constructor's clue for 1-Down, "When Carmen dies, in 'Carmen,'" for the answer ACT IV] Is there any operatic character who dies in Act IV in a Verdi opera?
Joel: Phew, jeez, what a question. What a question to make me go and research …
Will: [newscaster voice] Over to you, Joel!
Joel: Okay, Verdi operas ... [sound of typing]
Will: Let's see … how many acts are there in "Rigoletto"?
Joel: Well, Verdi did do "Otello," and definitely a bunch of people die in "Otello," so ...
Will: "Rigoletto" has only three acts, so that's not going to work.
Joel: So when do, like, Desdemona or Iago, when do they die? [muttering] Act IV, Act IV …
Will: Ah! "Otello" has four acts.
Joel: Yeah, Desdemona dies. And then everybody dies in the last act as per Shakespeare's every other play.
Will: Hmm.
Joel: So we can say "When Desdemona dies, in 'Otello,'" and then we can say "'Otello' composer" for VERDI.
Will: Yeah. Actually, I like your first idea for ACT IV, or the first thing you said: "When everyone dies, in 'Otello.'"
Joel: [laughs] Well, I don't know if that's true, if everybody dies.
Will: Well, obviously not everyone.
Joel: It looks like in the opera, Otello is about to commit suicide and then they do a fade-to-black thing.
Will: [quoting the book] "Otello stabs himself, kissing Desdemona as he dies." Huh. How about "When Otello dies, in 'Otello'"?
Joel: Yeah, that's snappier.
Will: [laughs] Yeah, it's got that echo. Nancy [Schuster] will love us for back-to-back opera clues.
| F | A | I | R | I | F | S | V | A | L | I | D | R | A | Z | E | |||||
| R | O | T | E | M | A | O | F | E | D | O | R | A | D | O | N | O | R | |||
| I | R | S | A | U | D | I | T | I | N | D | I | A | N | A | J | O | N | E | S | |
| S | T | E | T | S | O | N | A | N | I | L | S | C | O | S | M | O | ||||
| C | A | L | A | M | I | T | Y | J | A | N | E | L | I | L | ||||||
| H | E | F | A | N | N | E | A | L | S | W | I | N | B | E | R | E | T | |||
| G | E | N | X | C | H | E | G | U | E | V | A | R | A | |||||||
| R | E | D | C | R | O | S | S | T | V | D | A | D | S | E | E | N | I | T | ||
| A | N | O | R | A | K | S | B | O | O | S | T | F | U | R | N | A | C | E | ||
| E | G | G | O | S | K | E | P | I | A | L | L | A | T | A | R | |||||
| C | H | A | R | L | E | S | D | E | G | A | U | L | L | E | ||||||
| P | I | C | K | E | M | P | I | O | U | S | E | M | O | J | I | |||||
| A | G | O | U | T | I | S | B | U | N | N | Y | D | A | T | A | S | E | T | ||
| B | O | W | L | E | R | B | E | R | G | S | L | E | F | T | J | A | B | S | ||
| S | T | A | N | L | A | U | R | E | L | A | U | E | R | |||||||
| T | O | N | A | L | N | I | P | P | O | R | K | P | I | E | S | B | A | |||
| T | K | O | B | U | S | T | E | R | K | E | A | T | O | N | ||||||
| T | O | Q | U | E | E | E | R | I | E | O | A | K | L | A | N | D | ||||
| C | H | E | F | B | O | Y | A | R | D | E | E | C | O | N | S | O | M | M | E | |
| S | U | R | F | S | E | D | G | I | E | R | A | T | E | N | O | O | R | |||
| I | B | I | S | D | O | O | M | S | T | S | R | E | S | T | S |