John Westwig author page
9 puzzles by John Westwig
with Constructor comments
John Westwig is a software engineer in Seattle.
| B | U | D | A | T | W | A | R | A | S | S | I | S | T | S | B | I | B | |||
| U | T | E | C | H | I | L | I | W | A | T | C | H | I | T | U | N | O | |||
| G | O | T | I | T | O | F | F | T | H | E | G | R | O | U | N | D | S | T | Y | |
| O | P | E | N | R | E | R | E | A | D | A | N | T | S | C | I | A | ||||
| F | I | C | U | S | Y | E | A | R | O | U | I | R | A | N | G | E | ||||
| F | A | T | I | M | A | D | I | D | N | T | S | C | A | L | E | W | E | L | L | |
| T | A | C | T | D | I | E | T | S | S | I | T | S | I | A | ||||||
| E | B | B | S | C | O | T | E | G | O | F | L | I | P | S | O | N | ||||
| P | O | A | C | H | E | D | O | U | R | E | M | P | L | O | Y | E | E | S | ||
| C | O | R | R | I | D | O | R | S | V | A | L | O | R | R | C | P | T | |||
| O | N | E | O | N | E | P | E | W | N | A | V | T | U | S | H | I | E | |||
| T | E | E | N | H | O | M | I | E | T | E | A | S | P | O | O | N | S | |||
| S | U | F | F | E | R | E | D | F | R | O | M | B | U | R | N | O | U | T | ||
| L | A | S | T | R | O | W | E | R | E | E | U | R | O | L | P | S | ||||
| A | C | E | A | R | T | G | O | O | D | S | T | I | O | S | ||||||
| R | A | N | O | U | T | O | F | R | U | N | W | A | Y | S | T | A | R | T | S | |
| K | I | T | E | D | R | U | T | O | N | E | G | S | T | O | O | P | ||||
| B | I | D | I | M | A | Y | L | O | C | A | L | E | Y | O | L | O | ||||
| B | O | A | C | O | R | N | E | R | E | D | T | H | E | M | A | R | K | E | T | |
| O | W | L | A | T | E | C | R | O | W | U | S | A | I | N | I | D | O | |||
| P | L | S | B | A | D | S | E | E | D | M | O | N | T | Y | E | O | N |
| S | P | E | E | D | O | H | O | S | T | F | O | R | R | E | A | L | ||||
| H | O | W | D | E | D | O | I | S | L | E | I | S | A | I | D | N | O | |||
| I | N | O | U | T | I | N | G | S | H | O | R | T | L | O | N | G | I | N | G | |
| N | Y | K | A | U | T | O | S | A | P | R | I | L | T | H | E | E | ||||
| D | I | M | O | U | T | S | O | A | K | I | E | S | T | |||||||
| S | T | E | A | L | P | R | O | C | O | N | N | I | N | G | S | N | I | P | ||
| T | H | A | L | I | A | D | O | R | F | F | O | A | M | I | N | G | ||||
| R | E | S | E | N | D | S | L | E | A | N | H | O | T | P | A | C | K | S | ||
| I | C | Y | G | O | O | F | E | L | O | P | E | R | I | R | E | |||||
| N | A | H | L | A | B | A | N | I | M | A | L | A | N | T | M | A | N | |||
| G | P | A | S | P | R | I | N | G | F | A | L | L | I | N | G | E | A | U | ||
| S | E | R | A | P | H | S | I | R | E | N | S | O | N | G | A | M | C | |||
| D | N | A | S | P | L | A | T | S | S | I | L | O | N | I | L | |||||
| B | R | I | A | N | M | A | Y | B | I | L | E | T | E | N | M | I | L | E | ||
| P | U | N | T | S | O | N | M | A | R | A | D | E | A | N | N | A | ||||
| S | E | G | O | O | D | D | E | V | E | N | I | N | G | T | I | G | E | R | ||
| M | I | N | G | E | R | A | D | E | C | A | P | O | D | |||||||
| T | T | Y | L | L | E | O | N | A | S | H | I | L | O | P | S | A | ||||
| W | H | O | L | E | P | A | R | T | I | N | G | O | N | O | F | F | I | N | G | |
| S | E | M | A | N | A | S | I | S | T | O | S | W | E | E | T | I | E | |||
| J | A | B | B | E | R | S | C | H | I | P | S | W | E | A | T | S |
This puzzle has an interesting property: I've "stolen" one of the theme answers from another puzzle with an entirely different theme! Tom McCoy adds "AL" to common phrases, so "Spring Fling" becomes "Spring F(al)ling". People who remember these sorts of things: let me know if this has happened before!
In all honesty, I haven't been spending much time making puzzles recently; instead, I'm focusing my efforts on species preservation. The great Spanish oso (Latin: Ursus utilis) has been on the brink of extinction for many years and I'm working with a crack team of cruciverbal conservationists to reintroduce as many as we can to the wild before it's too late. Speaking of, I haven't seen any ernes around recently ... sure is weird.
| L | A | N | D | S | C | A | P | E | S | A | J | A | K | |
| E | X | C | A | L | I | B | U | R | A | B | U | S | E | |
| D | E | O | X | I | D | I | Z | E | G | A | S | S | Y | |
| M | E | T | Z | C | A | C | T | U | S | |||||
| N | A | D | E | R | L | O | A | K | I | M | ||||
| A | E | R | O | L | I | M | P | S | N | E | W | |||
| S | O | M | E | T | H | I | N | G | T | O | H | I | D | E |
| A | N | Y | T | H | I | N | G | Y | O | U | W | A | N | T |
| N | O | T | H | I | N | G | P | E | R | S | O | N | A | L |
| A | I | R | S | T | A | R | S | R | I | M | Y | |||
| R | A | G | E | M | O | S | A | D | I | E | ||||
| E | F | I | L | E | D | B | L | E | D | |||||
| L | I | N | E | A | B | L | O | W | A | F | U | S | E | |
| B | L | E | A | T | T | E | L | E | P | O | R | T | S | |
| A | M | E | N | S | S | M | A | R | T | E | N | U | P |
I'd like to retroactively title this puzzle "Everything Everywhere All at Once", which was too big to fit in a 15x15 grid.
The "stairstep" progression of Nothing -> Anything -> Something -> Everything caught my attention as a fun way to seed a themeless, as it created a bunch of really workable substrings in the Downs. I worked through a couple iterations of this puzzle, trying a quad stack (fat chance!) and two double stacks, ultimately settling on a triple stack with the disappointing omission of a delicious everything bagel.
(Side note: Seattle! Get your bagel act together. How hard can it be?)
A BIT of RIMY fill here and there, but I'm happy with the grid given the constraints of the center spanners. Getting 8-Down to run through it all felt appropriate for what I hope was a fun stumper of a Saturday!
| S | C | R | I | B | E | S | J | A | M | U | P | |||
| T | H | E | C | A | T | C | H | I | R | A | N | I | ||
| E | A | S | Y | C | H | A | I | R | B | I | G | O | N | |
| W | I | T | H | O | L | D | A | S | E | A | N | C | E | |
| I | T | I | S | S | E | E | P | E | D | E | A | R | ||
| N | E | N | E | H | S | A | G | A | I | T | R | Y | ||
| G | A | G | L | A | W | N | O | T | G | O | O | D | ||
| F | I | E | L | D | D | A | Y | S | ||||||
| M | A | I | L | B | A | G | C | R | A | P | P | Y | ||
| R | O | D | E | A | D | O | S | O | P | E | R | A | ||
| I | B | M | C | R | I | S | P | S | P | O | S | Y | ||
| P | R | I | V | A | T | E | E | Y | E | S | R | A | T | |
| O | U | T | E | R | S | E | C | R | E | T | I | V | E | |
| F | L | I | R | T | K | A | V | A | K | A | V | A | ||
| F | E | T | A | S | M | E | T | O | N | Y | M |
I seeded this puzzle with SYNONYM on the bottom row, for which I had a stockpile of annoying clues. [Checks for ticks?] was my favorite. As it often goes, other constraints forced my hand and I changed that entry to another member of the "-onym" suffix family. (Still interesting, in my book, but not so amenable to a tricky clue)
I like to think that 1-, 2- and 3-Down tell a nice story of relaxation. With colder and rainier weather upon us in the PNW, I'll be sipping on a chai tea. Pleonasms be damned!
| M | E | G | A | F | A | N | A | G | A | I | N | S | T | |
| I | L | O | V | E | L | A | W | I | I | M | O | T | E | |
| A | C | T | E | D | O | N | H | M | M | I | S | E | E | |
| H | A | R | S | H | J | I | M | T | E | E | N | |||
| S | E | L | A | A | D | O | R | E | S | S | P | Y | ||
| P | A | I | G | E | I | O | L | A | N | I | ||||
| A | P | G | E | R | M | A | N | S | O | M | A | |||
| O | H | G | E | E | Z | P | E | C | A | N | S | |||
| T | U | B | A | D | E | C | A | F | T | E | A | |||
| Y | U | T | Z | E | S | T | R | I | C | K | ||||
| P | B | S | S | H | A | F | T | S | A | U | R | A | ||
| A | R | A | B | E | X | T | T | H | I | N | E | |||
| T | A | X | I | C | A | B | A | R | I | D | I | T | Y | |
| T | H | E | B | O | D | Y | H | A | N | S | O | L | O | |
| Y | E | S | B | O | S | S | A | P | T | O | N | Y | M |
This puzzle is brought to you by Zaxby's, the official fast food chain of the National Scrabble Association.
| A | D | B | I | Z | S | O | S | A | R | P | M | S | ||
| C | I | R | C | E | P | S | A | T | E | L | O | N | ||
| T | R | A | I | N | A | R | I | D | E | P | A | V | E | |
| E | G | G | D | R | I | E | S | H | O | S | E | R | ||
| D | E | A | L | A | S | T | R | I | K | E | T | A | D | |
| O | Y | E | Z | G | A | Y | L | I | B | |||||
| S | C | H | W | A | P | H | Y | S | I | Q | U | E | ||
| O | H | O | K | S | T | A | T | E | B | U | S | Y | ||
| W | E | R | E | C | O | O | L | S | I | E | T | E | ||
| C | R | Y | O | U | T | T | H | U | D | |||||
| S | K | I | P | L | A | N | E | A | B | O | A | R | D | |
| C | A | F | E | S | L | O | S | E | S | T | U | O | ||
| A | C | I | D | S | W | I | T | C | H | J | O | B | S | |
| R | U | E | D | P | A | C | E | O | L | L | I | E | ||
| E | T | S | Y | F | R | E | D | P | O | L | O | S |
| S | A | U | T | E | P | A | N | M | A | T | C | H | A | |
| A | B | S | O | L | U | T | E | O | N | A | R | U | N | |
| H | O | M | E | B | R | E | W | D | O | T | I | M | E | |
| A | D | A | A | R | M | Y | M | E | N | M | A | C | ||
| R | E | P | S | S | P | O | O | L | B | E | N | D | ||
| A | S | S | A | M | O | R | B | F | O | L | I | O | ||
| D | O | S | K | J | J | W | A | T | T | |||||
| M | A | L | C | O | L | M | G | O | O | D | B | Y | E | |
| C | L | E | A | R | Y | S | B | R | O | |||||
| G | L | A | S | S | V | E | T | D | I | D | I | T | ||
| R | I | D | E | N | A | C | R | E | N | A | D | A | ||
| E | N | O | B | O | T | T | O | M | S | G | E | N | ||
| G | O | F | L | A | T | I | M | B | A | T | M | A | N | |
| O | N | F | I | R | E | O | P | E | N | L | A | T | E | |
| R | E | S | T | E | D | N | E | R | D | C | R | E | D |
Hello again, Crossworld! I hope that the gimmick in this puzzle was the X-factor in your solving experience …
I'm a senior at Tufts University, studying Computer Science and Math. I wrote this puzzle in my spare time while interning for the NYT Puzzles team this summer as a software developer; a huge thank-you to everyone there for a wonderful experience.
This puzzle was originally scheduled for a Saturday. However, I'm pleased to make my Thursday debut! Will and the team did a great job with the cluing, but I'm happy to see a couple of my favorites make the cut (I'm particularly fond of 18-Across). Given the low density of the theme, I tried to keep the fill as clean as possible. Other than ENO, I'm pleased with the result. I'm interested to see how the Thursday crowd will react; this puzzle might play more like a themeless than your typical Thursday trickery.
| A | B | E | D | A | B | A | F | T | A | B | C | S | ||
| L | E | V | I | R | I | D | E | R | L | O | U | T | ||
| B | E | E | S | M | O | O | L | A | E | Z | R | A | ||
| A | B | R | A | H | A | M | S | L | I | N | C | O | L | N |
| G | E | N | E | N | U | T | ||||||||
| H | A | R | R | I | S | O | N | S | F | O | R | D | ||
| R | A | Z | E | D | R | E | E | F | O | U | T | |||
| C | I | T | E | P | I | C | O | T | B | A | B | E | ||
| A | T | E | L | E | D | A | C | O | R | A | L | |||
| I | C | H | I | R | O | S | S | U | Z | U | K | I | ||
| Y | E | S | O | N | A | N | ||||||||
| F | R | E | D | D | I | E | S | M | E | R | C | U | R | Y |
| R | E | A | R | A | R | U | B | A | E | T | A | L | ||
| O | S | S | O | N | I | M | E | S | R | A | G | E | ||
| S | T | Y | X | S | C | O | R | E | S | H | A | M |
This puzzle's theme is a variation on a much overused one, and I hope solvers don't find it too straightforward. I remember coming across a puzzle from many years ago that used HARRISONSFORD as an entry, and I started wondering if there were other famous people with similarly automotive last names. I was unaware of Ichiro's last name, as his jersey features his first name rather than his last, and discovered this fact with the help of XWord Info. Furthermore, I was a bit worried that Freddie would not make the cut, since he was born Farrokh Bulsara, while the other entries featured birth names.
The fill, too, I think I could have improved, particularly those 4x4 corners — I would be interested in seeing if I could rework the grid structure to allow for longer words.
Overall, however, I'm happy to make my second appearance in the NY Times with another celebrity-based theme, probably surprising to those who know me and my pop-culture averse nature.
Hope you all enjoy!
| S | W | A | B | S | A | C | R | E | E | N | Z | O | ||
| C | A | P | R | I | P | H | A | T | D | E | A | D | ||
| A | K | I | O | M | O | R | I | T | A | H | U | G | E | |
| M | E | E | K | V | O | L | T | F | A | T | ||||
| P | U | C | E | A | N | D | Y | M | U | R | R | A | Y | |
| S | P | E | N | T | A | R | R | I | V | E | ||||
| I | F | I | M | A | Y | I | N | O | N | |||||
| M | O | R | N | I | N | G | P | E | R | S | O | N | ||
| P | A | L | O | R | O | M | E | R | O | |||||
| T | I | D | B | I | T | W | A | R | D | S | ||||
| A | L | M | I | C | H | A | E | L | S | G | E | E | K | |
| O | N | E | G | L | E | E | E | A | S | E | ||||
| M | E | N | S | A | L | I | M | A | C | G | R | A | W | |
| O | R | E | O | B | O | Z | O | L | A | U | D | E | ||
| B | R | Y | N | S | W | A | N | U | P | P | E | R |
The concept for this puzzle began a rainy summer morning in 2011, vacationing with my grandparents on the Jersey Shore. We had Wimbledon on, and somehow my semi-somnolent brain made the connection between the initials of one of the players (Andy Murray) and my current state of grogginess. I spent most of the day brainstorming different people with the relevant ante-meridianic initials; my grandparents contributing a whole host of actors and celebrities I had never heard of. I had not constructed too many puzzles at this point, so actually filling in the grid with my theme in place was a challenge. School resumed, and I forgot about my offhand efforts. About two years later I rediscovered this puzzle as I was transferring old files over to a new computer, and despite the gut-wrenching fill it caught my eye as a puzzle I might be able to rework.
The first submission Will liked, but was worried that many of the people I had included were too obscure for the NY Times crowd. He gave me a list of alternates (helpfully all ten letters), that I had overlooked in my searches. By that time, I had started to realize that making a worthwhile puzzle was more than including an amusing theme and a few tricky clues. I urged myself throughout the revision process to included longer, spicier fill, with a minimum of bleh. I settled on the grid here, with two 8s in the NE and SW, and relatively open corners opposite. I'm still wondering if I could have done without the rather obscure CLU and overused INO, but at least the latter comes from an Ithaca-related myth…
The result you see here is perhaps the seventh or eighth revision — I hope you all enjoy!