Malaika Handa author page
5 puzzles by Malaika Handa
with Jeff Chen comments
See the 28 answer words debuted by Malaika Handa.
| L | O | S | A | D | D | S | S | E | A | T | ||||
| I | M | P | S | T | R | I | O | C | A | R | N | E | ||
| S | N | A | K | E | E | Y | E | S | A | N | G | E | R | |
| T | I | M | O | R | D | O | W | N | T | O | W | N | ||
| R | I | M | S | A | N | A | ||||||||
| A | M | P | C | L | A | S | S | R | O | S | T | E | R | |
| T | I | E | S | K | I | W | I | N | U | E | V | E | ||
| T | A | C | I | T | D | O | T | S | I | T | E | S | ||
| I | M | A | G | E | N | O | S | H | T | O | R | E | ||
| C | I | N | N | A | M | O | N | B | U | N | N | Y | T | |
| A | S | A | Y | E | A | H | ||||||||
| C | O | N | T | E | N | T | S | S | A | L | S | A | ||
| A | B | O | U | T | I | M | O | N | A | R | O | L | L | |
| S | O | A | R | S | N | O | N | E | P | O | E | T | ||
| H | E | H | E | A | G | E | D | T | W | O |
| 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 |
Time for "Name That Theme"! WITCH, GODDESS, DIVA, QUEEN … finally, a Dungeons & Dragons theme!
What do you mean DIVA isn't a D&D role?
Apparently, you didn't play with the same Dungeonmaster I did. What a drama king.
FEMALE LEAD is an apt revealer, pointing to the fact that each of these first words is typically a woman. I have heard DIVA used to describe men, though, especially when referencing a certain nit-picking crossword blogger who rants because he always makes ridiculous demands from constructors and unrepentantly suggests impossibilities even when Jim Horne strongly suggests that this is a not only an illogical but a stupid idea.
People might wonder why I have MACHU and VINCI scored so low — even lower than AMAS, ENGR, ISA, NYER. I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF, he shouted before throwing his +1 sword of destiny at the Amber Dragon.
(It's because so many editors have dinged me for these types of entries that not only take up valuable five-letter slots but can only be clued in a single, dull way, removing the possibility of variety.)
A lot of modern entries: SWOLE (derived from "swollen"), RETCON (retroactive continuity), DIVA CUP, GODDESS LOCS (shortened from dreadlocks). Why is it GODDESS LOCS and not GODDESS LOCKS? Probably because LOCKS is too swole.
(SWOLE has always made me cringe — such an icky word — but I loved learning GODDESS LOCS, especially since it's a hairstyle I've seen everywhere.)
I enjoyed the featuring of stereotypically female terms. Solid job in disguising them, too; DIVA CUP throwing me off the scent.
| 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 |
Pikachu, I CHOOSE YOU! I will be mocked for my delight in watching "Pokemon" with my kids, and I choose to ignore their select words muttered at me when I try to teach them all the scientific intricacies of Pokemon evolution. I also choose [Select words?] as the best clue of this puzzle!
CUTAWAY GAG sounded so familiar, yet I couldn't figure out exactly what it meant. Curious that the Goog links it strongly to Family Guy. I always watched the show before I had kids, and I might have to consider returning to it after watching some of these clips. If I had remembered this TV trope, Malaika and Erik's clue would have slayed, but a more definitional clue served this family guy better.
WHITEY ON THE MOON is an interesting central marquee. You'd think that as a diehard engineer and scientist, I'd be gung-ho over space exploration, but it's always felt like a waste of resources. I've had so many discussions over the decades, including some with Jim Horne, none of which have swayed me, even given all the clear technological benefits that space travel has fostered. So I read the lyrics to WHITEY ON THE MOON eagerly, nodding along as I went.
I want my crossword to be pure escapist entertainment. I don't like being reminded that I got singled out and harassed at the grocery store last week by a white checker who thought I was a gang member stealing stuff. Still, I've come to realize that there are many different kinds of solvers out there who want very different things out of their puzzle, including IT'S SERIOUS topics.
| 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 |
Fantastic example of making the most out of your rebus themers. All too often, the Across rebus themers stand out while the Down crossers are sad pandas in comparison. Five years ago, something like (STEM)MED or SY(STEM) might have been employed in the Down direction, simply trying to make things work.
It's ideal to use pairs of long crossing rebus themers. LOSE ONE'S TEMPER is strong on its own, but when you cross it with the fresh and fun GHOST EMOJI, it haunts me that others haven't achieved this level of greatness.
Will Shortz is typically hard and fast about breaking rebus entries across words of a phrase, and Malaika managed to do this five out of six times. Talk about a TASTEMAKER! (Even though that's officially a one-word answer, it has the multi-word feel that so many editors prize.)
IT'S TEMPTING to ask for a fourth rebus square. These days, with such a huge body of rebus puzzles, three feels thin. However, scan through some of the puzzles and count up the long rebus themers. Six is definitely above average.
Excellent rebus rationale. STEM CELLS = put STEM into single cells. I'd be tempted to play on different rebus squares for variety's sake, but SCIENCE is too long, and using the abbreviations SCI TECH ENGR MATH would be inelegant.
Appropriate to STEM education, this debut exhibited a standout foundation.