Sridhar Bhagavathula author page
1 puzzle by Sridhar Bhagavathula
with Constructor comments
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| A | K | I | R | A | K | U | R | O | S | A | W | A | ||
| P | S | A | S | E | T | T | L | I | N | G | ||||
| S | C | R | E | E | N | S | L | I | S | P | T | A | ||
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| E | P | I | S | O | D | E | S | C | O | C | O | O | N | |
| R | E | F | I | N | E | R | Y | P | S | E | U | D | O | |
| S | L | Y | N | E | S | S | R | E | S | T | E | D |
I wanted to make a grid around AKIRA KUROSAWA because he's so often seen in puzzles on a first-name basis, understandably, but he deserves more than that. I'm not sure if the entry is a first, but it's certainly rare. I clued it via a lesser-known but marvelous film of his; I can only hope that some people will go watch "Stray Dog" after solving this puzzle. I also had a little Shakespearean strain throughout the clues as an homage to Kurosawa, who is in many ways the Bard's modern equivalent.
I'm pretty stoked to have my Times debut on a Friday, which is my personal favorite solving day. I've been making puzzles for several years now, but very sporadically and mostly for my friends. I enjoy constructing crosswords, especially freestyles because it's an interesting exercise to take an algorithmic framework — in this case, strings of letters in a grid — and imbue it with some of the more inscrutable aspects of culture — slang and humor, for instance. The dichotomy pleases me.
When I'm off the grid, as it were, I'm a classical flutist. I also have a podcast, Impolite to Listen, where I chat casually with my friend about classical music and its attendant matters. I find that the motions of the mind are similar between constructing crosswords and making music. Is there some truth there? I don't know — I am not my mind's accountant.