John Wrenholt author page
4 puzzles by John Wrenholt
with Constructor comments
| P | A | W | S | G | I | G | M | E | A | T | ||||
| E | R | I | C | E | D | E | N | U | L | T | R | A | ||
| N | I | N | E | T | Y | O | N | E | S | N | O | U | T | |
| E | N | O | S | T | W | O | T | I | M | E | S | |||
| F | I | F | T | E | E | N | B | U | R | N | ||||
| A | C | R | E | R | O | T | N | E | O | N | S | |||
| R | O | I | D | S | T | O | S | C | A | A | T | M | ||
| E | N | D | T | R | I | P | L | E | D | D | A | Y | ||
| D | I | G | R | A | T | I | O | S | K | A | T | E | ||
| C | E | D | E | D | C | O | O | A | C | E | Y | |||
| R | E | I | N | P | L | U | S | O | N | E | ||||
| E | Q | U | A | T | I | O | N | D | A | H | L | |||
| B | U | R | K | A | D | O | T | H | E | M | A | T | H | |
| B | A | D | E | R | S | H | I | A | I | D | L | E | ||
| D | U | S | T | O | P | T | R | A | C | Y |
| B | A | S | S | I | C | O | S | T | S | T | A | G | ||
| A | G | A | I | N | A | U | T | O | T | R | I | O | ||
| T | R | U | C | K | F | R | O | N | T | Y | A | R | D | |
| H | E | N | B | C | E | W | I | L | L | I | A | M | ||
| S | E | A | H | O | R | S | E | C | E | L | L | O | ||
| A | T | A | A | B | S | B | E | D | ||||||
| D | U | T | Y | F | R | E | E | S | T | O | R | E | ||
| B | A | L | L | O | O | N | A | R | T | I | S | T | ||
| P | A | S | S | E | N | G | E | R | V | A | N | S | ||
| U | S | H | S | Y | S | E | G | G | ||||||
| S | T | E | E | L | T | H | R | E | E | D | O | G | ||
| H | I | S | N | I | B | S | A | S | P | H | A | R | ||
| P | O | O | D | L | E | C | U | T | L | H | A | S | A | |
| I | N | F | O | T | O | K | E | A | R | K | I | N | ||
| N | S | F | W | O | W | E | D | Y | E | A | S | T |
I submitted this crossword puzzle last May and it was accepted in August. The seed entry for this puzzle is BALLOON ARTIST. The editors made material changes to about 16 out of the 70 clues. In most cases, it appears that the changes were made to increase the difficulty level. Some of the changed clues include TRUCK [Skateboard piece that connects the wheels to the deck], STEEL [What recycling code "40" is used for], BEAR [Direction word] and GRANT [50s president]. My favorite clues that survived are DUTY FREE STORE [Outlet for international travelers] and TOKE [Drawing of grass?].
FYI: Every morning I've been doing the New York Times Spelling Bee. It's a good brain tester that everyone can do. I've even learned some new words like BIBIMPAP. I encourage everyone to it a try.
| H | O | H | U | M | F | L | O | A | T | W | O | K | ||
| O | B | A | M | A | A | E | R | I | E | A | W | E | ||
| O | I | L | P | L | A | T | F | O | R | M | T | I | E | |
| D | E | F | L | S | A | T | S | P | L | E | E | N | ||
| T | A | I | L | S | H | E | E | R | ||||||
| P | A | G | E | R | S | S | P | I | R | I | T | E | D | |
| A | W | A | R | D | S | T | E | P | S | O | L | E | ||
| N | A | S | A | C | H | O | W | S | T | W | I | N | ||
| D | I | S | S | L | A | V | S | C | R | E | S | T | ||
| A | T | T | I | T | U | D | E | S | H | O | R | E | S | |
| A | R | A | B | Y | L | E | A | D | ||||||
| A | S | T | E | R | S | G | E | T | S | W | A | D | ||
| C | H | I | D | O | W | N | T | H | E | P | I | P | E | |
| T | O | O | O | D | I | U | M | R | I | N | S | E | ||
| S | O | N | M | A | N | S | E | S | E | D | E | R |
I started this puzzle with the "pipe" part. I had originally hoped it would connect words like DRAIN and SEWER, but that proved to be too difficult. Next, I added the revealer. DOWN THE PIPE was my third choice, but I think it works well. This gave me room to add three more theme words. My first choices were SLIP ON CLOGS, MEDIA LEAKS, and PAINT DRIPS. Eventually, I discovered that OIL PLATFORM fit nicely with WATER TOWER and GAS STATION.
Let the debate begin: Is the correct phrase "down the pike" or is it "down the pipe"? According to Merriam-Webster, "down the pike" entered the dictionary first. The "pike" in this case referred to a turnpike. Conflation with the similar-meaning phrase "in the pipeline" lead to the rise of "down the pipe." Both hrases are in use today. I chose a baseball-related definition in my clue in hopes of avoiding confusion, but I have found examples of both phrases used interchangeably.
On my soapbox: Millions of homes get their water through pipes made of toxic lead that can leach out and poison our families. Isn't it time to require the removal of all lead pipes from our water system?
| S | H | O | P | I | P | P | I | F | R | O | S | T | ||
| T | O | P | S | E | C | R | E | T | L | U | C | K | Y | |
| O | N | E | W | A | Y | O | R | A | N | O | T | H | E | R |
| P | E | C | A | N | P | L | O | W | O | W | E | |||
| G | U | T | S | I | S | E | E | |||||||
| T | R | U | T | W | O | W | A | Y | R | A | D | I | O | |
| W | A | L | L | S | A | F | E | S | T | I | R | S | ||
| I | N | C | A | S | T | E | P | S | U | V | E | A | ||
| S | C | E | N | T | P | I | N | G | P | O | N | G | ||
| T | H | R | E | E | W | A | Y | T | I | E | T | E | E | |
| S | A | I | L | A | P | T | S | |||||||
| A | K | A | B | R | I | O | B | E | E | C | H | |||
| S | I | X | W | A | Y | S | T | O | S | U | N | D | A | Y |
| S | T | I | E | G | T | R | E | E | S | T | U | M | P | |
| T | E | S | T | S | S | A | D | L | Y | C | O | O |
When I told my wife that I was going to attempt to construct a puzzle for publication in the New York Times newspaper, I'm sure she thought "No WAY." But I was determined and even after some rejections, I tried every WAY I could think of to come up with a creative and original theme. Can you believe that I submitted a puzzle that incorporated a haiku about poison ivy? It was rejected (rightfully so) with a note that read: "We thought the idea was interesting and different, but we ultimately felt that having a whole theme based on a malady like poison ivy would be a little too unpleasant."
It was time to try a new WAY of thinking. I got the idea for this theme when a game of cards ended in a THREE-WAY TIE. It seemed like it would be a good seed word to build a theme around. First, I checked the database on XWord Info to see if it had ever appeared in a New York Times puzzle before. It had not, although THREE-WAY TIE does appear on Jeff Chen's supplemental word list.
Looking through the same database turned up TWO-WAY RADIO and I knew a bunch of ONE WAY phrases so now I needed to find an interesting 4-WAY word. The only option seemed to be FOUR WAY STOP SIGN. Then an "aha" moment occurred, and I realized that 1 + 2 + 3 = SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY would work and also act as a revealer.
I hope that everyone is able to find a WAY to enjoy this puzzle!