Sean Ziebarth author page
2 puzzles by Sean Ziebarth
with Constructor comments
| S | T | E | A | L | A | S | P | S | B | O | L | T | ||
| K | A | R | M | A | F | L | E | A | E | V | E | N | ||
| A | M | I | S | S | R | O | A | M | C | E | N | T | ||
| S | E | T | A | N | E | W | R | E | C | O | R | D | ||
| E | G | O | S | D | U | O | ||||||||
| T | U | R | N | T | H | E | T | A | B | L | E | S | ||
| P | O | S | E | A | S | L | A | Y | S | M | I | A | ||
| O | T | T | O | A | I | R | N | A | N | A | ||||
| L | E | O | P | S | S | T | S | T | O | I | C | S | ||
| M | O | V | E | T | H | E | N | E | E | D | L | E | ||
| E | R | A | E | G | A | D | ||||||||
| D | O | N | T | M | I | S | S | A | B | E | A | T | ||
| D | E | L | T | I | B | E | T | A | D | M | I | T | ||
| J | A | D | E | N | A | M | E | G | A | M | E | R | ||
| S | L | E | D | A | R | I | D | S | T | O | R | Y |
| W | A | F | E | R | S | C | A | B | I | N | C | A | ||
| I | L | L | B | E | M | E | L | T | T | B | A | R | ||
| I | D | A | B | V | V | E | L | L | S | S | A | C | S | |
| S | A | P | I | R | E | M | O | T | T | O | ||||
| J | A | M | E | S | B | A | L | D | V | V | I | N | ||
| S | P | A | N | I | S | H | W | I | S | E | ||||
| P | E | C | A | N | B | O | T | R | A | C | K | |||
| A | S | K | D | O | U | B | L | E | V | C | H | I | ||
| M | O | S | H | G | N | C | C | U | T | I | N | |||
| E | A | R | L | W | A | R | N | I | N | G | ||||
| G | E | O | R | G | E | V | V | A | T | S | O | N | ||
| A | R | T | O | O | I | R | A | G | P | A | ||||
| M | A | H | I | V | V | E | B | D | U | B | O | I | S | |
| U | S | E | S | M | E | W | L | R | O | U | T | E | ||
| T | E | R | M | I | T | S | Y | L | O | T | S | A |
The first time I saw a W created from two letters was skateboarder Tony Alva's logo — which reads, AWA — merging the L and the V created a strong, stylish brand. I love the optical illusion — all three letters at once!
Then, much more recently, while listening to the band Alvvays (spelled with two V's), I wondered how I might use similar typography in a crossword. I tried finding theme entries using two W's, like: BRAVE NEW WORLD and NEW WAVE MUSIC — but too many V's really gummed up the grid. I also realized I didn't have a reason to join the V's together, and during my search for a revealer the crossword magic happened!
First, I tried the nickname for Volkswagen, VW or VEE DOUBLE-U, but that got me nowhere. I switched gears and remembered in Spanish the letter W is pronounced "doble ve" or "double v." A little bit of research later and I re-discovered the Double V campaign from WWII and I learned the heroic story of George Watson who, along with many other Black Americans, was lost to history for far too long. And as a high school English and journalism teacher, I'm thrilled to celebrate Wells, Baldwin, and DuBois!
As a new constructor I've always found it helpful to hear others' NYT submission stats, so here are mine: this was the 9th puzzle I sent in to the Times, and I've submitted another 13 since to no avail. So we grid on! Reach out if you'd like to collaborate: @MrZiebarth