Jim Horne author page
6 puzzles by Jim Horne
with Jim Horne comments
See the 27 answer words debuted by Jim Horne.
In 2007, Seattle musician Jim Horne created XWord Info, a website that celebrates New York Times crosswords and the people who make them. A year later, he started the Wordplay column for the Times and reviewed puzzles there for three years.
| T | R | U | D | D | T | D | I | V | A | S | S | L | A | V | S | |||||
| R | E | S | T | O | R | E | R | U | N | P | A | I | D | P | A | N | I | C | ||
| A | B | S | O | L | U | T | E | C | A | S | H | R | E | G | I | S | T | E | R | |
| M | A | R | K | O | M | E | A | R | A | S | E | W | O | N | E | W | E | |||
| E | O | S | R | A | T | O | N | N | A | D | A | D | E | E | ||||||
| P | L | O | P | O | M | E | S | D | O | A | S | L | O | W | B | U | R | N | ||
| D | A | N | A | L | I | N | B | O | O | N | T | W | E | R | P | S | ||||
| Q | U | I | T | C | O | L | D | T | U | R | K | E | Y | N | B | A | ||||
| R | O | I | L | I | S | E | E | W | A | S | W | A | R | |||||||
| D | E | N | T | I | S | T | A | N | N | A | L | O | Y | A | L | F | A | N | ||
| A | N | D | C | H | A | I | R | O | F | T | H | E | F | E | D | T | W | O | ||
| S | T | I | C | K | O | N | S | S | L | O | E | T | R | I | D | E | N | T | ||
| S | P | A | T | I | M | N | A | T | E | E | I | R | E | |||||||
| R | C | A | T | I | M | B | E | R | I | N | D | U | S | T | R | Y | ||||
| C | O | L | O | N | S | D | E | U | S | R | E | A | S | A | V | E | ||||
| M | A | K | I | N | G | A | L | I | S | T | G | I | R | L | S | X | E | S | ||
| E | T | C | N | O | V | O | A | T | E | I | N | M | I | A | ||||||
| S | T | U | O | R | I | N | G | D | O | G | H | A | N | D | L | E | R | |||
| C | A | P | I | T | A | L | G | A | I | N | S | O | U | T | T | H | E | R | E | |
| A | L | I | C | E | E | E | Y | O | R | E | F | R | I | E | D | E | G | G | ||
| L | O | D | E | S | R | E | N | A | L | T | A | R | K | O | S |
How I Met My Collaborator
XWord Info started in 2007, and when the NYT hired me to write Wordplay the following year, I was contractually obligated to keep my website going.
Maintaining and evolving a complex site is a lot of work, so in 2013, I announced that I was shutting it down. Several people reached out to ask if they could take it over. I sent them the lengthy list of technologies involved in XWord Info. That was enough to scare them off.
Finally, this Jeff Chen guy sent me mail with the same offer. When I asked him if he was familiar with the listed tech, he replied, "No, but it's just another puzzle, right?"
Perfect answer.
I'd never met Jeff before. I didn't learn until later that he lived just across Seattle's I-90 bridge from me. We've been collaborators and friends ever since.
| K | E | G | E | L | D | E | S | T | L | O | S | T | ||
| I | T | O | L | A | N | D | H | O | O | N | T | O | ||
| W | A | Y | N | E | M | A | N | O | R | N | C | I | S | |
| I | S | A | A | C | A | V | E | N | G | E | R | S | ||
| I | T | S | E | R | A | T | ||||||||
| M | A | D | R | O | N | A | L | O | R | E | T | T | A | |
| A | T | E | R | A | D | A | R | S | C | R | E | E | N | |
| C | R | A | P | S | G | A | M | E | M | A | T | T | ||
| R | I | D | E | M | B | A | S | M | R | I | ||||
| O | A | S | E | S | I | D | O | S | M | I | C | |||
| I | K | E | A | G | Y | M | C | L | A | S | S | |||
| S | O | L | A | R | C | A | R | M | I | G | S | |||
| T | H | E | B | A | T | C | A | V | E | B | C | C | S | |
| A | N | N | O | E | L | M | E | R | T | O | G | A | ||
| T | O | T | O | D | U | S | T | S | Q | T | I | P |
This mini-theme is one that even I could understand. "Atomic batteries to power! Turbines to speed!" DA-da-da-da-DA-da-da-da...
| C | A | M | E | R | A | S | H | Y | S | P | A | M | ||
| T | A | L | E | S | O | F | W | O | E | C | U | R | B | |
| O | P | E | D | C | O | L | U | M | N | O | R | C | A | |
| T | O | S | S | T | O | M | E | S | O | P | H | S | ||
| B | O | A | S | P | O | T | L | I | T | |||||
| D | I | S | T | A | N | T | P | E | W | E | M | U | ||
| I | N | P | U | T | Q | U | E | N | C | H | E | D | ||
| S | N | O | B | P | F | U | N | K | L | A | D | E | ||
| P | A | R | A | N | O | I | A | D | O | Z | E | N | ||
| E | M | T | O | U | R | D | N | A | T | E | S | T | ||
| R | E | S | P | I | T | E | R | E | D | |||||
| S | O | B | E | R | O | D | E | S | G | U | S | H | ||
| I | N | R | E | A | P | O | S | T | R | O | P | H | E | |
| O | L | A | V | M | A | R | S | L | A | N | D | E | R | |
| N | Y | S | E | P | L | A | Y | E | D | G | O | D |
Will Shortz or one of his minions came up with the clue [Contents of some childproof containers, for short] for MEDS.
This is clever clue-writing. Instead of a simple definition or a sneaky pun, the clue takes a side-step away from the obvious to build a tiny story that points indirectly at the answer. This kind of once-removed creativity is something I struggle with. I suspect Will, with his decades of experience, does this naturally.
Today marks Jeff Chen's 55th collaboration puzzle in the NYT, more than half his total count. Only Nancy Salomon has more. Well, a lot more; she has 116. Here's the list of NYT constructors sorted by the number of collaborations.
And what about that clue for APOSTROPHE? Not ours either, but awesome.
| S | T | I | F | L | E | A | Y | A | W | N | ||||
| N | O | H | O | L | D | S | B | A | R | R | E | D | ||
| B | U | S | I | N | E | S | S | A | S | U | S | U | A | L |
| S | N | A | R | E | D | A | T | I | T | R | T | E | ||
| A | N | D | S | D | Y | E | R | R | O | E | G | |||
| T | Y | P | O | L | E | T | B | E | ||||||
| A | S | I | S | E | E | I | T | F | A | B | I | A | N | |
| S | O | T | M | A | N | S | M | A | N | C | I | D | ||
| H | U | S | H | E | S | P | O | D | C | A | S | T | S | |
| A | L | D | E | N | S | E | E | M | ||||||
| N | M | E | X | C | H | I | T | N | E | H | I | |||
| T | A | J | N | O | U | N | K | A | E | L | I | N | ||
| I | T | A | L | I | A | N | D | R | E | S | S | I | N | G |
| E | V | I | L | S | C | I | E | N | T | I | S | T | ||
| U | S | E | T | H | E | F | O | R | C | E |