Margaret Seikel author page
8 puzzles by Margaret Seikel
with Constructor comments
See the 35 answer words debuted by Margaret Seikel.
| P | A | S | T | E | L | O | B | O | B | A | M | A | ||
| B | R | O | W | N | O | B | I | M | U | L | A | N | ||
| S | T | O | O | D | G | I | G | E | N | T | R | Y | ||
| P | E | A | C | E | S | I | G | N | ||||||
| I | T | O | L | D | Y | A | P | L | A | Y | A | C | T | |
| T | O | K | E | E | B | O | O | K | E | L | L | A | ||
| S | O | B | A | S | I | L | O | S | A | T | O | M | ||
| A | B | Y | S | S | N | A | N | T | R | O | V | E | ||
| G | A | M | E | O | N | P | O | S | I | E | S | |||
| O | D | E | C | O | P | N | O | R | D | S | T | |||
| A | I | D | A | A | P | S | E | |||||||
| V | F | O | R | V | I | C | T | O | R | Y | ||||
| F | O | O | T | A | L | O | H | A | R | O | A | R | ||
| A | N | T | E | M | O | T | O | R | O | G | R | E | ||
| B | E | E | R | A | V | A | S | T | R | A | M | P |
I first submitted a very different version of this puzzle in August 2020. Three months later, the editors expressed interest in the concept but suggested a different theme set, removing my original revealer. I couldn't find a rewrite I was proud of and shelved the idea for another day.
Fast forward to May 2022, I thought of 4-Down and realized mirror symmetry could accommodate a funky intersection with some cool grid art to boot. Thanks to Matthew Stock for test solving on short notice and suggesting the emoji cluing angle — my favorite part of this puzzle. That Saturday, I responded to the 2020 rejection email and received an acceptance by Thursday afternoon. A year later, I'm excited to share it with the world and hope others enjoy!
| A | L | I | B | I | B | Y | A | I | R | |||||
| P | I | E | C | E | S | G | R | U | D | G | E | |||
| N | O | M | A | K | E | U | P | M | A | K | E | U | P | |
| M | O | P | E | D | T | R | E | S | S | L | A | P | ||
| E | R | S | E | A | L | E | C | T | I | N | E | |||
| N | U | T | S | N | E | A | K | E | R | H | E | A | D | |
| U | S | A | B | L | E | M | A | N | O | R | ||||
| S | H | R | O | O | M | S | T | A | C | O | B | A | R | |
| S | T | I | E | G | C | H | E | A | P | O | ||||
| M | A | T | C | H | A | L | A | T | T | E | L | O | B | |
| E | R | R | S | E | Y | E | S | A | L | L | Y | |||
| Z | E | E | L | I | C | I | T | E | T | H | A | N | ||
| C | O | N | T | E | N | T | C | R | E | A | T | O | R | |
| A | L | D | E | A | N | O | I | L | R | I | G | |||
| L | A | Y | E | R | N | S | Y | N | C |
MARGARET: Most themeless puzzles have a dozen or more answers with at least eight letters. This one may only have four, but I think they really pack a punch. Three of the four seeds were in the original grid skeleton. However, Sophia's addition of CONTENT CREATOR dramatically opened up the fill possibilities for the bottom half. As always, it was so fun to send edits back and forth, focusing on making the mid-length fill shine.
SOPHIA: I'm proud of how many of our submitted clues made it into this puzzle, although my favorite — "You shall not pass!" for BALLHOG — was tragically cut. It's always a blast to work with Margaret, looking forward to more collabs in the future.
| R | I | M | S | N | A | R | F | C | A | P | O | |||
| O | W | E | A | T | O | N | E | R | O | R | A | L | ||
| S | A | G | M | O | V | E | F | A | S | T | A | N | D | |
| E | S | C | R | O | W | E | N | T | M | I | A | |||
| T | H | A | N | K | S | F | O | R | C | O | M | I | N | G |
| T | A | B | S | I | N | S | R | O | S | I | E | |||
| A | D | O | S | O | L | E | A | M | A | |||||
| T | H | E | W | E | S | T | W | I | N | G | ||||
| E | E | L | T | E | E | N | E | W | E | |||||
| I | S | L | A | M | L | A | M | S | N | A | G | |||
| T | H | A | T | S | S | U | R | P | R | I | S | I | N | G |
| S | A | T | O | U | T | A | T | T | U | N | E | |||
| B | R | E | A | K | T | H | I | N | G | S | S | A | D | |
| A | I | N | T | R | O | O | N | E | Y | E | G | O | ||
| D | A | T | E | A | R | S | E | S | S | O | N |
I'm thrilled to have the first Tuesday puzzle of 2023. As always, the editorial team added fantastic clues like 24-Down, but I particularly appreciate they kept 22- and 61-Across. With 3-Down, the literary mini-theme is one of my favorite parts of this puzzle.
As we start the New Year, happy reading and happy solving!
| A | R | E | A | S | R | E | D | I | D | C | A | P | ||
| B | U | R | R | O | E | R | O | D | E | O | I | L | ||
| C | L | I | M | B | I | N | G | G | Y | M | A | D | O | |
| S | E | C | R | E | T | E | S | L | O | T | T | E | D | |
| E | R | A | B | A | L | T | I | C | ||||||
| A | L | A | S | L | A | I | T | A | L | L | S | |||
| F | O | R | T | I | N | S | O | P | T | O | U | T | ||
| A | C | T | M | A | N | C | A | V | E | S | I | R | ||
| R | A | G | L | A | N | U | S | A | P | E | T | A | ||
| L | A | I | R | G | I | S | T | I | T | E | M | |||
| L | E | A | P | A | T | I | A | N | ||||||
| B | O | L | S | T | E | R | T | O | U | C | H | U | P | |
| A | P | E | H | A | N | G | I | N | T | H | E | R | E | |
| T | A | R | O | C | E | A | N | O | M | E | G | A | ||
| S | L | Y | N | E | R | D | S | S | E | D | E | R |
When I constructed this puzzle back in August 2021, I struggled to finish (or "send") even the simplest routes at my local CLIMBING GYM. A year later, I've since graduated to harder problems. But climbing a relatively easy route with an interesting flow or unique holds remains one of my favorite parts of bouldering.
Similarly, while I love a tricky Thursday or strenuous Saturday, Monday crosswords might be my favorite to solve. However, they are surprisingly difficult to construct! When gridding, there is usually a trade-off between novelty (like bonus long answers and rarer letters) and cleanliness — I hope my first Monday strikes a good balance.
Whether this crossword is your first or your thousandth, happy solving!
| A | C | T | S | I | N | C | A | S | O | F | T | |||
| F | R | E | A | K | N | O | O | D | L | E | B | A | R | |
| T | I | A | R | A | P | R | O | V | O | L | O | N | E | |
| T | R | A | N | S | A | M | I | V | L | I | N | E | ||
| S | T | I | N | G | E | R | A | L | E | S | I | S | ||
| P | E | N | A | N | T | E | S | R | A | T | E | |||
| A | R | T | U | R | O | S | H | I | S | H | ||||
| S | O | R | O | R | I | T | Y | S | Q | U | A | T | ||
| G | O | A | P | E | H | U | M | V | E | E | ||||
| S | E | E | P | S | E | P | T | A | I | D | E | |||
| A | P | U | O | V | O | C | A | R | T | A | L | K | ||
| B | I | G | S | U | R | B | U | R | R | A | T | A | ||
| A | R | E | A | C | O | D | E | S | E | L | I | S | E | |
| T | I | N | Y | H | O | U | S | E | L | L | O | S | A | |
| E | T | E | S | M | O | O | R | S | N | O | T |
SOPHIA: Beyond thrilled to be publishing with Margaret, whose work I've admired for years. She created a grid skeleton with KANGAROO POUCH and LOVER'S QUARREL crossing SORORITY SQUAT (her original clue of [Rushing position, for a snap] is the thing I was most sad to lose in the edit). From there, we took turns iterating on fill, and I'm very happy with the quantity of cheese in our final result.
MARGARET: Sophia is one of my favorite constructors, so getting to publish my first themeless puzzle with her is a dream. She has an exacting eye and a unique ability to fill open corners with the best combination of mid-length answers. Especially when "good" fill is so subjective, it's wonderful to find a collaborator on the same wavelength (especially about how much dairy you should fit in a grid).
| T | O | N | L | O | G | I | N | S | A | N | D | |||
| A | V | E | O | U | N | C | E | S | T | R | I | O | ||
| D | E | C | P | I | C | K | L | E | J | U | I | C | E | |
| A | N | K | L | E | S | P | E | N | D | E | R | |||
| P | I | Z | Z | A | J | O | I | N | T | |||||
| S | K | I | P | I | L | A | N | A | M | M | A | |||
| O | Y | L | S | T | E | M | H | E | A | R | S | |||
| P | O | L | I | T | I | C | A | L | J | U | N | K | I | E |
| S | T | O | N | Y | I | S | E | E | E | E | L | |||
| O | W | S | D | E | C | A | F | W | I | L | L | |||
| P | R | I | V | A | T | E | J | E | T | |||||
| A | C | R | E | A | G | E | E | D | W | I | N | |||
| M | A | T | C | H | I | N | G | P | J | S | O | D | E | |
| F | R | E | T | T | I | P | O | U | T | R | E | X | ||
| M | E | S | S | F | A | C | T | S | K | A | T |
One of my favorite activities each holiday season is picking out gifts for the people I love. To do so, I keep a running log of ideas saved on my phone. When brainstorming potential presents last year, I realized 57-Across might work as a revealer and quickly added it to my seedlist.
While the grid fell into place fairly quickly, I spent a lot of time iterating the fill until I was happy with the long Downs. Luckily, the effort paid off, as 31-Down is my favorite answer by far. 48-Across is a close second with the editorial team's fantastic clue.
I hope you enjoy the puzzle, and let this be a reminder to order gifts for friends and family sooner rather than later!
| M | R | I | P | A | N | T | Y | C | L | A | P | S | ||
| A | E | R | A | L | G | A | E | E | A | G | L | E | ||
| R | O | E | S | P | O | I | L | E | D | B | R | A | T | |
| S | P | L | A | S | H | P | R | E | S | E | N | T | ||
| H | E | A | D | B | A | N | G | E | R | E | N | E | ||
| A | N | N | O | Y | C | O | D | M | E | T | E | R | ||
| L | S | D | S | A | L | C | O | L | O | R | S | |||
| L | I | S | A | F | R | A | N | K | ||||||
| E | M | A | I | L | S | T | E | N | I | S | M | |||
| M | A | C | E | S | P | E | A | S | A | N | T | A | ||
| B | C | C | T | H | E | R | A | P | Y | D | O | G | ||
| A | R | R | I | V | A | L | M | I | N | I | O | N | ||
| S | A | U | S | A | G | E | L | I | N | K | A | G | E | |
| S | M | E | L | T | G | E | N | I | E | N | E | T | ||
| Y | E | S | E | S | M | I | N | O | S | A | S | S |
I am humbled and thrilled to have a second puzzle in The Times. I started working on this theme during a lecture on constitutional history in February 2020. As we discussed the Warren Court, I jotted down "FELIX FRANKFURTER (16)" in my notebook margins. I was later pleasantly surprised to see how many nicknames there are for sausage.
The justice did not make it into my final submission, as I chose 34-Across as the central themer instead. I know this entry may be unfamiliar to some, but I am delighted to debut a truly "colorful" answer from my childhood. I hope the puzzle brightens your day!
| B | I | A | S | E | S | O | P | A | G | P | S | |||
| A | C | T | I | V | E | E | V | E | N | R | I | O | ||
| S | U | M | M | E | R | F | L | I | N | G | O | L | D | |
| P | R | I | D | E | N | E | B | U | L | A | ||||
| O | R | B | S | F | I | V | E | I | R | O | N | |||
| Z | E | R | O | G | C | A | L | L | A | D | S | |||
| A | M | E | N | R | A | T | O | E | D | C | P | U | ||
| R | A | N | A | L | F | O | N | S | O | H | A | S | ||
| K | I | N | D | I | O | R | S | E | D | U | C | E | ||
| N | E | W | C | O | P | Y | R | I | C | E | R | |||
| R | E | M | E | D | I | E | S | S | K | Y | S | |||
| L | A | P | T | O | P | T | O | O | T | H | ||||
| U | S | A | C | A | T | C | H | P | H | R | A | S | E | |
| T | I | S | H | U | S | H | H | O | A | G | I | E | ||
| Z | A | S | A | L | A | S | U | G | A | R | S |
This puzzle started with ELEVATOR PITCH. As a college student who is eventually interested in getting a job, people constantly emphasize the importance of being prepared on the off chance you end up in an enclosed space with a CEO or hiring manager.
While running into someone in an elevator is significantly less likely nowadays, here's my quick intro: I'm a fourth-year student at the Ohio State University dual enrolled in a BA in Economics and History and a Masters in Applied Economics. I've been constructing for about a year and am so excited to have this puzzle go to print!
This was the second puzzle I ever made and first accepted. Looking back, I realize how fortuitous it was that I could interlock the theme answers and revealer to fit a 13-letter word down the middle without too much trouble — definitely some beginner's luck.
Thanks to the editorial team for helping me through a revision of my initial fill and dramatically improving the clues. Grease was one of my favorite movies as a kid that I only truly understood as an adult, so I love that they added that cluing angle on SUMMER FLING.
I hope people enjoy the puzzle!