Jay Kaskel 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.

I originally set out to create a Halloween-themed puzzle that incorporated all the familiar characters associated with Halloween: witches, ghosts, skeletons, vampires, and zombies. But the theme never felt tight enough. After a while, I settled on a witch/BROOM HILDA-themed puzzle and sent it off.

While Will liked the idea, he felt young solvers might not be familiar with the character. So not only did I have to replace BROOM HILDA at 58-Across, I had to do some serious re-cluing, (CHARM SCHOOL, for example, was clued as "Educational institution attended by 58-Across?")

Here's where things got tricky. One of the original theme fills was WITCH HUNT, which meant I couldn't use the word "witch" in the clues. "Educational institution attended by a Halloween broom-rider" just didn't do the trick. It felt too forced. In the end, I dropped WITCH HUNT as an answer, and thankfully Will was okay with the puzzle having just four main fills.

As always, I can't tell you how much of a treat it is to see one of my puzzles in the NYT.

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