Lewis Dean Hyatt author page
1 puzzle by Lewis Dean Hyatt
with Jeff Chen comments
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Jim, Jim, Jim. In the 10+ years I've known you, how many times have you used the word IRONICAL? I've heard "the irony" or "how ironic" (okay, I'm making that up to make a point), but IRONICAL?
Knowing Jim, he'll find a way to slip IRONICAL into the conversation the next time we meet up.
I have a different perspective from Jim on what makes a perfect Saturday themeless. Any puzzle can be made hard by inventing crazy-hard clues like [Largest sesamoid bone …]. This type of hard isn't particularly fun for me — makes it more of a trivia game than a word puzzle.
To me, it's much more interesting when a grid is inherently Saturday-hard. Look at those big spaces like the NE / SW — so few toeholds to help you break in! Okay, SAHL in the NE might be a gimme, seeing that SAHL is in the crossword all the time. But so many long entries in that region! How could you possibly even start? That's the type of hard I like in my Saturday puzzle.
Not many constructors dip into 66-word territory, prime material for Saturdays. And to do it using 14-letter entries — they're so tricky to construct around, because they force black square placements immediately — makes it doubly difficult. I love that Lewis went there in his debut. Using SIX 14-letter entries is unheard of!
And strong execution, too. I had a rough time believing SZA was the correct answer, but thankfully, there weren't any other trouble spots for me. More importantly, I was so glad that Lewis managed to turn so many of his long slots into assets — BAR SCENE, FIRE HOSE, OREO THIN (sorry Will, that one seems nice to me!). In a puzzle dominated by a bunch of near grid-spanners, it's so tough to work in anything else worthwhile.
Bravo, Lewis. Debuting like this is audacious, to say the least.