Patrick John Duggan author page
6 puzzles by Patrick John Duggan
with Constructor comments
| F | I | J | I | B | E | A | R | D | F | U | S | S | ||
| A | N | E | W | O | L | D | E | R | O | N | C | E | ||
| S | M | O | O | T | H | M | O | V | E | E | X | L | A | X |
| T | I | P | J | A | R | S | S | W | A | H | I | L | I | |
| D | A | I | S | T | O | K | E | S | ||||||
| B | A | R | M | E | N | U | C | O | O | L | E | S | T | |
| A | I | D | A | I | N | G | E | N | U | E | ||||
| T | R | Y | M | E | F | I | R | S | T | L | I | P | ||
| G | A | L | I | L | E | E | T | E | V | A | ||||
| A | T | H | E | I | S | T | S | T | P | E | T | E | R | |
| S | W | O | R | N | R | A | S | H | ||||||
| P | O | T | U | S | E | R | T | H | O | R | E | A | U | |
| I | W | O | N | T | M | I | N | C | E | W | O | R | D | S |
| R | A | N | D | T | A | B | B | Y | O | V | I | D | ||
| E | Y | E | S | S | L | A | Y | S | M | E | T | A |
I happened to be submitting this puzzle right around the time of the Who Will Replace Alex Trebek? imbroglio and the Mike Richards mini-scandal that followed, so JEOPARDY was very much on the brain. That ended up being my favorite clue to come up with, and thankfully the editors liked it too.
That said, the puzzle really began with SMOOTH MOVE, EXLAX. I enjoy the corniness of it, plus it being a fresh 15-letter entry. The top half came together smoothly around it, so I was happy the whole thing didn't end up getting rejected for the, uh, somewhat crass imagery it implies.
The bottom half was definitely harder in trying to keep the other 15-letter entry lively, but without the bottom corners becoming tortured. Some compromises had to be made, but I was happy with the end result. Enjoy!
| G | A | Y | M | E | C | C | A | I | M | B | I | B | E | |
| O | V | E | R | L | O | R | D | F | O | R | C | E | D | |
| R | E | T | A | I | N | E | R | S | C | R | E | E | D | |
| P | R | I | Z | E | P | I | C | A | S | M | R | I | ||
| L | E | T | F | L | Y | F | A | K | E | |||||
| R | I | P | E | P | I | T | A | T | A | C | O | |||
| O | N | A | N | D | O | N | W | A | R | T | H | O | G | |
| M | A | T | R | I | X | B | E | L | I | Z | E | |||
| A | C | R | O | N | Y | M | B | I | K | I | N | I | S | |
| C | O | L | T | B | A | R | D | P | E | E | T | |||
| C | U | L | L | V | A | L | U | E | S | |||||
| A | R | C | T | E | S | T | S | K | E | M | P | T | ||
| M | A | A | L | O | X | E | Q | U | A | L | P | A | Y | |
| E | T | R | A | D | E | R | U | S | T | L | E | U | P | |
| L | E | S | B | O | S | S | E | A | E | A | G | L | E |
It's a thrill to be back in the Times! Just a casual decade-plus hiatus for me that stretches back to my college days. I never stopped solving, but only during the last couple of years did I have the itch to try and construct puzzles again, so it's nice to know that after shaking off some rust, I can still make a publication-worthy grid.
The inspiration was 1A, which is a phrase I've always found funny. As a gay man myself, there's something about, for example, comparing the legions of gays descending on Fire Island summer shares each year to a quasi-religious pilgrimage that amuses me. That two corners of the grid ended up with GAY... and LESBOS was serendipitous.
The other entry I really wanted to make work was BEER KOOZIE, which had the potent combination of never having appeared in the puzzle before, but being super recognizable, all while including some Scrabble-y letters. In the end, I was super happy with the whole northeast corner, which between BEER KOOZIE, ICE MACHINE, IMBIBE, BIKINIS, and BELIZE, has some nice beach vacay vibes.
As someone who doesn't love Random One Half Of Proper Names in the puzzle, despite their inevitability, I probably would've preferred fewer of them here in an ideal world, but I felt like the rest was lively enough to compensate. I hope people enjoy!
| S | A | T | B | Y | R | A | P | S | S | H | I | P | ||
| A | N | D | R | E | A | I | D | A | T | E | R | A | ||
| C | A | S | U | A | L | F | R | A | Y | E | R | I | N | |
| C | H | E | F | O | P | P | O | S | E | |||||
| T | P | K | E | G | L | O | C | K | S | P | I | E | L | |
| V | A | U | L | T | E | N | O | Y | E | N | S | |||
| S | P | R | E | E | S | A | S | E | C | |||||
| I | D | E | N | T | I | T | Y | T | H | E | F | T | ||
| D | U | P | E | S | O | V | I | E | T | |||||
| S | A | A | B | O | A | R | S | I | N | E | W | |||
| S | I | C | K | A | N | D | R | E | D | L | E | N | O | |
| A | T | T | I | R | E | C | H | A | D | |||||
| L | I | O | N | P | E | N | A | L | B | O | X | E | S | |
| T | N | U | T | A | V | O | N | R | E | F | R | Y | ||
| I | S | T | O | L | E | N | T | A | R | L | E | S |
| M | A | D | P | R | O | P | S | P | A | T | I | N | A | |
| I | V | E | H | A | D | I | T | O | H | S | N | A | P | |
| L | A | N | D | M | I | N | E | L | E | A | D | U | P | |
| A | L | I | S | U | N | R | O | O | M | E | T | E | ||
| N | O | E | S | M | E | N | D | S | M | I | A | |||
| O | N | D | V | D | D | U | O | T | B | A | L | L | ||
| E | R | A | M | R | P | E | A | N | U | T | ||||
| C | A | T | L | I | K | E | S | O | A | N | D | S | O | |
| B | R | A | T | P | A | C | K | I | C | K | ||||
| A | R | I | E | S | L | E | S | H | E | S | S | E | ||
| T | E | L | P | A | T | E | N | R | U | I | N | |||
| T | S | O | E | A | T | C | R | O | W | R | E | C | ||
| E | T | R | A | D | E | H | E | R | E | W | E | G | O | |
| R | E | T | I | N | A | U | N | S | E | A | T | E | D | |
| Y | E | O | M | A | N | P | E | E | P | H | O | L | E |
| S | P | A | M | A | B | I | T | R | S | V | P | S | ||
| S | O | H | O | L | O | R | E | A | T | E | A | T | ||
| T | O | M | D | I | C | K | A | N | D | H | A | R | R | Y |
| S | H | E | E | S | H | Q | U | I | R | A | T | E | ||
| L | O | E | B | R | E | N | T | |||||||
| N | E | A | T | M | A | L | E | T | U | R | K | E | Y | |
| A | L | T | P | Y | R | O | S | T | E | E | L | E | ||
| A | G | A | V | E | D | R | J | S | K | E | I | N | ||
| C | A | R | A | T | S | N | A | T | O | N | E | T | ||
| P | R | I | V | A | T | E | E | Y | E | S | E | L | L | |
| A | L | O | U | Z | E | B | U | |||||||
| B | E | A | V | I | R | S | N | O | N | E | E | D | ||
| A | N | N | O | Y | C | O | N | S | T | A | N | T | L | Y |
| M | I | N | O | R | P | O | P | S | E | A | S | E | ||
| A | D | A | M | S | E | B | A | Y | R | T | E | S |
| S | C | A | T | H | E | W | H | O | V | I | L | L | E | |
| S | O | T | H | E | N | A | U | R | E | V | O | I | R | |
| M | R | T | O | A | D | I | S | I | T | S | A | F | E | |
| I | L | E | P | O | R | T | H | O | S | F | T | C | ||
| N | E | S | S | N | O | F | U | N | M | E | E | T | ||
| N | O | T | I | T | G | O | P | S | A | R | D | S | ||
| O | N | E | L | I | N | E | R | B | A | Y | ||||
| W | E | D | I | D | I | T | J | U | J | I | T | S | U | |
| C | E | L | S | O | D | A | S | H | O | P | ||||
| S | H | O | O | S | P | E | A | K | E | E | P | S | ||
| C | O | N | N | G | R | A | N | T | E | A | R | S | ||
| A | L | L | L | E | I | B | N | I | Z | L | A | T | ||
| L | E | A | N | O | N | M | E | R | O | M | A | N | O | |
| D | U | T | Y | F | R | E | E | E | N | A | M | O | R | |
| S | P | E | C | T | E | R | S | D | E | P | O | S | E |