Ori Brian author page
9 puzzles by Ori Brian
with Constructor comments
See the 22 answer words debuted by Ori Brian.
Ori Brian (he/him) lives in Los Angeles, CA and is a product manager at Amazon.
| T | A | R | T | A | N | A | P | E | S | A | R | I | D | P | I | N | ||||
| A | B | U | E | L | O | G | A | S | H | S | O | M | E | L | O | S | E | |||
| B | R | E | A | K | T | H | E | I | C | E | H | O | D | A | A | L | E | X | ||
| S | A | D | A | M | A | N | D | A | W | E | T | B | L | A | N | K | E | T | ||
| S | L | A | N | T | P | A | W | N | S | M | I | C | A | |||||||
| P | A | R | K | I | N | G | S | P | A | C | E | T | H | E | M | E | D | I | A | |
| O | N | E | A | S | Y | A | D | E | T | A | M | I | B | O | N | D | ||||
| P | I | T | T | W | A | T | E | R | M | E | L | O | N | P | A | T | C | H | ||
| A | M | I | E | U | R | N | S | A | R | K | A | S | S | A | D | |||||
| R | U | N | S | A | M | O | K | G | L | A | M | G | A | G | S | |||||
| T | S | A | B | A | T | H | R | O | O | M | S | C | A | L | E | G | M | O | ||
| I | N | R | E | O | O | P | S | O | V | E | R | C | O | O | K | |||||
| A | L | E | V | E | T | B | D | S | P | E | C | A | L | A | S | |||||
| G | E | N | E | R | A | L | H | O | S | P | I | T | A | L | M | E | N | U | ||
| E | A | R | N | M | O | A | T | I | R | A | P | R | E | F | E | R | ||||
| S | H | O | O | T | O | U | T | G | L | O | B | E | T | H | E | A | T | R | E | |
| L | I | E | U | S | I | R | E | N | R | O | O | S | T | |||||||
| G | O | L | D | E | N | G | A | T | E | G | O | A | T | E | E | C | E | O | ||
| I | C | E | E | T | I | L | E | C | R | O | S | S | B | R | E | E | D | S | ||
| R | H | E | A | T | R | I | M | S | I | N | E | E | V | A | D | E | S | |||
| L | O | S | O | D | E | S | I | P | A | D | S | E | R | E | N | A |
| E | G | R | E | T | U | B | E | R | B | C | C | S | ||
| C | L | A | R | A | S | L | A | Y | L | E | A | H | ||
| O | U | T | E | R | S | P | A | C | E | E | L | L | A | |
| L | E | T | P | O | A | C | H | S | A | L | T | Y | ||
| A | T | A | D | T | S | K | B | A | T | M | E | N | ||
| B | O | N | O | B | O | S | S | U | B | A | C | E | ||
| G | O | S | P | E | L | T | R | U | T | H | ||||
| S | E | X | P | O | S | I | T | I | V | E | ||||
| D | E | S | S | E | R | T | M | E | N | U | ||||
| K | I | A | T | A | T | T | R | A | L | A | L | A | ||
| A | D | W | E | E | K | D | O | C | A | L | A | N | ||
| S | T | A | M | P | R | U | N | U | P | L | U | G | ||
| B | I | T | E | E | Y | E | O | P | E | N | E | R | S | |
| A | M | E | N | V | A | I | N | S | A | G | E | T | ||
| H | E | R | D | A | N | N | E | T | E | E | N | Y |
It's been a distressing week, but I hope that this puzzle can do what crosswords have done for decades: offer a moment of diversion amid pages of the news.
As you can probably guess, this puzzle began forming around the answer SEX POSITIVE. Looking at the final puzzle, my favorite clues are "End of a waiting list?" for DESSERT MENU and "Pro with stereotypically messy handwriting" for DOC. I want to thank the editors for their openness to discuss/revise some clues in the puzzle proof — they made the process easy and I'm excited to share the result.
| D | R | A | G | S | T | A | R | S | R | O | C | K | ||
| R | O | L | O | T | H | R | E | E | O | X | E | N | ||
| O | A | T | S | R | E | I | N | S | L | E | T | O | ||
| P | R | E | E | M | I | E | T | A | L | L | Y | U | P | |
| R | E | A | P | A | M | I | E | S | E | |||||
| Y | I | N | L | E | A | F | L | E | T | S | ||||
| A | D | A | P | T | S | T | O | O | T | O | E | |||
| N | O | T | E | S | E | R | R | S | H | O | R | T | ||
| G | L | E | E | C | A | T | W | O | M | A | N | |||
| P | E | T | P | E | E | V | E | A | L | A | ||||
| M | I | X | G | R | O | G | E | S | T | |||||
| A | C | E | S | O | U | T | B | U | T | T | O | N | S | |
| T | A | N | S | E | A | P | O | E | O | R | E | O | ||
| C | M | O | N | S | T | E | W | S | K | E | E | N | ||
| H | E | N | S | T | O | A | S | T | E | D | D | Y |
This grid was sitting untouched on my computer for a few years before I remembered that I had it. It's nearly identical to that original puzzle, except for some welcome changes to the upper-right corner—my thanks to the editors for their improvements.
I want to shout out this puzzle by Eric Bornstein, which uses the same concept. Today's puzzle was accepted before Eric's puzzle was published, so it's cool to see how our puzzles shaped up differently.
| A | R | M | P | S | S | T | F | I | L | C | H | |||
| L | A | O | I | O | N | I | A | I | D | A | H | O | ||
| F | I | R | S | T | L | A | D | Y | N | O | B | E | L | |
| S | A | I | D | O | K | L | I | E | R | E | D | |||
| B | I | L | L | S | E | C | O | N | D | R | A | T | E | |
| A | N | I | T | A | O | A | R | S | A | T | O | M | ||
| A | S | S | L | A | I | T | U | M | P | |||||
| M | I | D | D | L | E | C | L | A | S | S | ||||
| G | A | R | R | O | T | I | E | V | A | |||||
| O | T | T | O | E | D | E | N | D | I | M | L | Y | ||
| T | H | I | R | D | P | A | R | T | Y | L | I | O | N | |
| T | E | D | A | S | L | E | A | S | I | N | G | |||
| A | M | B | E | R | L | A | S | T | L | A | U | G | H | |
| W | A | I | V | E | A | L | T | E | R | D | E | E | ||
| A | N | T | E | D | S | A | S | S | E | R | R |
With both RED and TAYLOR Swift in this puzzle, it seems fitting to endorse RED (TAYLOR's Version) as this puzzle's official solve/post-solve soundtrack. It's been on repeat all week here.
I made this puzzle last fall, though it now has a different northwest corner from ARM all the way down to GAR. I'll admit that the grid has some fill I'm not super excited about, but I hope there's still enough fun bits in there for solvers. Really happy with the NYT team's edits, too, and thanks for having me again!
| G | R | A | B | A | C | A | B | L | A | D | M | A | G | |
| T | A | L | L | T | A | L | E | A | B | U | E | L | A | |
| O | N | T | I | P | T | O | E | R | E | D | D | I | T | |
| S | T | A | N | L | E | E | M | A | L | E | E | G | O | |
| D | A | S | P | A | C | S | A | N | S | |||||
| S | A | N | D | Y | P | A | I | R | S | |||||
| N | C | A | A | P | A | R | L | O | R | G | A | M | E | |
| I | N | S | T | A | G | R | A | M | F | I | L | T | E | R |
| P | E | T | E | R | R | O | G | E | T | U | M | N | O | |
| T | A | L | O | N | J | E | S | U | S | |||||
| A | M | M | O | T | E | N | D | O | S | |||||
| D | O | O | R | D | I | E | W | A | Y | T | O | G | O | |
| M | A | N | B | U | N | C | A | N | N | I | B | A | L | |
| I | N | K | I | N | G | O | N | S | E | C | O | N | D | |
| T | A | S | T | E | S | B | E | E | R | K | E | G | S |
| B | I | T | E | S | H | O | R | T | S | T | R | A | W | |
| A | D | O | S | L | I | V | E | R | E | M | O | T | E | |
| T | E | M | P | I | C | E | B | O | X | C | A | K | E | |
| H | A | T | R | E | D | R | A | P | T | D | I | P | ||
| H | E | Y | D | A | T | E | B | I | N | S | ||||
| H | O | U | S | E | R | U | L | E | A | L | E | S | ||
| A | R | M | S | D | E | A | L | I | R | A | ||||
| L | A | B | O | R | E | D | C | A | T | C | H | O | W | |
| B | O | D | K | A | M | I | K | A | Z | E | ||||
| H | E | A | P | S | W | I | S | S | M | I | S | S | ||
| S | O | A | R | L | O | A | N | T | I | L | ||||
| O | T | S | C | O | R | N | P | E | R | M | I | T | ||
| U | P | T | H | E | W | A | Z | O | O | R | A | C | E | |
| P | O | L | I | C | E | R | A | I | D | O | R | E | S | |
| S | T | A | T | E | S | E | A | L | S | R | Y | E | S |
HEY, it's my first themeless puzzle! This puzzle started with BLACK MIRROR — have you watched "Bandersnatch," the show's recent interactive episode? The choose-your-own-adventure mechanism is interesting, but the plot is pretty disturbing, so watch at your own risk.
OVERALL, I'm pretty happy with how this one came together. My favorite clue is [Game-changing invention?], and I love the flair that Will and team added with their edits.
If you are college-aged (or younger!) and want to try your hand at constructing a crossword, feel free to reach out to me! My email address is oribrian@uchicago.edu. I am by no means an expert constructor, but I would be happy to help you brainstorm, give you feedback, and direct you to puzzle-making resources.
| P | A | C | K | A | T | L | A | S | M | A | P | S | ||
| I | C | O | N | H | A | I | T | I | E | V | I | L | ||
| S | U | R | E | W | H | Y | N | O | T | M | A | X | I | |
| A | P | N | E | A | U | N | C | L | E | S | A | M | ||
| C | R | O | S | S | C | O | U | N | T | R | Y | |||
| T | A | B | A | S | C | O | E | M | I | T | ||||
| W | R | A | P | H | O | P | G | O | O | F | S | |||
| I | L | L | B | O | N | J | O | V | I | R | I | O | ||
| N | O | L | I | E | S | H | E | H | A | L | L | |||
| R | E | B | A | O | T | H | E | L | L | O | ||||
| B | A | C | K | T | O | S | C | H | O | O | L | |||
| G | U | E | S | S | W | H | O | D | P | L | U | S | ||
| A | R | C | O | S | T | A | R | T | A | F | I | R | E | |
| M | A | I | M | T | O | T | H | E | U | C | L | A | ||
| E | L | L | E | O | N | I | O | N | L | E | S | S |
| T | O | T | A | L | B | A | S | H | P | M | P | M | ||
| E | R | I | C | A | A | L | T | O | L | O | L | O | ||
| M | A | L | T | S | H | A | R | P | I | N | I | T | ||
| P | L | L | U | T | E | M | A | N | T | E | C | H | ||
| P | L | A | R | O | P | P | S | I | T | E | S | |||
| M | A | G | N | E | T | O | P | I | C | |||||
| E | R | S | G | U | L | A | G | T | A | R | P | N | ||
| D | E | P | T | P | O | B | O | X | L | A | L | A | ||
| S | A | T | A | N | S | O | F | A | S | N | I | A | ||
| C | A | P | O | C | T | A | G | O | N | |||||
| S | P | R | T | S | R | E | P | R | T | E | R | |||
| A | M | A | L | P | L | L | O | P | S | S | U | M | ||
| U | P | N | E | I | B | I | S | N | O | O | S | E | ||
| D | U | D | S | S | O | T | O | I | N | S | E | T | ||
| I | S | I | S | E | W | E | S | T | S | A | R | S |
This one came together pretty quickly. Once we came up with the theme, we filled the grid together one night over a year ago.
We wanted to challenge ourselves to include as many PO squares as possible, so hopefully the fill didn't suffer too much! Our original OPOSSUM clue referenced President Benjamin Harrison's pets — he had two, named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection. We're very happy that Will kept our SATAN and CAPO clues!
If any UChicago first years are reading this, try making a puzzle! If you're in Linn-Mathews House, this puzzle was written in room 630, so go sit there for inspiration. And if you're in Wallace House, ask your RA Ori for help.
| H | A | S | H | H | O | L | E | R | E | H | A | B | ||
| E | L | M | O | A | M | E | N | E | R | O | D | E | ||
| R | O | U | T | L | I | A | M | P | I | V | O | T | ||
| B | U | T | T | O | F | T | H | E | J | O | K | E | ||
| E | L | M | S | O | S | R | A | T | ||||||
| H | E | A | D | O | F | T | H | E | T | A | B | L | E | |
| S | E | X | S | O | A | R | S | T | O | O | P | |||
| P | A | P | A | N | A | A | C | P | M | A | H | I | ||
| E | V | E | R | Y | S | H | O | W | R | A | D | |||
| N | E | C | K | O | F | T | H | E | W | O | O | D | S | |
| T | N | T | D | R | U | D | E | N | ||||||
| E | Y | E | O | F | T | H | E | S | T | O | R | M | ||
| P | E | D | A | L | F | O | U | R | O | R | E | O | ||
| H | A | L | L | E | E | D | G | E | U | S | S | R | ||
| D | R | Y | E | R | T | O | E | D | R | O | T | E |
I'm excited to be making my New York Times Crossword debut!
I just want to throw in a quick shout-out to my good friend Zachary Spitz, a fellow first-year student at the University of Chicago, for introducing me to crossword construction and helping me workshop puzzle ideas in our dorm lounge.
I only started solving crosswords last fall, when my co-workers at a campus coffee shop first introduced me to them. I'm particularly glad that HOT TEA and JOE made it into my grid!
When I was constructing this puzzle, my main priority was to end up with a clean fill. I spent a lot of time polishing the puzzle and ridding it of as much "crosswordese" as possible — I think it worked out pretty well, but I'll let you be the judge!
I'm very happy to be published and I hope you'll be seeing some more of me in the future!