Phoebe Gordon author page
1 puzzle by Phoebe Gordon
with Jeff Chen comments
| H | A | R | S | H | G | A | L | A | R | A | Z | Z | |||
| E | L | O | P | E | A | R | I | A | S | A | L | O | E | ||
| A | T | S | I | X | E | S | A | N | D | S | E | V | E | N | S |
| P | O | E | T | M | I | N | T | Y | R | E | S | E | T | ||
| T | A | T | A | B | A | A | S | ||||||||
| E | D | G | A | R | N | A | D | I | R | S | P | D | T | ||
| B | R | A | K | E | S | G | U | R | U | C | A | R | A | ||
| B | Y | L | E | A | P | S | A | N | D | B | O | U | N | D | S |
| E | L | L | S | O | T | I | S | A | M | P | E | R | E | ||
| D | Y | S | G | R | A | N | T | S | N | H | L | E | R | ||
| B | O | E | R | C | L | I | O | ||||||||
| C | A | I | R | O | G | O | O | E | Y | L | U | L | U | ||
| O | N | P | I | N | S | A | N | D | N | E | E | D | L | E | S |
| A | T | O | M | O | Z | Z | I | E | G | E | N | I | E | ||
| L | I | D | S | B | E | E | N | G | R | A | S | S |
AT SIXES AND SEVENS so perfectly describes math confusion! It also applies to my six and seven-year-olds, who are at sixes and sevens regarding my algebra and pre-calculus puzzles. I know they're only half-Asian, but come on!
I'm (half) kidding.
Over a decade of crossword construction, I'd never considered the pattern ?? X AND Y (where a question mark represents any letter). Neat that it's a fairly tight set — I couldn't think of many more that fit the pattern; only IN FITS AND STARTS.
It's even neater that each phrase can be punnily applied to an apt subject. That second criterion makes this idea even tighter, since IN FITS AND STARTS might only apply to some Laff-A-Lympics quick-change relay race.
Three themers is below average these days, so I expect incredible color and ultra-clean fill. SPIT TAKES, STAR GAZE, LADY BIRD, CUPHOLDER, oh yeah! The spacing is perfect, alternating up down up down across the columns. Sets the stage so well for smooth short fill.
I paused at NHLER and slowed further with minor DYS ELLS PDT. ONZE is tough foreign vocab for newb solvers, too (although my French friends down the street will love it!) — is it worth the snazzy Zs in OZZIE? That question has no right answer, though I much preferred the ZZ in RAZZ because they came with no associated price to pay. It's so much harder to fill a region like the south, with STAR GAZE taking away flexibility.
It's not every day that I see an interesting letter / phrase pattern that feels crossworthy. Nice theme for a Monday debut.