Mike Dockins author page
2 puzzles by Mike Dockins
with Constructor comments
See the 13 answer words debuted by Mike Dockins.
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KRISTIAN: Mike had the initial idea for this puzzle, sending me a grid with three of the four theme answers that made the final cut plus another one that we ended up replacing to make the theme a little tighter. I suggested that we use the same clue for each of the theme answers, but the editing team decided to mix it up. Once we were happy with the theme answers, I took a stab at filling the grid, then we took turns tweaking the puzzle until we got a result that we liked.
I like how snappy all the theme answers are, and I'm a fan of 59-Across as an answer but not as a condiment, because I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy food. Enjoy the puzzle!
MIKE: I hope that my 2nd NYT puzzle (another collaboration with old pal KH) doesn't give people whiplash, i.e. this here straight-forward-themed Tuesday after last month's themeless Saturday! As even editors said on acceptance, while this theme is more straight-forward than what they might normally publish, they liked the theme entries and some of the longer fill like CHILI SAUCE and EVEN BETTER and THE VOICE (and even the shorter BARNONE).
As usual, I sent Kristian an idea with theme entries and some fill, and he worked his mojo to fill the grid. I think K tweaked THATSCRAZYTALK from something else that I'd had in there, but I'm most proud of NO FRIGGIN' WAY — that's just a fun entry, theme or no theme.
I did insist to Kristian that our clue for ASTRO should avoid certain (ahem) cheaters, and so… The Jetsons! [sound effect of the Jetsons' little flying pods lol].
I hope you enjoyed our puzzle, and I hope to see y'all real soon on my own!
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MIKE: I had only wanted to publish a NYT puzzle on a Saturday someday so it's extra sweet that this is my debut! Kristian and I have written many puzzles, and most collabs have gone like this: I get stuck with about half a grid, maybe with a few marquee entries I'd like to keep, and then he keeps the best stuff and finishes the grid, also taking care of house-keeping issues like cheater squares and such.
He knows how much I love cluing, so he lets me have first crack at the clues, then he'll edit those and let me have a last look, and voila. I absolutely adore ‘?' clues — my fave part of the whole process is coming up with clever clues for as many entries as possible. It doesn't hurt our creative process that we've been close friends for over 30 years.
As for me, I've been an avid solver since 1996 or so, but I mainly solve (and construct) themelesses. My earliest constructions were dreadful. Early in 2020 (not originally having to do with the pandemic) I really dove in. I found dozens of unfinished drafts, and started many new projects. I work at crossword construction most days, some days for hours. I have a Ph.D. in poetry — my 2nd book, "Letter to So-and-So from Wherever," is available from C&R Press. I'm also a singer-songwriter — my band CLOP's album, Fame For Zoe, is available on iTunes, Spotify, and elsewhere. I'm also a self-described KenKen expert.
KRISTIAN: We met on our first day of college, and we've been friends ever since. I'm so happy that his debut puzzle is a Saturday NYT puzzle, as it has been a dream of his for years to get a themeless puzzle published in the Times.
This puzzle started the way most of our collaborations start — Mike sent me a partial grid with some great entries, and I worked through it to try to fill it without compromising the good stuff while trying to minimize the not-so-good stuff. I'm really happy with the result. I really like Mike's stack in the upper left corner and I like 9-Down and 30-Down. I also love some of the clue changes that the editorial team made, with my favorite being the clue for 63-Across. I hope everyone enjoys the puzzle as much as I enjoyed working on it with Mike.