Matthew Stock teaches eighth-grade math in Gainesville, FL. He started constructing crosswords in 2019.
Sun 3/10/2024 Rack 'Em Up
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Blue squares have triple letters Across and single letters Down (spelling POINTS.)
Sat 1/20/2024
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Wed 8/9/2023
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POW Mon 5/1/2023
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Wed 12/14/2022
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Wed 11/23/2022
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Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen, who is busy playing TWISTER.
Look at this lovely progression. A new color is added at each step:
🔴🟡 are the circles in the MASTERCARD LOGO
🔴🟡🟢 in a TRAFFIC LIGHT
🔴🟡🟢🔵 on a TWISTER MAT
🔴🟡🟢🔵⚫ in the OLYMPIC RINGS
Finding this set amazes me, and presenting them in increasing order impresses me. I love it.
Which brings me to one of the great debates among the crossword cognizanti. I've been chastised for my view that a delightful theme can overcome other weaknesses in the grid, particularly flaws that result from thematic constraints. This Joe Krozel puzzle is one of my favorites, but since it suffers from "bad fill," not everyone agrees that it's brilliant.
Today's grid fails the typical analysis. There are 44 black squares — way too many! There are 24 3-letter words — not only a sin in itself, but ERA, ONE, ARE, ETA, and ERR are way too common. Each has appeared over 1,000 times! Clearly, this puzzle is crap.
But I look at that colored circle progression and think, I would have never thought such a theme was possible. Wow.
NYT can't do color in daily crosswords yet. Would you have enjoyed the puzzle more if the clues were just those colored circles instead of the color names? You can decide for yourself. Our goal is always usually to match the NYT print version as closely as possible, but today we changed the clues below the grid. Don't tell Will Shortz!
For the record, the official italicized theme clues in print are:
Red and yellow circles
Red, yellow and green circles
Red, yellow, green and blue circles
Red, yellow, green, blue and black circles
Wed 9/21/2022
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Thu 9/8/2022
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Fri 7/15/2022
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Sun 6/26/2022 Bonus Features
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Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen, who is practicing for his mellophone recital.
["Macbeth," but not "Hamlet"] is one of my favorite clues of the year. Note the quotes. "Hamlet" stresses the first syllable, so it's a trochee. "Macbeth" stresses the second, so it's an IAMB — that thing where, when you string five of them together, you get iambic pentameter. At that point, you're basically Shakespeare.
For this fine crossword, I will now explain
The bonus theme and all that it entails.
Today, we take well-known movie titles and add an extra letter (a "bonus", I suppose) to fit the goofy clue. Beverly Hills Cop becomes a "Rodeo Drive uprising" when we add a U to turn COP into COUP. By now, we're conditioned to expect a bonus layer in add-a-letter puzzles. We highlighted the bonus letters and, reading top to bottom, they spell OUTTAKES which are often included in movie bonus features.
Notes:
"Cry from a boxing coach" is HIT 'EM? How many opponents is this poor boxer facing?
"City that neighbors Ann Arbor" is Ypsilanti, commonly shortened to YPSI.
Yes, BMW makes Mini Coopers now. I love these cars.
"Head of Eton" is LOO. NYT loves the "head=loo" reference.
OGLALA is one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people.
I have a little crush on YUNA. Oh yes, I do.
Sun 5/8/2022 Two-by-Two
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Seattle traditions are dying. It used to be that every time you were seated at any restaurant here, a waiter would bring ice water and hot sourdough bread to the table before you could even order. No more.
Seventh-inning stretches at Mariners games meant singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and then (41-Across) Louie Louie, a catchy tune that no two people can agree what the lyrics are. It was great. That 32-year-old tradition ended this year. Now it's some Macklemore song. Bah!
You can't go home again. You can't even stay home again.
