Sam Buchbinder author page
11 puzzles by Sam Buchbinder
with Constructor comments
See the 53 answer words debuted by Sam Buchbinder.
Sam Buchbinder is a Chicago born constructor, who has lived and taught High School history in the New York City public schools since 2008. As part of his teaching role, he programs all the classes each year for 550 students, which makes constructing crosswords look easy. He currently resides in the Bronx, with his wife and two young daughters.
| B | A | M | B | I | A | R | L | O | D | A | H | S | ||
| I | L | I | A | D | L | E | O | N | U | L | A | N | ||
| K | I | N | D | O | F | B | L | U | E | M | O | N | O | |
| E | V | E | O | U | I | S | A | B | H | O | R | |||
| R | E | C | J | U | S | T | Y | O | U | W | A | I | T | |
| R | A | U | L | P | G | A | ||||||||
| G | U | A | R | D | A | B | L | E | I | C | E | S | ||
| O | F | F | T | O | A | G | O | O | D | S | T | A | R | T |
| D | O | T | E | R | O | O | T | E | E | N | S | Y | ||
| D | U | G | A | W | R | Y | ||||||||
| U | P | R | I | G | H | T | B | A | S | S | O | A | T | |
| D | E | A | T | H | B | A | T | H | U | T | E | |||
| D | E | C | O | N | O | B | L | E | G | A | S | E | S | |
| E | V | E | R | A | N | K | A | P | L | E | A | T | ||
| R | E | D | S | P | E | A | S | S | E | E | M | S |
Hi everyone! It's been over a year since my last NYT puzzle and I'm thrilled to be back. This one really just came from hearing the phrase OFF TO A GOOD START (and counting on my fingers to realize it was 15 letters long!). From there, I went through a wide range of different potential synonyms for GOOD, and settled on the set you see here.
Lots of thanks to Sam Ezersky for feedback that led to revisions to make the puzzle better. I hope this fittingly Monday puzzle helps get your week OFF TO A GOOD START!
| A | M | P | L | E | L | I | A | M | M | O | S | H | ||
| N | O | O | I | L | E | L | S | A | A | N | T | I | ||
| V | O | O | D | O | O | D | O | L | L | L | E | A | K | |
| I | L | L | S | W | T | S | A | S | T | U | T | E | ||
| L | A | P | C | L | O | T | H | D | I | A | P | E | R | |
| A | C | U | A | R | M | |||||||||
| O | N | R | U | S | H | P | R | O | D | O | N | S | ||
| L | E | T | S | P | U | T | A | P | I | N | I | N | I | T |
| E | D | Y | S | M | A | W | T | I | D | I | L | Y | ||
| P | A | N | L | O | O | |||||||||
| B | O | W | L | I | N | G | L | A | N | E | N | B | A | |
| A | C | H | I | E | R | I | C | E | T | R | O | T | ||
| S | H | I | N | A | T | M | M | A | C | H | I | N | E | |
| R | E | S | T | C | U | B | E | P | A | N | D | A | ||
| A | R | T | Y | E | G | O | S | A | N | G | S | T |
BRAD: Sam and I have been published as a team elsewhere, but I'm proud to be part of his first collab in the Times. I feel enriched by working with someone of his talent and also by having some glimpses into his life as a history teacher and a dad since my late father taught high school social studies.
Having this puzzle reach print is especially satisfying because there were so many levels of decision-making for us. Since we ended up with drafts at two different word counts, did the additional black square help or hurt our chances? Should the revealer be a grid-spanner, or something shorter like "PUT A PIN IN (IT)"? If we kept to the most obvious definition of pin, would the tautness be congratulated, or would the editorial team respond more positively to a variety of pins?
When Sam proposed we flesh out this idea together, he had a worksheet with many senses of "pin." Ultimately, we submitted a version set entirely in the realm of pins as fasteners, so when Will asked us to revise the bottom half of the puzzle and swap in BOWLING LANE and ATM MACHINE for our original DRESS DUMMY and BOUTONNIERE, we had to laugh at the déjà vu.
Another interesting note: After we had this puzzle tentatively accepted, it took us a while as a team to get our revision in shape. Tracy was kind enough to check in on our progress and let us know that since our submission THREE other puzzles had come in with our PIN theme. She would send regrets on those as long as we still planned on finalizing ours. Amazing how the crossword hivemind works!
| M | U | S | T | B | E | N | I | C | E | A | P | B | S | |
| O | B | A | M | A | B | I | D | E | N | C | H | A | T | |
| N | E | W | Z | E | A | L | A | N | D | T | O | D | O | |
| I | R | E | R | Y | E | S | I | L | E | N | T | O | ||
| C | E | R | A | C | U | T | A | D | E | A | L | |||
| A | D | S | L | O | G | A | N | S | T | U | T | S | I | |
| G | E | R | U | N | D | S | P | A | T | E | ||||
| R | I | D | R | A | T | P | A | C | K | G | E | S | ||
| O | B | I | T | F | O | O | T | A | G | E | ||||
| B | E | R | R | A | C | L | A | M | B | A | K | E | S | |
| A | F | T | E | R | A | L | L | T | A | L | C | |||
| B | O | B | A | T | E | A | Y | A | M | F | D | A | ||
| A | R | I | D | T | V | R | E | P | O | R | T | E | R | |
| N | E | K | O | N | E | X | T | P | L | E | A | S | E | |
| K | E | E | N | A | S | S | I | S | T | A | N | T | S |
I'm so excited to finally have a Saturday puzzle on the books! For me, Saturday puzzles have a special place since as a solver it took me so long to finally finish one — I know the joy that can come when you finally do it. I used to work on the Saturday puzzle throughout the rest of the week, trying to chip away at it bit by bit.
Anyways, I hope this puzzle has something for everyone. I'm a High School History Teacher, and I'm sure you can see a bit of that come out in the puzzle. Also, my brother is a chemist, and an aspiring crossword solver, so I'm hoping to throw him a bone on 29-Down — a word that I learned while constructing this puzzle.
Hope you enjoy the puzzle!
| T | H | O | N | G | W | E | T | S | S | L | R | |||
| H | O | S | E | R | T | O | M | E | I | T | A | O | ||
| U | N | C | L | E | I | M | M | A | D | E | M | O | ||
| S | E | A | L | E | D | B | E | A | M | T | R | A | M | |
| R | A | K | E | I | N | E | W | E | R | S | ||||
| A | N | N | G | L | A | S | S | F | L | O | O | R | ||
| G | O | O | G | O | L | G | L | A | M | P | ||||
| E | N | D | E | D | L | Y | O | N | A | T | M | S | ||
| R | E | S | T | S | I | M | P | H | I | H | A | T | ||
| A | S | H | E | N | A | I | R | A | C | E | ||||
| I | N | T | H | E | V | A | U | L | T | T | E | M | ||
| A | P | B | I | O | S | P | L | I | T | S | ||||
| C | H | A | P | K | I | T | K | A | T | B | A | R | S | |
| T | O | M | G | E | N | I | E | B | A | L | O | O | ||
| A | T | V | P | E | R | C | Y | I | L | I | A | D | ||
| S | O | P | A | P | E | S | G | L | E | N | S |
Go Team USA!!!! Can't wait to see @Simone_Biles and #TeamUSA kick some butt at the #TokyoOlympics. This puzzle was accepted back in January of 2020, and then was delayed — along with the Tokyo Olympics — until now.
I got the idea for the puzzle while sitting at my then 3-year-old daughter's gymnastics class as I watched her rotate through the different equipment. I had previously had a NYT puzzle published with a similar interlocking theme around bowling, which was fun to construct, so I figured I'd try for it again. Voila! Thanks to Will and the team for letting me work on a revision to improve some fill. I hope the final puzzle is fun to solve and celebrates the hard work of all the gymnasts.
As for the puzzle, aside from the theme, I liked being able to include GREEK GOD in a puzzle based around the Olympics. Some other favorite entries included THAT'S A LIE and NBA MVP (Originally clued as Title for King James?). Enjoy the puzzle (and a KIT KAT BAR)!
| E | C | O | N | M | A | J | O | R | H | A | N | G | S | |
| M | A | N | O | A | M | A | N | O | E | X | E | R | T | |
| O | L | I | V | E | P | I | T | S | L | E | V | A | R | |
| B | I | O | L | O | Y | A | L | A | T | E | ||||
| A | C | N | E | T | S | P | N | O | I | D | E | A | ||
| N | O | D | S | T | O | O | A | T | M | A | S | K | ||
| D | E | I | C | E | R | F | L | I | T | S | ||||
| S | P | A | C | E | S | T | A | T | I | O | N | S | ||
| P | H | I | S | H | A | R | M | A | T | A | ||||
| G | A | M | E | N | E | E | N | E | A | R | E | R | ||
| W | H | O | D | A | T | W | O | K | D | Y | E | R | ||
| B | I | B | G | O | D | O | T | A | P | E | ||||
| U | S | T | E | N | I | R | O | N | C | R | O | S | S | |
| S | E | I | N | E | S | L | E | E | P | O | N | I | T | |
| H | E | E | D | S | H | D | S | C | R | E | E | N | S |
Hi Solvers! Thanks for spending your Friday with this puzzle. I hope you enjoy the variety of entries, including the ON TOP OF THE WORLD crossing SPACE STATIONS. My original clue for SPACE STATIONS (Workplaces that are staffed on a rotating basis?) didn't make the cut, but I really like the one that the editorial team settled on.
The puzzle's construction started with the stack in the NW, and then grew down to the SE where I had to go through many iterations before finding a set I was happy with. I also enjoyed including the food crossing of OLIVE PITS and ONION DIP, as well as getting to include Taking Back Sunday in the clue for EMO BANDS, since it is one of my wife's favorites.
One note: The entry IRON CROSS was clued as an Award for the Red Baron. Sam Ezersky and the editorial team reached out last week to ask the upcoming constructors to look over their proofs and request any potential changes to clues. After having engaged in a discussion back in May in the Cruciverb Facebook group about the entry IRON CROSS, I asked Sam about cluing it relating to the gymnastics move, rather than the military award. After discussing it, they agreed that it would improve the puzzle to take a new angle on it, and I'm grateful that the editorial team has added the chance for constructors to have their voices heard in the final product.
| G | O | D | A | R | K | C | L | A | N | C | Y | |||
| O | B | E | R | O | N | D | R | U | M | P | A | D | ||
| B | I | E | R | C | E | B | O | O | B | I | R | D | S | |
| S | T | R | I | K | E | F | O | R | C | E | S | |||
| B | Y | L | A | W | S | S | H | E | E | P | ||||
| R | A | F | A | B | L | E | U | R | Y | E | ||||
| A | H | A | S | P | L | I | T | S | C | R | E | E | N | |
| N | I | N | E | T | E | E | N | I | O | T | A | |||
| M | A | Y | A | G | U | N | N | E | D | I | T | |||
| S | P | A | R | E | C | H | A | N | G | E | E | C | O | |
| A | R | I | H | O | L | D | B | R | E | W | ||||
| C | O | L | A | S | C | L | A | I | R | E | ||||
| T | U | R | K | E | Y | B | A | S | T | E | R | |||
| P | U | L | L | A | U | E | Y | A | V | I | A | T | E | |
| I | M | S | A | V | E | D | R | E | D | T | A | G | ||
| P | A | U | S | E | D | S | L | E | E | T | S |
Before any notes on the puzzle, as a resident of the Bronx, just want to say thank you to all the healthcare, retail, transit and other essential workers in the city right now that are doing so much to keep the city afloat.
As for the puzzle, I had fun bringing a small twist to a common theme type, and I hope you all enjoy the puzzle. I wanted to have something in the puzzle visually look like a BOWLING ALLEY, so I ran the entry vertically through the puzzle. I then began playing around with having the other entries intersect with BOWLING ALLEY. After many, many (many!) variations, I found a set that would work, while at the same time allowing for a lot of lively other entries in the puzzle.
Some of my favorite non-theme entries include BOO BIRDS, PULL A UEY, I'M SAVED! and FAN MAIL.
Lastly, just wanted to give a thank you to Howard Barkin for testing out the puzzle way back before submission and giving lots of honest feedback on where I needed to improve the puzzle. The end product was better for it.
| I | M | P | S | O | W | N | E | R | T | O | S | S | ||
| M | O | R | T | B | R | A | K | E | C | A | B | L | E | |
| T | R | A | Y | L | O | V | E | P | O | T | I | O | N | |
| H | E | G | E | M | O | N | Y | R | R | A | T | E | D | |
| E | T | E | E | N | G | B | I | O | ||||||
| W | O | N | B | I | G | G | U | N | N | E | D | I | T | |
| O | C | C | U | R | W | E | N | T | A | L | O | N | E | |
| R | O | I | L | S | H | E | D | S | V | E | E | R | ||
| S | M | E | L | L | T | E | S | T | M | I | S | E | R | |
| T | E | S | S | E | R | A | E | C | A | N | T | D | O | |
| G | A | T | L | O | G | O | A | R | ||||||
| B | I | G | A | M | Y | C | A | P | I | T | A | L | I | |
| O | P | E | R | A | C | O | A | T | S | O | T | I | S | |
| N | O | M | I | N | A | L | F | E | E | L | E | F | T | |
| O | S | S | A | T | E | E | N | S | L | E | T | S |
I'm thrilled to have my first Themeless puzzle published in the New York Times - especially the day after Thanksgiving when hopefully this can serve as a nice post-Thanksgiving food coma family solve.
Anyways, a few notes on the puzzle: First, northwest corner down stack was definitely the basis for the puzzle. One day I heard myself saying the phrase, "I'M THE WORST" (which I say fairly often…), and decided that it would be a really nice way to start off a puzzle. MORE TO COME… and PR AGENCIES were great debut entries to follow.
The rest of the puzzle ended up going through a lot of changes, at the (very very fair) request of the NYT editing team, since the SW corner was most definitely not up to par with the rest of the puzzle. Aside from having less other than stellar entries, I originally had GOOGLE DUO (an app I use a lot), and Will and the team were worried that it might not stand the test of time. So, I went through quite a few revisions before getting to what you see today. In the NE corner, I also originally had AGED CHEESE/REC LEAGUES where today you see BRAKE CABLE/LOVE POTION.
Some other favorites are SMELL TEST and I NEED A LIFT.
In terms of clues, sadly, many of my original ones did not make the cut: PR AGENCIES [Places to go for a spin?], CAPITAL I [Character embedded in the CIA?] and WON BIG [Cleared the table?]
Of the clues that made it through, my favorite is for BIGAMY [Twice-committed crime?].
Anyways, hope you enjoy!
| O | B | A | M | A | C | A | T | T | P | O | S | H | ||
| T | A | R | O | T | A | M | O | S | I | T | T | Y | ||
| I | N | T | H | E | D | R | I | N | K | T | E | R | P | |
| S | A | S | S | I | O | N | E | M | C | R | A | E | ||
| M | E | M | O | R | Y | C | H | I | P | S | ||||
| I | G | O | T | I | T | U | S | E | ||||||
| N | E | P | A | L | T | U | N | A | S | W | A | T | ||
| K | N | U | C | K | L | E | S | A | N | D | W | I | C | H |
| S | O | S | O | A | D | A | M | Y | O | S | H | I | ||
| T | R | I | S | N | O | P | E | S | ||||||
| S | M | A | R | T | C | O | O | K | I | E | ||||
| H | A | G | U | E | C | R | A | G | B | O | N | A | ||
| E | R | I | C | L | U | N | C | H | B | O | X | E | S | |
| M | I | N | K | A | L | O | E | T | W | E | R | K | ||
| P | E | G | S | P | I | T | Y | W | E | N | D | S |
The idea for the puzzle stemmed from hearing the phrase "Knuckle Sandwich" (and realizing it was 15 letters...), and I began thinking about other phrases which included food, but in a non-food context. Since that was too broad of a category, I realized that when I think of sandwiches — as a teacher — I think of school lunch. Thinking about school lunch, got me to the memory of lunch boxes, which I think is a fond memory for many people. So, I hope that this puzzle brings solvers a little smile as they go down memory lane.
| I | D | I | N | G | T | I | M | E | K | A | L | B | ||
| M | A | N | I | A | A | N | E | W | A | M | I | E | ||
| B | R | O | K | E | N | B | O | N | E | B | E | B | E | |
| E | E | N | L | E | O | I | M | O | N | E | T | |||
| A | M | I | N | V | O | L | L | E | Y | B | A | L | L | |
| T | E | T | O | N | A | L | A | B | E | E | ||||
| T | E | A | P | O | T | S | O | L | D | S | ||||
| D | I | N | N | E | R | T | A | B | L | E | ||||
| S | P | O | T | T | A | K | E | S | T | O | ||||
| P | A | N | A | I | R | U | R | B | A | N | ||||
| A | L | A | R | M | C | L | O | C | K | D | O | P | E | |
| M | E | T | O | O | R | H | E | A | O | P | S | |||
| M | A | I | A | W | E | R | E | A | L | L | S | E | T | |
| E | L | O | N | A | R | I | A | M | E | T | A | L | ||
| D | E | N | S | R | E | N | T | A | I | S | L | E |
A while back I read that the word with the most definitions in the English language was "set." So, I set out to create a puzzle whose theme answers were all things that can be "set" in different ways. That left trying to find a revealer that would tie it together. I played around with a few things, and decided on the phrase "We're All Set," which did a good job of describing the theme. In addition to the theme answers, I really like the first two down answers, which are colloquial phrases — I'M BEAT and DARE ME?
I hope everyone enjoys the puzzle!
| A | B | E | L | D | E | A | L | B | E | M | A | D | ||
| P | A | N | A | S | O | N | I | C | O | V | I | N | E | |
| B | L | A | C | K | G | O | L | D | S | E | X | T | S | |
| A | B | E | A | M | T | E | N | T | H | S | ||||
| S | N | L | A | S | T | O | R | H | A | R | E | |||
| A | C | E | R | B | T | I | P | I | A | P | A | R | ||
| S | E | D | E | R | R | O | U | T | N | E | X | T | ||
| D | O | M | E | L | E | A | D | |||||||
| B | O | T | S | E | T | T | E | R | E | N | T | S | ||
| A | N | I | N | E | C | O | N | I | D | I | O | T | ||
| S | A | N | A | T | H | A | T | S | C | U | E | |||
| S | N | I | P | E | S | P | O | K | E | R | ||||
| A | D | E | P | T | O | D | D | I | S | N | T | I | T | |
| L | O | S | E | S | D | A | R | K | H | O | R | S | E | |
| E | N | T | R | Y | S | M | E | E | B | Y | T | E |
I really enjoy puzzles that have a visual component to them, since it is something that adds an extra dimension to a crossword puzzle. In this puzzle, I first came up with the idea to have each word start with something you can bet on for a roulette wheel. I originally attempted to fit in a Zero theme answer as well, but couldn't work it in without sacrificing the fill too much. Without the fifth answer, I wanted to add something to it to make it stand out, and so I figured out that ROULETTE could be input as a visual center to the puzzle in a circle, around the black square.
Finally, I really enjoy working with larger corners, even in early week puzzles, which is where some of my favorite answers are found, including MIX TAPE, ANTHRAX and ON AND ON.
Hope you enjoy!
| M | E | D | A | L | S | C | A | P | T | U | R | E | S | |
| B | I | A | L | I | K | G | R | O | U | P | O | N | S | |
| A | R | T | I | F | I | C | I | A | L | B | R | A | I | N |
| S | E | E | T | H | A | E | N | D | S | |||||
| Q | U | A | S | H | P | D | A | |||||||
| G | E | T | U | P | T | H | E | C | O | U | R | A | G | E |
| O | R | E | O | R | U | S | T | K | I | X | ||||
| L | A | S | D | O | R | O | T | H | Y | I | V | E | ||
| A | S | L | A | T | O | I | A | V | E | R | ||||
| N | E | A | R | T | O | O | N | E | S | H | E | A | R | T |
| U | S | E | E | N | T | E | R | |||||||
| S | T | A | B | Z | A | C | D | R | E | |||||
| Y | E | L | L | O | W | B | R | I | C | K | R | O | A | D |
| N | A | K | E | D | E | Y | E | K | L | U | T | Z | Y | |
| C | L | A | S | S | I | S | M | S | E | N | S | E | S |
Hello!
I am very excited to be debuting my first published crossword. I'm 28 years old, and I've been trying my hand at construction for the past three years. I teach History to amazing High School students at 10X225 in the Bronx, and they know very well about my crosswording habits. My wife, Kim, supports the addiction as well. The cat, Charlie, enjoys sitting on my computer while I attempt to construct. I began constructing after going to see Will Shortz at a Times Talk. I told my friend Pete about it, and we sat down in a coffee shop with some graph paper and tried to come up with a puzzle, figure out the grids, etc. Since then, I've submitted several puzzles, and this is my first one accepted!
As for the puzzle, I am actually at a loss for where it came from. It clicked that in the Wizard of Oz each of the three characters was searching for something at the end of the Yellow Brick Road. I wanted to play off of that "search" idea, and so I looked for phrases that each ended in the things each character was searching for. Originally, HEROINE, which crosses down the middle with DOROTHY was not going to be a theme answer, as it would have to fit through three theme answers. However, after working through some words, I realized that HEROINE would fit, and it would cross with DOROTHY. Pretty cool.
The difficulties in the fill came in the northeast, center and southeastern portions of the grid. It took a few re-writes to get some of the three-letter fill to be better. The center was very tough since it was restricted by multiple theme answers. My favorite answers in the puzzle are GROUPONS, KLUTZY and CLASSISM. As a history teacher, the Wizard of Oz is often seen as an allegory for the Populist movement, which was partially a fight by farmers against the wealthy big business owners. So, I appreciated that CLASSISM ended up in the puzzle.
Finally, I found out that the Wizard of Oz premiered in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where I went to camp for ten years of my childhood.
All told, I've very excited for the puzzle, and hope everyone enjoys!