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Kyle T. Dolan author page

17 puzzles by Kyle T. Dolan
with Constructor comments

TotalDebutLatest
175/22/201210/8/2022
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1141154
RebusCircleScrabbleFresh
121.5966%
Kyle T. Dolan
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Constructor (13)Editor (1)Guest (1)Jeff Chen (14)Hide comments

See the 95 answer words debuted by Kyle T. Dolan.

Alternate name for this constructor:
Kyle Dolan
Puzzles constructed by Kyle T. Dolan by year
Sat 10/8/2022
CREDOREDDBRB
LOCALCOLORCREE
IMAREALBOYAONE
PERKBEARMARKET
SODATAXPORTER
LOLDRUMSOUT
TVSETWAITSPSA
HUESZHUZHWEST
UVALEONECANOE
SUNBURSTTOY
ZEALOTPOLARIS
PETCUSHIONHINT
ALTOTEMPAGENCY
GALSARABLEAGUE
ESEREMYODORS

The foundation for this grid was 33A (which I hope solvers will enjoy uncovering) and the central pattern of black squares.

Fri 7/8/2022
STATUSQUOINTOW
LEMONCURDNUHUH
ITSTOOBADERATO
DOTETINSSTIRS
NEMOTUMSULAN
LINTSAYGRACE
CROPKLEENEX
MIRAGAEVADDT
AREAMAPRARE
GODSPEEDNUMB
INTODRUBPOLS
CRICKWAIFTOTE
AUDIOARTEDITOR
CLEANSTOLENCAR
TESLAPENLIGHTS

Following a period of constructing themelesses with black squares laid out in advance of filling (including the SPREZZATURA themeless from April), I changed approach here, starting with STATUS QUO at 1A and letting the grid design emerge organically as dictated by the fill. (This required a lot of filling 'by hand' without using computer aids.)

The NE and SW quad stacks were serendipitous, and I'm especially happy with how they turned out. I'd like to acknowledge Sam Ezersky, whose notes for the Saturday 1/16/21 puzzle served in part as an inspiration, for helpful discussions about themeless construction philosophy.

Sat 4/2/2022
CONSULINSPIRIT
APOLLOSETADATE
RECANTFARCICAL
DRAMASATEDELL
TAMSSCHLEPDYS
AGESPRAYTAN
BORDERONSPICED
LEARNEDOMAKASE
ERSATZPLACENTA
WIZARDRYNAT
PGANAMEITROTH
ARUMTOMEMINER
SURESUREMASALA
TEASERADONEDAY
ALLHEALSSINEWS

This is the second complete grid I built around the seed entry SPREZZATURA during development of this puzzle in late 2020. The first one had a lower word count (66), with intersecting triple stair-stacks through the middle of the grid. Although visually flashier, I wasn't totally satisfied with the quality of the fill options, so I opted to go back to the drawing board.

I later recalled Byron Walden's final puzzle from the Crosswords From Your Couch Tournament, with its elegant pinwheel shape, and decided to try using this pattern in a 68-word variation — leading to the published version.

Fri 1/21/2022
AMPUPGALAMAGS
RAISEHAVOCAURA
EATENALIVEGDAY
AMYSUEDEBIRDS
BITSBRACE
SHROVEBEARCLAW
TRADEBLACKHOLE
ARTYSEEDYARIA
GETSALLASARDEN
SPECIALKLUMENS
RANGYCONS
TURNTAFOOTADA
GRINSCRAPMETAL
ISEETHATSAMORE
FARRYETIYIPES

BLACK HOLE was the seed entry here. Notice how it's kind of floating on the right side of the puzzle? It may seem like a strange place to put a seed. Still, this location provides more flexibility in the relative positions of those letters in the Down entries through black square placement, compared to putting the entry in the top row, where every letter must also be the first letter of a Down entry.

I could then design a grid skeleton around BLACK HOLE based on common positional frequencies of those letters — B at the start of 32D, K at the end of 21D, etc. — which gave me a lot of options for filling in that section. (The black squares above B and below K also set up a nice layout for the flow of answers through the middle sections of the grid.)

If you are learning themeless construction and working with seed entries, I'd recommend trying this method yourself — you may be pleasantly surprised at what you can come up with!

Tue 11/17/2020
ISLAACIDSMGM
BOATIONICPORE
MOTHERMAYIETAS
STEELELKBLISS
RASHLIFEOFPI
OHGREATTAGS
PERTSRAJAILER
ERAHAIRPINAYE
COMBOSCOTCURE
BRIODAMAGED
BACKSPINSIKH
ALLIELOGCELEB
LOANGROWASPINE
SUNGMINERONIT
ADSAGENTPEDS

I wrote and submitted this puzzle in September 2019, and it was accepted in December of that year. The original thematic inspiration came from solving Paolo Pasco's ingenious "Erosion" puzzle, which ran in the Times on January 22, 2018 — check that out if you haven't solved it. I searched for a good revealer to anchor a similar theme mechanism and eventually worked out a set based on GROW A SPINE.

A pretty good number of my clues made it through to the finished version intact or with minor changes. I'm glad to see 14-A, 20-A, 21-A, 66-A, 10-D, and 27-D all made the cut. I really like the editors' clue for 62-D, Stella Adler's timeless quotation closing the puzzle with a flourish and leaving solvers something to reflect upon.

I hope solvers will enjoy the puzzle!

Mon 6/8/2020
HUEBEARALIKE
ENDSISLEPESOS
CLICKBAITTAROT
TITANSBAMALA
ANIMETIGERBEAT
RENECOSTOOLIE
EDGELEOLURID
FROSTBITE
MALESCAFSTAR
SOFALEGREFELO
PARTYBOATURALS
ANOYENEMERGE
REPELANKLEBOOT
TROVESIAMAUNT
ASPENYEASTEA

This is my first Monday puzzle, and it marks a personal milestone for me as a constructor: I have now made a NY Times puzzle for every day of the week. I hope you enjoy it.

While you're here, I'd like to share some ways the crossword community is supporting the essential work of tackling racism by giving their time and talent: Erik Agard (who wrote last Monday's excellent puzzle) and Paolo Pasco are both offering unpublished puzzles in return for donations to antiracist/Black Lives Matter-relevant causes. I hope some of you will channel your appreciation for their work into contributing. And (to echo Erik's note from last week) the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory on Facebook offers resources and mentorship for constructors from underrepresented groups.

Fri 3/27/2020
SNIPSALPOLAS
POPUPSTORELOCH
IHOPETOGODANTE
NODCANEMAGGIE
SINENANOBOT
THREADBIRDSONG
RAOULCAGEYAIL
OVALPATHSSRTA
LEDLUMETNUDES
LITTEREDSEISMS
ETERNALJUST
YESESHAUNTREI
BATSBALLRETURN
USESMILEAGELOG
SYDWRAPGEESE

I began constructing this puzzle with THREAD and BIRDSONG, knowing I wanted to clue both identically with references to tweets. I'm happy to see my clues at 16A, 4D, 12D, and 35D made the finished product, and I'm grateful to the editors for their clues at 37A and 8D.

I hope you enjoy the puzzle and find it a welcome respite in these anxious times.

Tue 7/23/2019
ABSENTSWALLOW
DOODAHKARAOKE
EXCUSESEXCUSES
NYCMEDRED
ESTERDYE
MARCUSAURELIUS
ATBATNAPCHE
CRAMGROWHEHE
AILBAASEDUM
WALRUSMUSTACHE
AMPNEURO
SAPPIGFDA
JUSTTHETWOOFUS
UPTONOWASLEEP
GEORGESYODELS
Fri 4/26/2019
SHAKEITOFFESPY
POKERTABLEMAIA
OLIVEBREADBUCK
TONIUEYSDESK
NERDHARDASS
SIPHONACMEGAL
OCEANSPRAYJEDI
SEARSORRSODOM
PICTGRADSCHOOL
ACEPITYHANGRY
DETAINSWEND
BONEAPIAOVER
GAWKCLINTONERA
ABELPUNCHINGIN
PYREATTHELEAST

My fiancée's love of Taylor Swift inspired me to seed this themeless grid with 1-Across, which makes its New York Times debut today.

Fri 11/16/2018
SHOUTINGMAIDS
NEWMEDIAEXTOLS
OILPAINTREININ
ODEGEORGSUMO
PITASBRIEFTEC
BETADRACHMA
TRALALATROOP
WHITEBLOODCELLS
ARDENKNEADED
SEEDIERTATI
SESCOUCHSTART
ASHECELEBLAW
ITALIEADELAIDE
LARSONNOBIGGIE
REESESTEPONIT

I began this puzzle by seeding the 66-Across entry and building the SE stack. Ironically, the one entry that Will and Sam asked me to change before they accepted it was...you guessed it...66-Across. The SE corner you see now is my second effort.

POW Thu 8/23/2018
ABECOTHANDED
VALEHAIOLEARY
IDECLARETOUPEE
DUCHESSOFCER
TOTENOWABBA
PRELSTRAILERS
BARDOPOULTTET
IRAOILMLSTAR
KINSCABSARESO
EAGLEEYESTORT
RHEASUEAROD
CROPROTATION
GUSTAVCHIPOTLE
ARRIVEANNNOGO
SLICERNOGRAN

I thought that CROP ROTATION would make a good revealer for a puzzle with answers going in multiple directions, and decided to use rebus squares for the ‘crops' so that both answers passing through the rebus square could ‘rotate'.

Grid design was of paramount importance. In fact, unlike the typical construction process, here I worked out the basic grid design first and then selected theme entries. I wanted the longest puzzle slots (not including the revealer) to contain rebus squares, while preserving good flow through the grid. After much trial and error, I finally hit on the pattern of long Acrosses in rows 4 and 12 (fixed by the 12-letter revealer) and long Downs in columns 3 and 13, which gave me a great deal of flexibility in black square placement. I breathed a sigh of relief when I confirmed that I could cross CROP ROTATION and STO{RY E}DITOR at the I, and DUCHESS OF {CORN}WALL and ELECT{RIC E}ELS at the C.

A fun etymology fact I learned during construction is that the place name ‘Cornwall' has nothing to do with maize or any other food: the 'corn' in the name derives from an ancient Celtic word meaning ‘headland'.

Wed 2/22/2017
GINABARBBALE
ADOREOVERUNIX
SLIMTONONESTEP
PERISHNEXTIDO
EYEDGIRLS
MARSNOTETOSELF
AGETRIOPUPIL
TIPSYNAPSETMI
CLOCKSETSIBN
HERETOSTAYSCOT
TOSCAKLUM
RECKELPEDICTS
ADAMAMENTOTHAT
ZERONODENEATO
ENDSSNITSPEW
Sat 6/20/2015
WINATLIFETARTH
AMINOACIDAWARE
SPANDRELSPECAN
SOGOVALEASEIN
USAFAXIOMSCPA
PERILENDORASE
SALADGENDERED
IRAQSERB
STEAKRUBYIELD
TEALWAILPLEAS
JAGFIDGETSANE
OREGONPARKVIC
HORUSHAVEABEER
NULLSOPENTABLE
STYLEPINTEREST

I'm very happy to have my second themeless puzzle published in the Times! The seed for this puzzle was the bottom stack HAVE A BEER/OPEN TABLE/PINTEREST. As I mentioned in the notes to my last puzzle, clue writing is a skill I've been working on improving. Thus, I was pleased to see 38 of my submitted clues used in their original form or with minor changes. Original clues include 1A, 35A, 54A, 1D, 8D, 30D, and 49D.

I learned the word SPANDRELS from an evolutionary biologist friend several years ago. In that field, according to Wikipedia, it refers to a "characteristic that is a byproduct of the evolution of some other characteristic, rather than a direct product of adaptive selection." Some have argued that human language might be a spandrel resulting from the evolution of our brain. I chose to use the more common architectural definition, but I hope solvers who are interested in evolutionary biology will enjoy finding SPANDRELS and DARWIN together in the puzzle!

Tue 9/30/2014
BILBOATANUKES
ADOREDOWBRAVO
ROVERDREWCAREY
BLEWPOISENANA
BEGINABUTS
MIDASSAVES
POTUSSPREEPSA
THEPRICEISRIGHT
ASSINTELCDROM
ONDVDSALAD
MANGOTENET
TOBEOOZESWILT
BOBBARKERMINEO
SLAINSACELGIN
PASTYOLEIDSAY

I began making this puzzle on January 12, 2013, two days after Kevan Choset's "Wheel of Fortune"-themed puzzle appeared in the Times. I'm a big fan of "The Price Is Right", and like other classic game shows, I thought its cross-generational appeal would make for a good pop culture theme. I discovered that THE PRICE IS RIGHT, BOB BARKER, and DREW CAREY could make a nice 9/15/9 scaffold, and I started designing potential grids.

In my earliest draft, "Showcase Showdown" filled two symmetric 8-letter entries; however, I soon embraced the idea of making the "wheel" shape that you see in the puzzle, which somewhat resembles the 20-sided wheel they use for this game on the show. (If you draw straight lines to connect the letter sequence, you'll see what I mean.) The best visual approximation I could come up with required breaking the 16-letter phrase into 3-letter pieces connected by single letters. It was very fortuitous that the triplets at 15A, 33D, 57A, and 27D didn't require iffy fill.

I completed the first draft in 15 days — at the time a record pace for me — and sent it to Will. He liked the theme and asked me to revise some less desirable fill. The second draft was accepted in July 2013. Will made a few cosmetic improvements, particularly the lower-right corner, where I had NCAA and EERY(???) at neighboring Downs. Today, I'd certainly spend some extra time to smooth over little rough patches like that.

I'm especially happy with the longer Down answers I found I could fit in — LOVE BITES, BREWED UP, GAS RING, BEER CAN, IDLEWILD, and PG RATINGS were all part of my original draft. Getting the double stacks in the top-left and bottom-right corners was especially satisfying because of the triple-checked letters in SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN.

I was happy to see that my clues for 39A, 56A, 10D, 26D, and several other entries made it through intact or with minor adjustments. I continue to learn from Will's clue editing, and this puzzle was a lesson in precise, vivid cluing. A perfect example is at 48D, where my original clue was [Nonplussed response]. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Will for making it possible for me to share all this with you!

Sat 1/4/2014
ASIANDJPAULYD
CONDOGREATBEAR
TUTORLATCHONTO
USERMINSKADEN
PARKRANGERTASE
VAULTTAB
CRABBIERTIPPLE
POLLODOSGRAIN
ROSEUPTEETERED
TACALOFT
ARCSTHECAPITOL
MOOTDIXONGIVE
AUDITORIALUMEN
STONEWALLARENT
SENTENCEVERSO

This is my third Times puzzle, and the first to appear on a Saturday. When I constructed this puzzle in late 2012, MTV's "Jersey Shore" was still a big pop culture phenomenon, and the show had been referenced a couple times already in the Times crossword. I realized that nobody had used DJ PAULY D as an entry and I thought it would make a good themeless seed because of the interesting letter arrangement, especially the DJP trio. To my chagrin, "Jersey Shore" concluded its run after I submitted the puzzle, so some solvers may find the entry a bit dated — them's the breaks.

Often when I make themeless puzzles, I put in one or two 15-letter entries, but in this puzzle I wanted my grid design to highlight 9- and 10-letter entries. I was happy to be able to get in answers like ADORKABLE, THE CAPITOL, PARK RANGER, and STONEWALL without compromising much of the shorter fill. Finally, CODON puts a nice personal touch on the puzzle, since I'm a biochemist in my day job.

Sun 6/17/2012 PLAYABLE
NATOAPBYEASTSWAB
AMAHBOROPOLLOITARA
BUMBLERAPRUMBLEPUNCH
OSIRISGETITLONDON
BELOTIGNEOUSGIN
THANWARBLEONDRUGS
SHAHREGISERASEOPED
EAVETRADERGESTATES
THERESTHERUBBLEAMOK
HASCHINOSEAMEN
GLOATEDKASHMIR
CRAWASIAOONAOK
FEESDROPPINGTROUBLE
MALTSHOPOCEANOPEEN
ISEEALOOPYPRESPLOT
NOBLENONSENSESOME
CDRORIENTSARNAZ
DEPLOYPLATOOLDAGE
QUEENMUMBLEHUBBLECAP
EROSADORESECTOCRIP
DONSNOTAXHUEKENO
Tue 5/22/2012
DDTMOSSOPATINA
EERAROOMATONAL
MEANGIRLSTATAMI
ADJOINEDPERE
NEATGRAVENIMAGE
DENIMTORTSLOW
NOTAISLTIE
ENIGMAVARIATIONS
REDBALAWOL
OWLGLUEDGLOCK
STEAMENGINEIRAE
KILTLOVENEST
MARINAGAMENIGHT
ONETONSTANDOIL
COWARDTESTSNNE
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