Jeff Slutzky author page
1 puzzle by Jeff Slutzky
with Constructor comments
See the 7 answer words debuted by Jeff Slutzky.
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JEFF SLUTZKY: I'm excited to be making my New York Times crossword debut; it's my first crossword anywhere! I first came up with this theme several years ago. I knew nothing about crossword constructing software or word-lookup programs at the time, so I tried to create the whole puzzle using graph paper, my pencil, and my brain. I didn't get far.
Then last March I met Derek Bowman at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. He's a veteran constructor, and when I told him I had a theme idea, he expressed interest in collaborating with me. He came up with a couple of new theme entries, as well as the great TORAH kicker at the end. One of our original entries — MENTOR AT WORK (clued as "Yoda or Mr. Miyagi, from 9 to 5?") — was nixed by the editors because it didn't significantly change the meaning of the base phrase, so we replaced it with CAPTOR IN HAND.
Derek was great to work with, and I learned a lot from him. I'm glad we were able to put this puzzle together!
DEREK BOWMAN: Jeff Slutzky had several ideas for theme entries that involved adding TOR to common phrases, and I found them to be very funny. (IT'S RAINING, MENTOR sadly ended up on the cutting room floor.) Together, we eventually narrowed it down to the theme entries listed in the grid, with some guidance from Will Shortz and Sam Ezersky.
Jeff has a great sense of humor, and I'm still amazed that he immediately identified the tune from Dear Evan Hansen that was lovingly redone at the ACPT talent show last year after hearing just a few notes. Jeff is a whiz at musicals, has a keen eye for detail, and was a lot of fun to work with on this puzzle.