| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scrab | Debut | Fresh |
| 1.56 | 13 | 28% |
Tue 11/10/2020
| S | N | A | F | U | | W | O | O | L | | S | P | E | W |
| C | O | L | O | N | | H | A | R | E | | I | O | T | A |
| O | N | E | O | F | | A | T | I | T | | F | L | A | X |
| P | O | R | T | A | U | T | H | O | R | I | T | Y | | |
| E | S | T | | I | M | O | | N | I | B | | E | G | O |
| | | D | R | A | F | T | S | P | E | R | S | O | N |
| N | A | I | R | | S | I | R | | | T | I | T | U | S |
| A | N | N | A | | S | T | A | N | D | | C | E | D | E |
| I | N | D | I | A | | | I | O | R | | E | R | A | T |
| F | O | U | N | T | A | I | N | H | E | A | D | | | |
| S | Y | L | | N | C | O | | A | C | T | | S | S | A |
| | G | R | O | U | N | D | S | K | E | E | P | E | R |
| I | D | E | A | | R | I | O | S | | A | V | E | R | T |
| B | U | M | P | | A | Z | U | L | | S | E | C | T | S |
| M | E | E | T | | S | E | R | E | | E | S | S | A | Y |
This puzzle was unusual because all of the theme entries and their clues came to me in a single afternoon session in the sauna. I was playing around with types of wine as a possible puzzle theme when PORT AUTHORITY and its clue "Sommelier" came to mind. I'm a sailor, and I live in Port Isabel, TX, so I think that helped. The other beverage servers and their clues then quickly fell into place. So even though it was around 180 degrees at the time, the theme and clues were "no sweat."
Sun 10/1/2017 THAT'S ONE WAY TO PUT IT
| A | T | T | R | A | C | T | | C | O | R | S | E | T | | P | R | E | D | A | T | E |
| C | H | E | A | P | O | S | | A | V | A | T | A | R | | L | I | N | E | M | A | N |
| T | E | S | T | I | N | G | G | R | A | V | I | T | Y | | A | V | E | R | A | G | E |
| S | E | H | R | | G | A | I | A | | E | F | S | | S | I | E | | I | L | E | R |
| | | A | W | A | R | D | F | O | R | F | A | S | T | D | R | I | V | I | N | G |
| D | E | I | C | E | | P | E | E | N | | | T | A | R | | | N | E | E | D | Y |
| O | R | D | E | A | L | | | S | E | P | T | | C | A | N | A | L | S | | | |
| S | I | N | | P | I | T | S | | A | A | R | P | | I | O | W | A | | A | S | P |
| E | C | O | N | O | M | I | C | A | L | W | I | T | H | T | H | E | T | R | U | T | H |
| | | A | N | N | E | A | L | | L | M | A | O | | | S | E | A | R | E | D |
| B | O | S | C | | | D | R | I | P | | | S | P | E | C | | | M | A | P | S |
| O | V | E | R | D | O | | | B | U | S | T | | U | S | A | B | L | E | | | |
| C | A | R | E | E | R | S | H | I | F | T | O | P | P | O | R | T | U | N | I | T | Y |
| A | L | F | | S | E | G | O | | F | A | I | L | | S | P | U | R | | A | H | A |
| | | B | I | O | T | A | S | | G | L | U | M | | | S | E | A | M | E | N |
| U | S | A | I | R | | | X | K | E | | | M | A | M | A | | I | T | S | O | K |
| B | U | D | G | E | T | R | E | I | N | F | O | R | C | E | M | E | N | T | | | |
| O | L | E | S | | E | O | S | | J | E | T | | H | A | D | A | | I | P | O | S |
| A | T | L | A | N | T | A | | P | O | S | T | R | E | T | I | R | E | M | E | N | T |
| T | A | I | L | O | R | S | | L | I | T | O | U | T | | A | L | D | E | N | T | E |
| S | N | E | E | R | A | T | | O | N | S | I | T | E | | L | E | T | S | N | O | T |
My ears perked up when the radio announcer said with some fanfare that "The following is an encore presentation." A few seconds later I realized it was something I'd already heard. It was just a rerun! I thought that was like calling a used car a certified pre-owned vehicle. And then the penny dropped --maybe a crossword theme there.
After a final list of theme entries was settled on, designing and filling the grid proved to be very challenging. The long horizontal themers, including two 22-letter spanners, plus the fact that Will wanted them in a set order going from bad to increasingly worse events, greatly restricted options with fill. My first two attempts were judged to have too much unappealing dreck/glue. The third time around I started from scratch with an emphasis on keeping the fill as clean as possible and it finally made the cut. Whew!
Mon 3/11/2013
| H | E | A | D | | S | T | A | F | F | | G | E | R | M |
| O | G | R | E | | P | U | P | I | L | | A | R | E | A |
| T | O | M | F | O | O | L | E | R | Y | | M | O | S | T |
| T | R | Y | S | T | S | | | | D | U | S | T | |
| E | R | E | | S | T | A | G | F | L | A | T | I | O | N |
| M | I | S | L | A | Y | | A | L | A | N | | O | R | E |
| U | P | T | O | | | | R | E | C | K | O | N | E | D |
| | | B | U | C | K | N | A | K | E | D | | | |
| O | N | C | E | M | O | R | E | | | | A | C | R | E |
| R | E | S | | A | L | I | T | | B | A | Y | R | U | M |
| B | U | L | L | S | E | S | S | I | O | N | | A | B | S |
| T | E | A | S | | | | N | O | D | I | C | E | |
| P | E | W | S | | R | A | M | S | H | A | C | K | L | E |
| I | R | I | S | | O | D | E | T | O | | E | E | L | S |
| E | S | S | O | | N | O | T | S | O | | D | R | A | T |
Mon 10/11/2010
| S | L | A | M | | | B | A | M | A | | G | A | I | N |
| C | A | P | O | | S | A | L | O | N | | O | N | T | O |
| O | M | A | N | | A | L | E | R | T | | A | J | A | R |
| T | E | C | T | O | N | I | C | P | L | A | T | E | | |
| I | N | H | E | R | E | | | H | E | R | | L | O | P |
| A | T | E | | A | L | T | A | | R | E | S | I | D | E |
| | | F | L | Y | I | N | G | S | A | U | C | E | R |
| A | L | O | E | | | E | G | O | | | M | A | S | T |
| F | I | F | A | W | O | R | L | D | C | U | P | | | |
| R | A | F | T | E | D | | E | S | A | S | | C | H | I |
| O | R | S | | A | D | S | | | P | E | A | H | E | N |
| | H | O | L | L | Y | W | O | O | D | B | O | W | L |
| F | L | O | P | | O | R | I | O | N | | O | K | I | E |
| D | A | R | E | | T | I | T | H | E | | V | E | N | T |
| A | X | E | D | | S | A | S | S | | | E | R | G | S |
