See the 27 answer words debuted by Malaika Handa.
O | D | D | S | O | D | I | N | G | A | P | ||||
M | O | O | N | S | H | I | N | E | S | P | E | L | L | |
I | S | H | O | U | L | D | N | T | C | O | T | T | A | |
T | E | A | N | O | S | S | T | E | T | S | O | N | ||
C | D | R | O | M | E | N | D | I | N | |||||
A | B | R | O | A | D | A | U | S | T | E | N | |||
R | E | E | D | Y | W | E | T | S | E | A | S | O | N | |
L | A | N | E | S | O | W | E | D | L | I | N | E | ||
O | U | T | S | C | O | R | E | S | C | E | D | E | S | |
S | W | A | R | M | S | C | A | R | E | S | S | |||
S | T | I | R | S | T | R | A | N | S | |||||
P | O | R | T | I | O | N | A | D | D | A | V | A | ||
A | L | I | C | E | S | O | R | E | L | O | S | E | R | |
S | I | K | H | S | F | R | E | N | E | M | I | E | S | |
O | D | E | W | A | R | T | G | A | P | E |
F | A | R | M | I | M | O | F | F | A | P | P | S | ||
A | R | E | A | S | W | O | L | E | D | A | R | T | ||
W | I | T | C | H | H | A | Z | E | L | A | L | O | E | |
N | A | C | H | O | H | E | E | L | I | S | A | |||
E | N | O | U | G | H | C | A | R | A | M | E | L | ||
D | A | N | G | O | D | D | E | S | S | L | O | C | S | |
L | E | E | V | I | N | C | I | |||||||
A | R | I | D | I | V | A | C | U | P | Y | O | N | ||
C | O | M | M | A | N | O | N | |||||||
Q | U | E | E | N | O | F | S | O | U | L | L | E | G | |
U | N | S | H | E | L | L | M | I | M | O | S | A | ||
I | D | S | D | Y | A | D | M | I | N | T | Y | |||
R | O | A | D | F | E | M | A | L | E | L | E | A | D | |
E | N | G | R | O | R | A | T | E | A | L | T | A | ||
S | E | E | S | E | S | S | E | X | N | Y | E | R |
things about this puzzle:
things about me:
C | U | T | A | W | A | Y | G | A | G | L | A | I | R | |
O | N | E | T | I | M | E | U | S | E | O | N | T | O | |
L | I | M | O | N | C | E | L | L | O | L | O | S | T | |
E | X | A | L | T | P | A | D | T | S | O | ||||
L | E | S | T | N | E | I | T | H | E | R | ||||
L | I | T | R | H | E | A | S | N | E | E | R | S | ||
A | C | H | M | A | N | G | A | S | A | R | I | |||
W | H | I | T | E | Y | O | N | T | H | E | M | O | O | N |
O | R | A | L | R | E | L | I | C | N | U | B | |||
M | O | S | C | O | W | S | A | L | T | E | S | C | ||
E | S | T | O | N | I | A | S | L | I | T | ||||
T | E | T | N | E | A | V | O | I | C | E | ||||
E | Y | R | E | O | S | L | O | N | O | R | W | A | Y | |
R | O | A | R | N | O | T | F | O | R | S | A | L | E | |
S | U | P | S | A | P | O | T | H | E | O | S | I | S |
some stats:
other things:
C | O | L | T | A | T | T | A | P | L | U | C | K | ||
O | D | I | E | M | A | A | M | G | O | P | R | O | ||
S | O | L | A | R | S | Y | S | S | A | S | T | E | R | |
T | R | Y | C | O | L | A | E | A | S | E | ||||
P | T | A | O | K | S | V | O | L | T | A | ||||
B | L | A | H | R | E | T | H | I | N | K | S | |||
R | I | D | E | R | S | R | A | I | S | E | ||||
B | U | S | L | A | N | E | G | H | O | S | O | J | I | |
A | S | I | D | E | O | R | P | H | A | N | ||||
I | T | S | P | T | I | N | G | E | R | R | S | |||
S | N | A | P | S | E | T | A | A | R | E | ||||
E | S | T | E | I | V | E | R | A | P | U | ||||
R | E | T | R | O | S | T | E | M | C | E | L | L | S | |
B | R | O | O | D | A | L | U | M | G | L | U | E | ||
S | T | O | R | E | P | E | P | A | G | Y | M | S |
I got good at making crosswords through (1) making a lot of them, and (2) reading detailed constructor's notes on XWord Info. So here's my attempt to provide (2) to other constructors.
The version of this puzzle I submitted had four rebus squares, resulting in a few dud themies (MISS TEMPLE) and a layout with 26 three-letter words. I am grateful to the Times for letting me submit a revamped grid with just three rebus squares.
Here are some stats:
-- I submitted this on August 10, 2021. Grid revisions took from November 5, 2021, through December 17, 2021, and then I received an official acceptance on January 7, 2022. It ran on March 2, 2023.
-- The themed puzzles I typically write are published for USA Today, and have around 35 cells of theme content. This puzzle had 62 cells of theme content, and the gridding process was eye-wateringly painful. Four layouts went back and forth with the Times' editing team, but I went through about twenty before submitting, even experimenting with 15x16 and 21x21 grids. (Rest In Peace THE TOOTHPASTE MILLIONAIRE.)
-- There are 76 clues in this puzzle. Twenty-four (32%) were kept identical. Twenty-one (28%) were updated slightly. Thirty-one (41%) are new. I'm glad they kept my references to the Baudelaires and "Let's Talk About Sex," and I'm sad that my clues about ESTE Haim and INS Choi were cut.