Tom McCoy author page
35 puzzles by Tom McCoy
with Constructor comments
| Total | Debut | Latest |
|---|---|---|
| 35 | 11/14/2013 | 7/3/2022 |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Rebus | Circle | Scrabble | PGram | Fresh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 7 | 1.61 | 2 | 41% |
| O | S | L | O | U | N | F | I | T | H | E | L | P | B | E | A | S | T | |||
| R | H | E | A | N | O | R | A | H | E | T | A | L | E | L | L | I | E | |||
| B | O | T | T | O | M | L | I | N | E | A | C | R | E | C | A | P | R | A | ||
| S | O | S | M | E | T | E | O | L | D | E | R | B | R | O | T | H | E | R | ||
| G | R | A | T | E | D | T | A | S | T | Y | I | M | E | A | S | Y | ||||
| S | T | E | I | N | E | T | H | N | I | C | O | N | E | S | ||||||
| P | U | T | T | I | N | G | G | R | E | E | N | A | N | D | S | W | A | H | ||
| A | T | O | Z | E | A | G | E | R | A | N | T | S | A | H | M | E | ||||
| N | U | N | F | A | L | S | E | T | R | U | T | H | F | L | A | I | R | |||
| W | H | I | R | L | P | E | O | R | I | A | L | E | T | G | O | |||||
| A | S | I | A | N | I | N | C | O | N | T | A | C | T | A | R | S | O | N | ||
| B | U | T | T | E | V | A | L | U | E | S | N | A | S | T | Y | |||||
| U | S | H | E | R | A | P | A | R | T | S | P | O | C | K | O | A | K | |||
| T | H | I | S | A | N | E | W | B | O | O | T | H | M | U | L | E | ||||
| S | I | T | A | C | T | S | C | H | A | R | L | E | Y | H | O | R | S | E | ||
| P | S | I | S | A | L | E | C | T | O | I | T | S | O | N | ||||||
| A | T | A | R | U | N | S | M | A | C | K | S | C | A | T | H | E | ||||
| G | I | V | I | N | G | T | H | A | N | K | S | H | U | L | U | C | O | N | ||
| A | M | E | N | D | H | A | N | G | T | H | I | R | D | P | A | R | T | Y | ||
| T | E | R | C | E | U | N | D | O | A | E | R | I | E | R | E | I | N | |||
| E | S | T | E | R | S | T | A | R | B | E | T | O | N | E | T | S | Y |
The idea for this puzzle came from the way my university assigns email addresses: first initial plus last name (plus a number, but I left out that part). In my initial submission, the cluing reflected this origin. For example, the clue for 23-Across was [Name: Takeaway. User ID: Direct path], giving one clue for the full answer ("name") and one for the abbreviated answer ("user ID"). The editorial team suggested the different framing that you see in the published puzzle, and I think it's a big improvement!
| S | P | A | R | S | S | R | S | S | T | A | V | E | ||
| O | R | C | R | O | U | T | C | U | B | I | C | |||
| O | F | A | I | F | S | H | B | O | ||||||
| T | I | S | E | R | A | S | I | M | B | U | E | |||
| Y | R | S | P | A | R | T | A | K | E | |||||
| M | E | D | I | C | D | E | A | D | A | I | R | |||
| M | U | C | H | A | D | O | R | I | N | S | E | |||
| A | B | B | R | A | B | O | U | T | A | A | R | P | ||
| A | L | L | E | N | N | O | T | H | I | N | G | |||
| S | T | E | R | I | L | E | E | W | E | R | S | |||
| C | E | R | E | B | R | O | A | L | T | |||||
| S | P | R | E | E | T | R | O | N | M | I | A | |||
| D | U | O | S | I | B | U | P | S | ||||||
| R | E | R | A | N | O | R | G | O | R | U | T | |||
| S | T | O | W | E | N | E | S | T | I | S | P | Y |
Ever since solving David Steinberg's excellent FROOT LOOPS puzzle, I've thought about using some sort of loop-based trick. This puzzle finally gave me the chance to do it!
To brainstorm potential words for the loops, I went on XWord Info to look up all the ways that ADO has been clued in past crosswords. It's a common answer, so this gave me many options. Without that flexibility, I might not have been able to fill the grid, because this type of theme is very constraining. The interlocking geometry of the theme entries is simply incompatible with many words (including some of my favorites: BALLYHOO, BROUHAHA, HULLABALOO, and HURLY-BURLY — it seems that certain letters really evoke a commotion!).
Thanks, as always, to the editorial team for their work; I especially like the clue [Salk and Pepper, in brief], which they added. I also appreciate the new initiative of sending the puzzle PDF to constructors a couple weeks before publication so that we can let the editors know if there are any changes we would like to be made.
| P | U | T | T | S | S | L | E | W | W | O | N | T | E | R | G | S | ||||
| A | P | R | I | L | E | A | V | E | A | A | R | O | N | L | E | A | P | |||
| S | H | I | P | O | F | T | H | E | D | E | S | S | E | R | T | F | I | D | E | |
| S | I | B | E | T | O | N | O | F | A | B | I | N | G | E | ||||||
| G | L | A | S | S | W | O | R | K | N | O | B | E | L | M | I | N | D | E | D | |
| O | L | L | I | E | E | E | K | R | I | T | U | A | L | E | T | E | ||||
| D | E | C | O | E | E | L | C | T | R | L | E | R | R | |||||||
| T | H | E | M | O | R | A | L | E | O | F | T | H | E | S | T | O | R | Y | ||
| W | H | O | S | U | D | S | P | A | R | E | S | H | O | D | ||||||
| H | E | R | T | R | E | K | S | D | E | N | Y | I | S | A | Y | |||||
| I | T | S | N | O | T | R | O | C | K | E | T | T | E | S | C | I | E | N | C | E |
| M | A | Y | A | F | U | N | D | S | A | T | A | N | A | H | A | |||||
| L | I | S | T | B | E | D | S | R | A | J | A | P | E | R | ||||||
| I | C | A | M | E | I | S | A | W | I | C | O | N | C | U | R | R | E | D | ||
| E | N | O | R | E | D | O | E | A | U | K | N | U | T | |||||||
| A | R | M | I | T | A | L | I | A | N | T | H | S | E | E | M | E | ||||
| S | E | M | I | C | O | L | O | G | N | E | D | E | A | T | H | S | T | A | R | |
| E | P | O | C | H | L | G | A | O | A | R | S | H | O | N | ||||||
| D | O | N | A | M | A | J | O | R | T | H | O | R | E | A | U | F | A | R | E | |
| U | S | E | R | A | L | L | O | Y | U | R | S | A | M | I | N | I | S | |||
| P | E | R | E | C | E | O | S | E | S | T | S | W | R | E | S | T |
The idea for this puzzle came from a college course I took in Phonology (the study of sound systems in language), when the professor, Ryan Bennett, mentioned that very few pairs of English words are differentiated only by their stress. Most of the examples that do exist involve a noun and a verb that are related in meaning (e.g., you play a RE-cord, but you re-CORD a message), but he did bring up "canary" and "cannery" as a pair where the two words are unrelated in meaning.
I started trying to think of other such pairs, and eventually accumulated enough to build a puzzle! Embarrassingly, my initial submission contained the theme answer GREENER PASTEURS, clued as "The more eco-friendly descendants of scientist Louis"; but the editors gently informed me that I had been pronouncing "Pasteur" incorrectly, so that answer had to be scrapped. I had also planned to use MISSOURI LOVES COMPANY, but later found out that MISSOURI has a second standard pronunciation besides the one I am used to, and the joke does not work with this second pronunciation.
To help brainstorm theme entries, I used the CMU pronouncing dictionary, which is a great tool for finding words based on some property of their pronunciation (most word databases only enable searching over spelling, rather than pronunciation). Some of my favorite pairs that did not make it into the puzzle were JAVANESE/GIOVANNI'S, POPERY/POTPOURRI, and PLATO/PLATEAU.
| G | U | R | U | S | T | R | E | A | T | Y | S | E | P | T | E | T | ||||
| E | P | I | Z | O | A | E | E | N | S | I | E | U | N | R | E | A | D | Y | ||
| R | S | A | I | L | S | P | L | I | T | T | E | R | T | O | N | E | D | U | P | |
| M | E | L | O | C | T | A | O | U | T | Q | E | R | S | P | A | C | E | |||
| S | T | S | H | E | A | V | E | D | P | L | A | N | E | T | ||||||
| T | O | N | I | R | I | S | E | N | S | M | A | R | S | |||||||
| R | O | U | O | M | D | I | V | I | D | E | R | D | I | S | P | O | S | A | L | |
| A | R | M | R | E | S | T | N | A | A | S | A | L | C | A | V | I | T | Y | ||
| T | A | P | I | R | S | E | A | T | I | T | S | U | N | E | A | S | E | |||
| E | L | S | E | S | O | R | T | R | N | A | F | B | I | N | O | R | ||||
| S | E | C | U | R | R | I | T | Y | B | R | E | A | C | H | ||||||
| S | L | O | A | L | T | O | N | E | L | A | R | S | O | H | N | O | ||||
| T | O | W | A | G | E | P | O | I | B | E | E | R | B | R | O | O | D | |||
| P | A | E | P | E | R | C | U | T | T | E | R | I | P | L | A | N | T | O | ||
| A | F | T | E | R | A | L | L | S | P | A | F | E | C | R | A | C | K | E | R | |
| T | S | O | S | O | S | O | A | N | O | N | E | N | E | |||||||
| N | O | B | A | M | A | D | O | C | O | C | K | U | S | B | ||||||
| L | U | C | K | E | Y | B | R | E | A | K | O | V | E | N | N | E | E | |||
| O | N | L | E | A | V | E | G | R | A | N | G | D | O | P | E | N | I | N | G | |
| A | D | O | P | T | E | R | A | G | L | A | R | E | T | S | E | T | S | E | ||
| D | O | G | T | O | Y | S | H | E | E | R | S | S | W | E | E | T |
The idea for this puzzle came from the phrase HOLE IN THE WALL, although that specific theme entry did not make it into the final version. (I decided to avoid any theme answer with HOLE in it, to avoid repetition with the implied "IN A ROUND HOLE" that follows the bonus answer).
I always prefer when Sundays have something extra on top of the main theme, which is why I went for the bonus answer spelled out by the circled letters. At the same time, adding such a bonus can really constrain the puzzle: in this case, it required having nine theme answers to accommodate the nine-letter bonus answer, and nine theme answers is a lot to cram into a puzzle — it doesn't leave much room for long non-theme answers. I decided that the trade-off was worth it, but it's always tough weighing the theme against the non-theme fill.
| S | T | A | N | D | P | A | W | N | S | B | E | D | N | E | R | F | ||||
| A | R | M | O | R | U | H | H | U | H | E | C | O | S | O | L | A | R | |||
| S | U | E | S | E | H | T | M | I | N | O | T | A | U | R | T | W | I | C | E | |
| S | E | N | T | I | T | E | M | O | I | R | A | M | B | O | W | S | E | R | ||
| T | R | O | T | S | S | T | O | O | D | S | P | H | E | R | E | |||||
| L | O | I | R | E | W | I | N | N | O | W | I | S | E | |||||||
| N | O | T | L | I | M | A | H | B | U | R | R | R | O | D | R | B | I | |||
| S | C | H | S | L | I | M | B | O | E | D | R | E | L | E | A | S | E | |||
| A | A | A | C | E | L | T | I | D | R | I | S | O | W | N | E | R | ||||
| L | T | C | O | L | E | K | U | L | D | A | R | T | H | V | A | D | E | R | ||
| O | R | K | S | U | N | E | N | O | Y | E | S | |||||||||
| Y | P | O | O | N | S | R | E | D | B | A | R | O | N | P | R | I | N | T | ||
| D | R | A | K | E | H | A | Z | E | L | L | A | O | S | O | A | R | ||||
| S | A | T | I | A | T | E | U | N | I | D | E | A | L | O | C | T | A | |||
| T | H | E | Y | A | K | D | I | V | A | D | G | O | L | I | A | T | H | |||
| C | A | P | S | I | D | D | R | Y | H | O | L | L | Y | |||||||
| A | S | S | U | M | E | L | A | M | B | S | S | M | A | L | L | |||||
| N | A | M | T | A | B | J | O | K | E | R | A | T | T | A | A | L | G | A | ||
| G | L | I | T | Z | E | T | O | X | I | U | Q | W | I | N | D | M | I | L | L | |
| E | S | T | E | E | D | O | T | B | R | U | I | N | U | P | S | E | T | |||
| L | A | H | R | I | N | A | E | L | A | T | E | O | S | T | E | O |
Since starting grad school a year ago, I haven't had too much time to construct crosswords, but I was happy to find some time during a break a few months ago. This puzzle was inspired by the phrase "going head to head." It's only now occurring to me that, in addition to going head to head, enemies are also said to cross each other...there's probably another theme in there.
For some odd reason, my favorite part of this grid is the 2x2 box of L's in 99- and 106-Across.
With this puzzle, I've now managed to fit two of my sisters into crosswords (you're welcome, KUDZU). Two down, two to go!
| S | T | A | T | S | H | O | P | I | N | S | N | L | S | L | A | P | ||||
| A | R | D | O | R | W | A | S | H | O | E | T | E | A | T | A | T | E | |||
| M | I | D | N | I | G | H | T | H | O | U | R | E | V | I | T | A | B | L | E | |
| E | L | M | O | L | O | H | A | N | D | I | V | E | R | S | G | O | A | L | ||
| L | E | A | F | E | D | E | I | S | N | E | R | P | E | R | S | E | ||||
| V | I | E | N | O | I | R | M | O | M | A | E | E | R | |||||||
| O | C | E | A | N | T | A | R | T | A | R | E | O | N | M | A | R | S | |||
| V | O | T | I | N | G | A | G | E | I | N | A | M | E | R | I | C | A | |||
| E | V | A | L | O | R | S | O | N | N | O | D | E | G | R | A | D | E | |||
| R | E | L | N | L | E | O | K | R | A | R | I | P | L | E | Y | |||||
| T | R | I | B | A | D | L | U | C | K | S | Y | M | B | O | L | I | L | E | ||
| I | M | A | F | A | N | A | P | E | S | O | W | L | B | U | S | |||||
| P | E | E | L | E | H | I | S | S | T | U | L | S | A | I | A | G | O | |||
| A | R | G | O | N | S | A | T | O | M | I | C | N | U | M | B | E | R | |||
| R | A | N | S | O | M | T | R | O | U | P | E | S | B | L | A | D | E | |||
| D | E | R | V | E | T | O | U | C | S | D | C | E | O | |||||||
| E | L | I | S | E | M | O | R | I | T | A | C | A | R | V | E | R | ||||
| R | E | A | L | L | O | O | K | E | R | N | A | D | A | L | I | D | E | S | ||
| M | A | N | A | L | I | V | E | A | N | S | W | E | R | L | E | N | G | T | H | |
| I | S | N | T | L | I | N | T | O | A | R | M | S | T | I | A | R | A | |||
| S | E | A | S | Y | E | S | E | M | M | Y | S | S | T | R | O | M |
The idea for this puzzle came from reading the book "Number Freak," which is full of interesting facts about numbers. One of my favorite facts from the book was that 4 is the only number n that is n letters long. For years, I've been toying with ways to turn that fact into a crossword theme, which finally resulted in today's puzzle.
I read that book about 8 years ago (well before I started constructing) and didn't look at it again until just now. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the author of the book is Derrick Niederman, a New York Times crossword constructor! Given that crosswords are mainly about wordplay, it's interesting how many constructors have a math background.
Originally I planned for the theme answers to be mathematical expressions such as THE SIXTH PRIME (13), TWO CUBED (8), or ONE THROUGH SIX SUMMED UP (21), but for the sake of variety I switched to the current theme, which uses numbers in non-mathematical contexts. I also considered cluing 110-Across as [This clue's 110-Across, for this clue], but I decided that would be a bit much. Thanks to the editing team for some other helpful tips that greatly improved the theme from my original submission!
| P | A | P | E | R | A | P | E | S | E | T | C | H | ||
| L | L | A | M | A | R | E | P | O | T | H | O | U | ||
| O | P | T | I | C | E | R | I | C | H | E | W | N | ||
| W | H | I | T | E | K | N | U | C | K | L | E | D | ||
| S | A | O | D | N | A | E | U | R | O | P | A | |||
| V | I | E | F | I | T | S | N | O | N | |||||
| G | R | E | E | N | E | Y | E | D | T | R | A | I | T | |
| N | U | N | S | L | O | D | E | S | E | L | S | E | ||
| A | B | E | T | S | R | E | D | H | A | N | D | E | D | |
| S | I | R | A | P | E | X | A | M | T | |||||
| H | O | G | T | I | E | A | K | A | P | R | O | |||
| Y | E | L | L | O | W | B | E | L | L | I | E | D | ||
| O | R | B | S | T | R | A | Y | G | A | T | E | D | ||
| N | E | A | T | E | G | G | S | A | T | A | L | L | ||
| S | P | R | Y | D | Y | E | S | M | E | S | S | Y |
This puzzle was inspired by a Calvin & Hobbes strip that mentions the YELLOW-BELLIED sapsucker (in the context of a crossword puzzle, no less!) My private title for the puzzle is PARTICOLORED, which I considered using as a revealer; but I ended up leaving it without a revealer since PARTICOLORED doesn't quiiite work and is a bit obscure.
| S | W | E | P | T | W | E | N | D | Y | S | S | A | D | ||
| W | A | L | L | E | I | D | I | O | T | S | E | M | O | ||
| U | R | B | A | N | L | E | G | E | N | D | S | C | P | U | |
| M | E | A | N | A | L | E | C | B | U | L | B | ||||
| K | I | N | D | R | E | D | S | P | I | R | I | T | |||
| B | E | T | T | E | Y | O | U | B | E | T | |||||
| H | A | L | O | S | S | E | A | L | U | P | L | U | V | ||
| A | S | I | N | T | H | E | G | A | P | B | I | D | E | ||
| Y | E | W | T | O | U | L | O | N | T | E | N | E | T | ||
| R | H | E | S | U | S | S | U | L | K | S | |||||
| Q | U | I | C | K | T | H | I | N | K | I | N | G | |||
| U | N | T | O | T | I | N | S | R | A | M | P | ||||
| I | N | N | G | O | O | G | L | E | I | M | A | G | E | S | |
| L | E | E | I | N | F | U | L | L | O | D | O | R | S | ||
| T | R | Y | S | T | A | Y | A | T | B | E | G | E | T |
The phrase "KIND RED SPIRIT" had been sitting in my brainstorming notebook for a while when I also thought of "GO OGLE IMAGES". To round out the theme, I wrote a python script that would find all English words consisting of two other English words smushed together, which gave me THINKING and LEGEND from which I found the other themers. (The script also outputted a bunch of compound words such as LIGHTHOUSE and FIREBRAND, but even after filtering those out there were still plenty of non-compounds such as THINKING and LEGEND to choose from).
The original submission clued the revealer with reference to the store, but I like the edited version better because of the "mind the gap" wordplay. The parenthetical word counts also weren't in my original submission, but I think adding them makes this puzzle much more appropriate for a Monday.
I've always enjoyed a type of puzzles called charade puzzles, which break words down into smaller parts and provide clues to the smaller parts, so such puzzles may well have inspired this theme. Here's one of my favorites, from Richard Lederer:
My first represents company,
My second shuns company,
My third assembles company,
My whole perplexes company.
(The answer is a 3-syllable word, where "my first," "my second," and "my third" refer to the word's first, second, and third syllables).
ANSWER: CONUNDRUM
| S | T | R | A | W | C | D | S | H | A | M | ||||
| S | P | E | E | D | O | D | R | E | W | I | D | O | ||
| A | I | R | F | O | R | C | E | O | N | E | T | E | X | |
| I | N | N | S | S | U | M | O | E | C | O | L | I | ||
| L | E | S | S | T | R | I | K | E | T | H | R | E | E | |
| R | A | S | L | I | A | M | ||||||||
| L | A | T | E | X | G | I | M | M | E | F | I | V | E | |
| A | L | I | T | M | O | V | E | S | I | S | E | E | ||
| G | A | M | E | S | E | V | E | N | A | N | S | E | L | |
| E | L | A | N | U | G | G | ||||||||
| O | N | C | L | O | U | D | N | I | N | E | R | A | M | |
| B | E | A | S | T | I | O | N | S | J | U | D | O | ||
| E | A | R | O | D | D | S | A | N | D | E | N | D | S | |
| Y | T | D | M | I | N | E | A | U | D | I | T | S | ||
| S | O | S | E | N | T | G | E | I | C | O |
When constructing a crossword, the more flexibility you have in your theme answers, the easier it is to fill the grid. This means that this puzzle would have been much easier to make if the theme had been loosened up a little bit. For example, allowing any odd numbers (rather than using exactly the set of single-digit odd numbers) would have made construction easier because it would've increased the number of possible theme answers by allowing phrases such as FRESHMANFIFTEEN or FOREVERTWENTYONE.
The puzzle also would've been much easier to make if the numbers were not necessarily presented in order--for me at least, the start of construction usually involves lots of moving theme answers around to find the arrangement that works best, but having them in a fixed order removes a lot of the freedom in theme positioning.
However, I thought it was important to restrict the theme to being exactly the five single-digit odd numbers presented in order because a theme of "phrases ending in odd numbers" didn't seem quite tight enough without these extra features. Luckily, there are enough phrases ending with ONE, THREE, and FIVE to make the theme workable despite these constraints.
As always, thanks to the editing team for making this puzzle much better than the version I submitted!
| C | O | M | P | A | S | S | C | O | S | T | A | R | O | M | E | G | A | |||
| A | D | M | I | R | A | L | R | E | T | I | N | A | L | C | A | N | O | N | ||
| N | E | V | E | R | G | E | N | E | R | A | L | I | Z | E | A | D | D | O | N | |
| R | E | S | E | E | D | M | E | I | N | E | R | G | O | |||||||
| S | P | E | C | S | P | O | O | F | R | E | A | D | C | A | R | F | U | L | Y | |
| C | O | V | E | T | S | E | E | N | A | N | Y | O | N | E | S | |||||
| A | G | E | D | S | P | A | T | E | T | R | A | C | A | R | ||||||
| N | O | S | E | N | T | E | N | C | E | F | R | A | G | M | E | N | T | S | ||
| A | O | R | T | A | L | U | T | A | H | V | O | I | D | |||||||
| S | B | A | R | R | O | A | M | P | S | P | O | T | U | S | A | |||||
| P | A | S | S | I | V | E | S | M | U | S | T | B | E | S | H | U | N | N | E | D |
| R | D | S | E | S | O | S | A | S | E | A | N | O | D | E | S | |||||
| Y | E | A | H | A | U | D | I | L | O | S | T | I | T | |||||||
| D | O | N | T | U | S | E | C | O | N | T | R | A | C | T | I | O | N | S | ||
| L | E | O | A | M | I | N | O | E | T | H | C | H | A | T | ||||||
| P | O | W | E | R | U | P | A | C | R | E | P | E | N | N | E | |||||
| A | V | O | I | D | R | E | D | U | N | D | A | N | C | Y | A | B | O | U | T | |
| C | E | R | N | S | N | O | B | T | O | O | K | T | O | |||||||
| M | R | M | O | M | A | V | O | I | D | R | E | D | U | N | D | A | N | C | Y | |
| A | G | E | N | T | L | E | A | K | I | E | R | T | E | R | R | I | E | R | ||
| N | O | D | E | S | S | T | E | E | D | S | H | E | Y | D | A | Y | S |
Many of my favorite crosswords are ones that break the rules in some way, whether they use one-letter answers, answers that extend off the grid, asymmetrical grids, or other crazy variations. It might be that I enjoy the variety, or it might just be that a puzzle that breaks the rules has to be pretty good to get accepted despite its transgressions, but in any case I also get pretty excited about a theme that allows me to break the rules a little, as this theme's repeated answer does.
Thanks to all of the English teachers over the years who have taught me the rules as well as when it's okay to break them!
| X | R | A | Y | S | C | A | W | L | E | T | U | P | S | ||
| M | I | X | E | R | A | M | O | U | T | O | P | I | A | ||
| A | L | L | S | I | K | N | O | W | C | H | O | S | E | N | |
| S | E | E | M | N | O | N | T | K | O | S | |||||
| A | L | O | N | G | W | A | Y | S | O | F | F | ||||
| S | T | R | A | I | T | A | N | Y | O | L | A | F | |||
| T | R | U | M | P | A | R | G | O | N | A | I | L | |||
| E | O | N | S | T | A | K | E | O | U | T | G | L | O | ||
| M | I | S | O | O | A | R | S | O | B | O | E | S | |||
| S | K | I | D | P | H | O | T | R | E | N | D | S | |||
| A | N | D | T | H | E | N | I | S | A | Y | S | ||||
| S | E | E | D | H | O | G | T | R | E | E | |||||
| H | A | V | A | N | A | H | O | W | S | A | B | O | U | T | |
| I | M | P | R | O | V | A | P | E | G | U | A | R | D | ||
| M | I | S | E | R | Y | L | E | D | T | Y | R | O | S |
For the past few years, I've been a member of the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project (YGDP), which studies how grammar varies across dialects. The idea for this puzzle came when I was researching the for the YGDP; I'd been looking for a way to use the interpretation of STAKEOUT as S-TAKEOUT, and seeing the phrase ALLS I KNOW gave me an idea of how to do it.
When people think about dialectal variation, they usually think in terms of which words are available (e.g., whether you say soda or pop) and in terms of pronunciation (e.g. whether you pronounce caught and cot the same or differently). The YGDP studies a third type of dialectal variation, namely grammatical variation. An example of this is with the word anymore: In most dialects, anymore typically has to follow a negative word such as not ("Gas is not expensive anymore"), but in some dialects it can occur without a negative word ("Gas is really expensive anymore"). This usage is called positive , and it's pretty common where I'm from (the Pittsburgh area).
This puzzle touches on one of the core beliefs of most linguists--namely, that non-standard linguistic features such as "alls I know" should be embraced rather than disparaged. Language naturally varies across speakers and across time, and if you ignore its fluidity you miss much of its beauty. For a better explanation of this viewpoint, check out the op-ed "Our Language Prejudices Don't Make No Sense" by Raffaella Zanuttini.
A sincere thank you to all the members of the YGDP, both for inspiring this puzzle and for being such a big part of my undergraduate career!
| A | M | E | R | I | C | A | A | D | I | E | U | S | A | S | H | A | ||||
| P | A | P | I | S | T | S | O | N | E | T | O | N | M | U | T | U | A | L | ||
| B | R | I | T | I | S | H | E | N | G | L | I | S | H | A | R | M | I | N | G | |
| C | U | T | N | U | L | L | S | A | G | U | E | T | O | A | ||||||
| A | B | B | A | C | E | A | S | E | S | S | N | A | I | L | M | A | I | L | ||
| R | E | A | L | N | U | M | B | E | R | E | T | D | S | Y | A | N | ||||
| E | F | T | O | B | O | L | S | T | R | U | S | T | S | Y | D | S | ||||
| P | E | T | C | R | A | T | E | S | H | I | N | R | O | B | O | T | I | C | ||
| A | L | L | M | I | N | E | B | L | A | C | K | L | I | C | O | R | I | C | E | |
| S | L | E | D | S | A | Y | I | T | I | C | K | Y | E | K | E | |||||
| R | H | O | R | E | D | H | O | T | S | S | S | N | ||||||||
| A | B | C | A | N | T | I | U | B | O | A | T | A | C | T | S | |||||
| F | L | A | T | H | E | A | D | S | C | R | E | W | I | S | A | D | O | R | A | |
| T | O | P | R | A | N | K | C | I | T | Y | G | E | T | S | A | W | A | Y | ||
| C | R | Y | D | E | R | A | T | S | W | A | R | E | S | T | I | S | ||||
| I | M | P | S | A | L | E | S | I | L | E | N | T | F | I | L | M | ||||
| P | A | P | E | R | C | O | P | Y | I | T | L | L | D | O | I | P | S | E | ||
| A | L | A | E | O | N | S | E | C | O | L | I | A | R | P | ||||||
| G | E | N | R | E | S | O | R | G | A | N | I | C | F | A | R | M | I | N | G | |
| E | X | T | E | N | T | N | O | O | N | E | S | A | L | I | E | N | E | E | ||
| R | A | S | P | S | G | I | S | T | S | D | E | A | R | G | O | D |
For this puzzle, it was fun to brainstorm a long list of potential theme entries. Some of my favorite answers that didn't make the grid were CONTINENTAL US, BRICK-AND-MORTAR STORE, SITDOWN RESTAURANT, and BLACK-AND-WHITE TV.
The grid might look pretty unconstrained, but in fact it does have the constraint that there need to be black squares above the E in BRITISH ENGLISH, the M in SNAIL MAIL, the N in REAL NUMBER, etc. (because, without these black squares, there would not be numbers everywhere that they are needed). Having eight black squares cemented in place from the get-go has a surprisingly large effect in terms of making the overall construction difficult. In general, flexibility in black square placement is very helpful in cleaning up messy grid sections, so having some black squares fixed in place can be a challenge.
As always, a huge thanks to Will and Joel for getting the puzzle into its final form!
| A | L | L | T | A | L | K | H | A | I | R | C | A | R | E | L | I | A | M | ||
| C | O | A | L | C | A | R | T | H | R | E | A | T | E | N | I | N | D | O | ||
| T | R | I | C | K | S | O | F | T | H | E | T | R | E | A | D | E | C | R | U | |
| S | E | N | S | N | A | P | L | O | T | I | L | A | G | O | O | N | ||||
| S | P | O | O | K | B | A | L | A | N | C | E | D | E | D | I | T | ||||
| I | S | S | U | E | R | E | M | I | N | D | U | S | D | E | T | S | ||||
| S | H | A | L | L | I | T | E | N | D | G | O | E | S | U | P | |||||
| M | I | N | U | E | T | H | A | N | D | E | R | I | S | P | R | I | M | A | ||
| S | E | T | S | A | N | M | A | L | T | A | O | C | T | S | ||||||
| R | A | S | C | A | L | G | R | E | A | T | S | A | L | T | L | E | A | K | ||
| S | U | B | J | E | E | R | I | E | L | O | E | B | ||||||||
| M | A | L | E | S | O | N | W | H | E | E | L | S | S | O | P | S | U | P | ||
| O | L | A | F | B | O | A | R | D | A | W | W | C | E | E | ||||||
| S | I | P | O | N | K | R | I | S | M | A | T | E | M | A | R | K | E | T | ||
| R | I | D | I | N | G | P | O | N | E | E | L | D | E | R | S | |||||
| I | C | K | C | I | D | B | R | O | N | C | S | P | A | T | S | Y | ||||
| T | H | E | C | H | O | S | E | N | E | O | N | R | E | D | O | S | ||||
| S | E | L | L | E | R | V | E | R | B | A | O | N | E | M | V | P | ||||
| B | E | V | Y | A | T | E | A | L | O | F | T | W | O | C | I | T | I | E | S | |
| A | R | I | D | M | A | R | T | I | N | E | T | R | O | B | E | R | T | S | ||
| D | Y | N | E | A | U | T | O | N | O | M | Y | A | R | M | R | E | S | T |
This puzzle started with the title, with the specific theme developing from the word EMOTION (it's more common for me to think of a theme and then later to find a title fitting the theme, but the other direction definitely happens too). It also contains one of my favorite pieces of wordplay trivia in the clue for 115-Down--thanks to my dad for teaching me that!
| E | L | A | N | S | L | A | P | I | N | F | I | R | M | S | W | A | G | |||
| L | I | V | E | A | L | O | N | E | M | O | O | M | O | O | M | A | T | E | ||
| B | R | A | I | L | R | O | A | D | S | T | O | P | I | T | A | S | S | T | ||
| W | A | S | N | T | S | T | I | L | E | T | T | O | O | B | L | A | T | E | ||
| S | S | T | E | Y | E | A | T | O | M | S | R | A | L | B | U | M | ||||
| P | R | O | S | H | O | P | W | E | E | I | S | A | I | D | ||||||
| K | E | A | N | U | O | P | E | N | O | N | I | K | E | |||||||
| G | E | T | S | A | L | I | T | T | L | E | R | Q | S | E | S | S | I | O | N | |
| R | E | C | T | O | N | S | P | E | Y | O | T | E | S | E | N | D | O | |||
| O | L | E | M | I | S | S | M | I | D | N | A | E | H | I | V | E | S | |||
| T | O | V | E | M | A | N | A | G | E | R | T | U | N | A | ||||||
| T | H | E | R | E | L | A | W | L | O | S | A | I | M | E | D | A | T | |||
| A | E | R | O | S | E | T | S | A | I | L | B | A | J | A | E | T | A | |||
| P | E | A | N | U | T | M | S | S | F | I | V | E | H | U | N | D | R | E | D | |
| N | R | A | D | E | T | A | I | L | A | R | O | S | E | |||||||
| S | E | G | U | E | A | I | R | T | I | T | A | N | I | C | ||||||
| T | E | X | A | S | A | S | L | U | S | H | S | A | G | E | S | T | ||||
| R | A | P | P | E | L | H | A | S | A | S | H | O | T | H | A | L | L | E | ||
| E | R | I | E | I | N | A | T | U | B | A | R | O | O | T | B | E | E | R | ||
| S | A | R | A | N | O | D | E | A | L | K | E | R | O | S | E | N | E | S | ||
| S | T | E | T | E | D | E | R | L | E | S | O | S | O | L | A | K | E |
[SPOILER ALERT FOR THE AUGUST 14 DIAGRAMLESS]
Ever since I read "Figgs and Phantoms" in elementary school, ampersands have been some of my favorite characters, so I'm glad to finally work a few into a puzzle. Excited as I am to show some ampersand love, I have to say that Sam Ezersky's insanely cool diagramless from a few weeks ago far outshines my ampersand-related efforts.
(Jeff: if you like diagramless puzzles, check out our thumbnails of all the diagramless grids listed together.)
| S | P | U | R | S | N | A | G | L | E | M | U | R | ||
| O | H | N | O | S | O | U | R | A | R | O | M | A | ||
| C | O | M | M | O | N | E | R | A | S | E | D | A | N | |
| K | N | A | C | K | L | A | V | E | E | M | U | |||
| S | E | N | O | R | A | L | E | T | E | R | R | I | P | |
| M | A | T | S | P | A | L | I | N | ||||||
| A | V | A | O | W | I | E | A | N | D | E | S | |||
| D | I | S | A | P | P | E | A | R | I | N | G | A | C | T |
| S | A | Y | H | I | E | M | I | T | Y | O | U | |||
| M | E | T | A | T | L | E | S | S | ||||||
| M | A | M | M | A | M | I | A | M | E | A | N | I | E | |
| U | S | E | P | E | T | S | E | V | E | N | S | |||
| L | I | T | H | E | P | I | C | K | M | E | U | P | S | |
| A | C | R | E | S | I | L | I | E | A | R | E | A | ||
| N | S | Y | N | C | E | T | S | Y | S | O | N | Y |
This puzzle has a somewhat circuitous history. The idea came from a text conversation with my little sister (presented with her permission). I thought that this sort of joke had potential for a Sunday puzzle (which could be titled "DO I HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU?"), so I started compiling a list of abbreviations that were also words in their own right.
By the time I had done a pretty exhaustive search of abbreviations, I did not have quite enough possible theme entries to make a whole Sunday puzzle because there were not enough abbreviations that were spelled out letter by letter (like how ACT is actually pronounced "ay-see-tea"). However, there were many more abbreviations that were not spelled out letter-by-letter (like "sing." for "singular" or "in." for inch), so I ended up switching to that type of abbreviation to make the Sunday "THE SHORT FORM," which appeared a little less than a year ago.
I didn't want to waste the few spelled-out abbreviations I had found, though, and that's where today's puzzle comes from. So, a big thank-you to Sammie for taking the ACT and sparking two entire crossword themes for me!
P.S. If any of my other sisters are reading this, know that it was Sammie who entered her name into my phone that way.
| A | W | N | U | T | S | B | A | S | I | C | S | J | U | S | T | N | O | W | ||
| R | H | I | N | O | S | O | R | I | O | L | E | A | S | T | R | I | D | E | ||
| F | O | L | L | O | W | I | N | G | S | U | I | T | W | H | O | O | P | E | E | |
| S | E | E | D | T | A | O | I | S | M | B | E | L | L | |||||||
| A | L | S | O | B | E | F | O | R | E | L | O | N | G | |||||||
| C | L | O | S | E | T | O | H | O | M | E | B | U | N | C | I | O | ||||
| Y | O | O | H | O | O | A | D | O | R | A | B | L | E | M | E | C | C | A | ||
| R | O | M | E | O | P | R | O | V | E | N | V | A | L | U | E | D | ||||
| U | M | P | S | C | H | E | R | I | D | N | A | E | X | A | L | T | S | |||
| S | S | A | H | U | E | E | A | S | Y | A | N | I | T | T | Y | |||||
| B | E | T | W | E | E | N | Y | O | U | A | N | D | M | E | ||||||
| S | P | A | C | E | G | R | I | E | F | E | O | S | M | A | E | |||||
| S | T | A | L | K | S | G | A | G | O | W | N | E | R | T | I | L | L | |||
| W | E | E | K | L | Y | H | A | R | H | A | R | D | H | A | B | I | ||||
| E | R | A | S | E | F | O | O | T | S | T | E | P | S | E | A | M | U | S | ||
| E | E | N | I | R | R | A | H | E | A | D | O | F | T | I | M | E | ||||
| P | O | S | T | O | F | F | I | C | E | E | X | E | S | |||||||
| A | B | E | T | M | A | S | A | L | A | A | T | M | S | |||||||
| R | E | L | I | E | V | E | N | E | X | T | T | O | N | O | T | H | I | N | G | |
| I | C | A | N | S | E | E | T | R | E | A | T | S | B | E | A | R | U | P | ||
| P | O | S | T | E | R | N | H | Y | D | R | A | S | I | D | T | A | G | S |
Crossword themes tend to work best when they are as symmetric and consistent as possible. For this puzzle, then, I put the lone "between" theme answer in the middle of the grid, while the top and bottom halves both have one "before" answer, one "after" answer, and one "close to" answer.
This theme has been sitting in my idea notebook for a while, so I was glad to finally implement it.
I hope you enjoy!
| T | W | O | S | W | A | C | O | G | H | O | S | T | S | ||
| A | E | R | O | A | F | R | O | O | I | L | C | U | P | ||
| G | R | A | N | D | S | L | A | M | O | D | D | O | N | E | |
| G | E | T | C | H | O | M | P | E | D | E | R | I | C | ||
| I | W | O | J | I | M | A | H | A | T | T | R | I | C | K | |
| N | O | R | A | E | T | A | T | O | I | A | S | S | |||
| G | L | I | N | T | R | O | U | G | E | S | |||||
| F | O | U | R | T | E | E | N | P | O | I | N | T | S | ||
| S | E | E | N | A | T | N | O | R | A | D | |||||
| A | R | C | E | A | R | O | O | F | W | I | L | E | |||
| F | O | U | L | S | H | O | T | N | O | N | S | E | L | F | |
| R | A | T | A | O | N | E | P | A | R | T | D | O | E | ||
| A | R | E | Y | O | U | T | O | U | C | H | D | O | W | N | |
| M | I | S | E | R | S | R | O | T | E | R | U | E | S | ||
| E | N | T | R | E | E | A | R | O | D | E | T | R | E |
For most puzzles, one of the most time-consuming components is scouring word databases (both online and mental) to find a symmetric set of theme entries. For this puzzle, though, I got very lucky: The first three scoring terms I thought of were TOUCHDOWN, GRANDSLAM, and HATTRICK, and it was quick work to look up a 1-point play from basketball, which immediately gave me a set of 4 themers that added to 14 and that spanned (what I think are) the most widely-watched sports in the US.
| D | S | T | D | E | P | T | S | O | R | E | O | A | S | K | S | T | O | |||
| R | N | A | A | P | A | R | T | P | E | T | A | S | C | O | U | R | S | |||
| P | O | P | S | I | C | L | E | R | S | T | I | C | K | N | A | R | N | I | A | |
| H | O | P | E | S | O | S | I | E | T | H | E | R | E | D | S | |||||
| I | T | E | M | T | U | P | P | E | R | W | A | R | E | R | P | A | R | T | Y | |
| L | Y | R | I | C | T | A | E | O | H | Y | E | S | I | A | M | |||||
| O | P | U | S | M | I | N | E | P | E | S | E | T | A | |||||||
| V | E | L | C | R | O | R | S | T | R | A | P | D | E | C | O | D | E | |||
| A | S | O | F | T | E | N | R | U | N | C | H | E | R | O | O | T | ||||
| S | T | O | L | E | H | E | H | E | Y | O | L | O | T | O | E | |||||
| E | E | K | X | E | R | O | X | R | M | A | C | H | I | N | E | M | A | N | ||
| E | W | S | L | O | N | E | P | O | L | O | C | E | A | S | E | |||||
| H | I | J | I | N | K | S | E | K | E | S | T | A | R | T | E | R | ||||
| T | A | B | O | O | S | F | R | I | S | B | E | E | R | G | O | L | F | |||
| G | O | T | S | E | T | T | O | R | O | I | D | E | D | |||||||
| U | B | I | B | O | R | E | R | A | T | A | S | P | A | S | M | |||||
| T | E | F | L | O | N | R | P | R | E | S | I | D | E | N | T | A | L | T | O | |
| F | O | O | T | E | R | S | M | R | I | E | S | P | I | E | D | |||||
| G | A | U | C | H | E | P | I | N | G | P | O | N | G | R | T | A | B | L | E | |
| O | I | N | K | E | D | I | D | E | A | I | T | I | S | I | I | L | L | |||
| O | R | D | E | R | S | N | O | O | B | T | O | N | E | R | S | A | T |
Initially, I thought about making this a two-way rebus that was the letters OR in one direction and the registered trademark symbol in the other, with the idea being that solvers would have to figure out to write the R inside the O. It seemed like a bit of a stretch to have solvers figure out the writing-one-letter-inside-the-other part, though, so I changed it to the current version.
| S | P | I | E | L | P | U | N | T | S | S | K | I | ||
| G | E | C | K | O | A | L | O | H | A | T | O | M | ||
| T | A | K | E | C | O | N | T | R | O | L | O | R | E | |
| S | K | Y | D | I | V | E | R | A | R | E | A | |||
| U | M | A | T | H | U | R | M | A | N | |||||
| R | E | P | E | L | R | A | N | T | ||||||
| M | I | D | D | L | E | C | L | A | S | S | A | R | F | |
| S | C | I | F | I | A | I | D | A | G | R | E | E | ||
| S | E | T | C | E | N | T | E | R | F | I | E | L | D | |
| S | I | L | O | E | E | N | S | Y | ||||||
| A | L | L | A | T | I | N | G | L | E | |||||
| R | A | I | D | E | A | S | T | A | S | I | A | |||
| U | S | E | D | E | A | T | H | E | A | T | E | R | S | |
| B | E | G | O | R | B | I | T | S | T | E | A | K | ||
| A | R | E | C | A | C | T | I | E | A | R | N | S |
My worst fear as a constructor was realized when, as I was putting the completed grid into an envelope to submit it, I noticed that I had misspelled UMA THURMAN as UMA THERMAN. To fix this, the crossing answer would've had to become ERMINU. There was no good way to turn ERMINU into something that was actually a thing, so I redid the grid from scratch.
If Ms. Thurman is offended by the misspelling, I hope she will be mollified to hear that the song named after her is currently the most frequently played item on my iPod.
| A | R | D | E | N | T | B | L | A | H | N | I | L | E | ||
| L | I | E | L | O | W | R | O | P | E | I | T | E | M | ||
| P | A | J | A | M | A | P | A | R | T | Y | C | H | A | T | |
| S | L | A | P | S | E | W | N | C | H | I | P | S | |||
| S | U | N | G | L | A | S | S | L | E | N | S | ||||
| D | I | G | E | S | T | W | H | I | S | K | E | Y | |||
| E | T | U | D | E | S | I | N | A | I | I | C | E | |||
| P | S | I | S | I | N | G | U | L | A | R | C | O | T | ||
| T | U | T | D | O | O | N | E | O | M | A | N | I | |||
| S | P | A | R | S | E | R | A | M | E | N | D | S | |||
| T | R | O | U | S | E | R | P | R | E | S | S | ||||
| H | O | H | U | M | H | O | E | S | S | H | O | E | |||
| E | Y | E | S | S | C | I | S | S | O | R | K | I | C | K | |
| L | O | R | E | P | A | N | S | P | O | I | N | T | E | ||
| D | U | O | S | A | L | O | E | S | E | T | T | O | S |
This puzzle was created roughly a year ago. Therefore, the message hidden in the twelfth row (highlighted below in green) is as seasonally appropriate now as it was during the puzzle's creation.
| S | P | O | C | K | O | H | C | R | U | D | B | I | A | N | C | A | ||||
| R | U | S | H | A | T | R | E | R | O | S | E | P | A | N | S | O | U | T | ||
| I | N | H | E | R | E | G | A | I | N | O | N | U | N | C | A | S | E | S | ||
| A | D | A | M | A | R | M | F | I | G | L | E | A | V | E | S | |||||
| " | O | P | E | N | S | E | S | A | M | E | " | N | E | R | T | S | ||||
| U | N | M | A | K | E | S | E | A | U | N | T | W | T | V | I | N | ||||
| N | E | A | R | E | R | T | O | N | B | A | S | T | A | R | P | I | C | O | ||
| M | A | T | A | S | A | P | " | I | L | L | B | E | B | A | C | K | " | |||
| E | T | A | I | L | H | O | N | O | R | E | E | A | T | R | E | S | T | |||
| " | E | T | T | U | B | R | U | T | E | " | W | R | I | T | E | |||||
| T | R | A | I | P | S | E | A | K | A | C | H | A | L | I | C | E | ||||
| I | H | O | P | S | " | H | U | L | K | S | M | A | S | H | " | |||||
| L | A | C | U | N | A | T | O | L | E | A | S | E | S | O | W | E | R | |||
| " | N | E | V | E | R | M | O | R | E | " | C | A | N | T | E | M | I | |||
| A | G | R | A | P | I | L | E | U | P | S | P | A | R | A | S | A | I | L | ||
| M | E | T | I | S | L | E | E | T | A | N | O | M | E | R | C | Y | ||||
| A | L | A | I | N | " | M | Y | P | R | E | C | I | O | U | S | " | ||||
| H | I | M | A | L | A | Y | A | S | N | U | N | S | C | H | S | |||||
| H | A | N | D | B | A | G | C | H | R | O | M | E | E | R | O | T | I | C | ||
| S | I | T | U | A | T | E | H | A | N | G | E | R | R | A | M | O | N | A | ||
| T | R | Y | E | R | S | T | W | A | S | N | T | Y | E | A | S | T |
Like most Sundays I've made, this puzzle started as two ideas that merged together. I really liked the idea of having the same squares serve as quotation marks and ditto marks, but I thought it needed something else to tie it together. The "something else" came along when my professor Ryan Bennett mentioned the adjacent pairs of double letters in "bookkeeper" as an aside in an intro linguistics class.
At first I considered having the theme entries be types of titles that require quotation marks rather than underlining — e.g., the set of themers could include a poem, a song, a speech, a book chapter, an episode of a TV show, and a short story. I ended up picking the quotation approach instead because quotations seemed more fun than titles.
I've been experimenting lately with getting the word count down on Sundays. I still can't decide if I prefer low-word-count grids with more fill that is interesting but also more fill that is questionable, or if I prefer very clean but not as interesting 140-worders. I'll probably settle somewhere between the two extremes.
| B | U | T | M | A | Y | T | W | I | G | S | T | Y | |||
| U | N | O | A | R | E | O | H | N | O | E | R | E | |||
| R | P | M | M | R | S | P | A | N | G | O | L | I | N | ||
| M | I | A | S | M | A | J | E | T | S | O | F | F | |||
| A | N | Y | W | A | Y | A | K | A | S | T | R | I | P | ||
| T | I | M | O | M | A | H | A | E | P | A | |||||
| G | L | O | R | I | O | U | S | O | P | T | S | F | O | R | |
| O | U | T | L | A | S | T | T | O | E | H | O | L | D | S | |
| L | A | O | A | W | A | I | T | A | L | E | |||||
| F | U | M | E | D | I | L | L | S | T | A | C | H | E | ||
| A | L | I | T | T | L | E | T | A | R | T | A | R | |||
| M | A | H | I | M | A | H | I | M | A | W | I | R | A | ||
| A | C | T | E | R | I | E | E | R | A | O | P | S | |||
| N | E | O | S | E | T | S | T | R | Y | N | Y | E |
To find themers, I wrote a program to generate a list of English words made entirely from the letters A, H, I, M, O, T, U, V, W, X, and Y. (I was conflicted about including U because my handwritten U's are not symmetric, but I decided to go with the letters that are symmetric in type.)
Then, since most of the single words were not very lively (with some exceptions, like HOITY-TOITY), I brainstormed phrases containing those symmetrical words. Probably the hardest part was making sure no two theme entries had any words in common.
After this puzzle was finished, I spent more time than I would like to admit looking at my computer in a mirror.
| S | A | H | I | B | T | E | M | P | G | A | T | E | A | S | H | E | N | |||
| I | R | A | Q | I | H | A | I | L | A | M | U | R | S | T | A | L | E | |||
| F | I | R | S | T | P | E | R | S | O | N | S | I | N | G | S | E | N | S | E | |
| T | A | R | T | A | K | E | T | W | O | L | I | S | U | R | G | E | D | |||
| U | S | E | R | I | D | S | N | A | A | N | O | M | N | I | ||||||
| A | D | M | I | R | E | S | D | O | N | T | G | I | V | E | A | N | I | N | ||
| P | O | P | D | E | N | S | I | T | Y | D | E | U | C | E | T | S | E | |||
| E | T | H | E | R | S | C | H | A | T | S | P | I | N | C | H | H | I | T | ||
| S | O | S | O | H | E | I | N | O | U | S | A | R | E | N | T | |||||
| N | O | R | A | I | N | O | C | T | J | A | N | E | R | O | E | |||||
| E | L | I | T | U | R | N | O | F | T | H | E | C | E | N | T | E | N | D | ||
| D | E | M | O | T | E | D | U | A | R | P | R | E | Y | O | N | |||||
| E | M | O | T | E | T | R | U | S | S | U | P | T | A | F | T | |||||
| N | E | U | T | R | A | L | S | L | E | T | U | S | P | A | U | L | I | E | ||
| I | N | T | T | O | N | N | E | A | P | T | C | O | M | P | L | E | X | |||
| C | U | T | Q | U | I | T | E | A | F | I | G | O | R | A | L | I | S | T | ||
| A | U | N | T | A | M | T | S | C | E | N | T | R | E | S | ||||||
| P | S | H | A | W | I | K | E | A | R | A | L | S | E | A | L | O | P | |||
| O | T | E | R | I | L | O | O | K | O | U | T | F | O | R | N | O | O | N | E | |
| L | A | R | K | S | L | U | N | A | N | E | I | L | T | O | S | C | A | |||
| O | B | E | S | E | S | T | E | T | E | R | N | E | H | O | T | E | L |
The original clue for POP DENSITY was [The stupidity of a cereal mascot?]. Although I like the new clue better, I thought I should mention the change so that my dad would not take umbrage at the answer.
Originally, the title was PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS, but I think the name change was a good move because some non-theme entries (like AMTS) should still have periods in them.
Thanks to Jim Wood, whose lecture on "number one" inspired the theme (which started with 112-Across).
| T | A | C | O | T | E | A | C | H | P | I | L | L | S | A | R | F | ||||
| A | L | B | U | M | W | A | N | D | A | I | N | D | I | A | D | E | L | |||
| I | T | S | N | O | W | O | N | D | E | R | L | O | F | T | Y | I | O | U | ||
| T | R | E | S | S | K | R | O | N | A | S | K | O | R | T | ||||||
| T | A | M | E | R | P | R | O | F | I | T | I | R | O | N | A | G | E | |||
| C | I | R | C | L | E | R | A | B | I | D | R | T | E | E | N | S | ||||
| A | M | O | K | G | O | T | O | N | S | U | H | W | E | E | T | |||||
| S | E | M | I | A | N | N | U | A | L | T | O | M | F | O | O | L | E | R | Y | |
| T | R | A | N | S | F | A | T | C | O | L | O | U | R | S | N | O | I | |||
| L | I | L | T | S | E | A | W | O | R | L | D | S | N | A | P | |||||
| A | N | D | E | S | K | E | L | V | I | N | S | Q | U | A | D | S | ||||
| T | O | R | Y | H | O | A | R | S | E | N | S | N | O | U | N | |||||
| O | V | O | D | E | C | R | I | E | D | V | A | N | I | S | H | E | D | |||
| M | A | P | L | E | L | E | A | F | S | S | M | A | R | T | P | H | O | N | E | |
| D | E | F | E | A | T | S | R | O | O | M | Y | I | M | A | C | |||||
| N | O | V | N | N | E | L | A | P | U | P | S | T | N | I | C | K | ||||
| P | A | W | E | D | A | T | S | E | N | S | E | I | T | W | E | E | T | |||
| A | S | N | E | R | R | E | L | I | C | R | O | U | E | S | ||||||
| P | A | M | A | L | E | X | A | H | I | B | E | R | N | A | T | I | O | N | ||
| A | L | E | W | I | N | I | T | E | K | E | B | Y | K | A | S | H | I | |||
| S | S | N | S | E | C | T | S | R | E | L | A | X | T | O | M | B |
The phrase DROP DOWN MENU was a lifesaver in constructing this puzzle. Every decent grid arrangement I found required a theme answer to end with a U, which was troublesome because U shows up so rarely in word-final position. Luckily, DROP DOWN MENU saved the day.
Originally, MOUNT MCKINLEY was going to be MOUNT VESUVIUS. I made the switch to MCKINLEY so that you can view the grid as a map of the US with Florida and Alaska in roughly the correct places.
I thought it might bother some people for SHARK FIN to have no symmetrical partner, so I put the answer RANCHER opposite it. RANCHER is another term for a ranch house, which explains why it does not stick out of the grid—ranch houses often lack basements.
| T | S | K | T | S | K | P | L | O | Y | C | B | S | ||
| A | P | I | E | C | E | H | E | R | O | O | U | T | ||
| J | A | N | E | A | N | D | D | I | C | K | U | N | E | |
| L | Y | E | E | A | S | Y | A | |||||||
| M | A | R | Y | A | N | D | W | I | L | L | I | A | M | |
| M | O | D | E | T | O | A | D | I | N | N | S | |||
| T | O | U | S | L | E | W | R | A | P | |||||
| G | R | E | T | E | L | A | N | D | H | A | N | S | E | L |
| G | I | L | T | O | T | O | O | L | E | |||||
| O | R | E | O | O | B | O | E | A | M | M | O | |||
| J | U | L | I | E | T | A | N | D | R | O | M | E | O | |
| I | N | A | L | L | G | A | H | |||||||
| B | L | T | L | A | D | I | E | S | F | I | R | S | T | |
| W | O | E | E | C | O | N | P | U | R | I | N | A | ||
| A | W | S | N | E | C | K | S | N | A | P | O | N |
I originally made this puzzle for my parents, whose names are in adjacent theme answers. (You guessed it — I am the son of Gretel and Romeo.)
| S | A | J | A | K | H | A | J | A | N | T | C | A | B | A | L | S | ||||
| T | A | H | I | T | I | E | R | E | A | D | E | R | A | F | L | C | I | O | ||
| O | N | A | G | E | R | C | E | N | T | I | M | O | P | R | I | M | L | Y | ||
| W | E | B | S | K | A | T | G | O | N | O | W | R | O | G | E | T | S | |||
| E | S | P | B | E | T | A | C | A | M | N | E | W | I | S | H | |||||
| R | T | E | I | N | T | R | O | S | A | L | E | S | B | D | A | Y | ||||
| Q | U | O | T | I | E | N | T | L | U | S | T | L | O | U | I | E | ||||
| T | A | U | N | T | E | R | S | A | D | A | T | S | H | O | U | L | D | A | ||
| W | H | O | C | A | R | E | S | C | U | P | I | D | O | U | N | C | E | S | ||
| P | A | D | P | D | A | S | H | O | L | E | O | P | T | E | D | |||||
| C | U | R | G | M | S | N | U | B | K | E | Y | |||||||||
| F | A | R | S | I | A | I | L | S | S | U | B | J | L | A | M | |||||
| R | O | G | U | E | S | S | T | E | A | D | G | L | O | A | M | I | N | G | ||
| E | V | E | N | B | E | T | H | E | W | E | D | A | L | M | O | N | D | S | ||
| P | E | R | C | Y | H | T | T | P | M | E | L | B | L | A | N | C | ||||
| S | A | S | H | L | E | W | I | S | B | A | B | Y | S | O | B | I | ||||
| G | R | O | M | I | T | R | A | T | T | E | R | S | L | O | P | |||||
| V | A | L | U | E | S | N | A | N | O | S | E | D | O | A | N | N | O | |||
| E | L | A | P | S | E | K | N | O | C | K | O | N | G | E | R | U | N | D | ||
| T | E | M | P | E | R | I | I | N | S | I | S | T | E | R | A | S | E | S | ||
| O | X | E | Y | E | S | E | C | O | N | U | S | R | A | B | A | T |
This puzzle was born out of a desire to make a crossword based on Moby Dick. While brainstorming possible Moby Dick-related themes, I had some music playing in the background, and the song "White Flag" by Dido came on. This song contains the line "I will go down with this ship / And I won't put my hands up and surrender," and the theme idea quickly followed.
My favorite Sundays usually have multiple layers, so I spent a lot of time debating whether to give this theme any more elements (An anchor made out of black squares? A revealer within the puzzle? Two unchecked squares, both containing the letter "i," for "Aye Aye, Captain?") However, I decided that the theme entries were disparate enough that adding more complexity might be distracting, so the current version prevailed.
Thanks to Mr. Morris and Professor Roffman, both of whom have guided me through the murky waters of Moby Dick.
| A | C | T | P | U | M | A | P | R | O | T | E | A | R | R | E | M | ||||
| P | L | Y | E | S | A | U | R | E | P | E | R | I | E | A | Y | E | ||||
| R | O | T | E | N | E | G | G | E | S | E | M | A | D | H | A | T | E | R | ||
| S | C | U | D | G | U | I | L | T | R | I | P | S | A | D | D | S | ||||
| D | E | A | R | S | I | R | R | I | T | A | B | L | E | B | E | F | O | G | ||
| O | S | L | O | S | E | S | A | M | E | S | E | E | D | S | L | I | R | A | ||
| N | E | L | S | O | N | T | H | E | R | E | S | |||||||||
| S | T | Y | N | E | I | L | K | F | C | H | A | I | R | E | S | P | ||||
| S | A | T | E | R | I | O | A | W | L | S | ||||||||||
| C | H | A | T | K | I | T | E | L | M | P | A | L | A | L | P | S | ||||
| H | O | W | I | W | I | S | H | M | L | I | P | I | E | A | S | I | L | Y | ||
| E | G | O | M | A | N | I | A | L | I | N | E | T | R | U | S | C | A | N | ||
| C | A | K | E | D | L | Y | I | N | G | O | N | T | O | K | Y | O | ||||
| K | N | E | S | S | E | T | A | N | G | S | T | P | R | O | C | E | E | D | ||
| S | S | N | B | O | A | R | I | S | E | E | D | R | S | |||||||
| I | C | O | U | L | D | C | A | L | C | U | L | A | T | E | ||||||
| A | S | C | E | N | T | S | A | D | A | S | T | I | R | S | U | P | ||||
| M | U | T | I | N | Y | O | S | M | O | S | I | S | R | E | C | T | O | R | ||
| E | R | U | C | T | C | R | A | P | S | H | O | O | T | A | R | O | S | E | ||
| T | A | T | L | E | H | A | R | E | E | T | U | I | D | O | T | E | D | |||
| E | L | D | E | R | E | N | I | D | D | A | T | E | S | W | A | Y | S |
This puzzle is dedicated to Martin Gardner, one of my all-time favorite authors. It was in his book Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions that I learned about the sort of mnemonic found in this puzzle. He also created an annotated version of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, so I associate any Lewis Carroll reference (including my favorite theme answer, 26-Across) with him. I highly recommend his work to anyone who likes brainteasers, math, or wordplay.
| L | E | W | I | S | D | A | D | D | W | A | R | F | ||
| A | M | I | S | H | E | L | I | R | I | V | A | L | ||
| S | U | N | N | I | B | I | G | A | T | O | N | E | ||
| T | H | O | R | I | U | M | W | H | I | T | E | |||
| O | A | T | T | R | I | P | I | E | D | O | T | |||
| U | T | E | Z | E | E | S | M | R | S | |||||
| C | E | S | I | U | M | F | O | R | E | S | T | E | R | |
| H | U | L | L | E | C | O | O | A | H | U | ||||
| P | A | L | L | A | D | I | U | M | J | A | M | E | S | |
| S | I | C | O | N | E | A | E | T | E | |||||
| K | G | B | Q | E | D | D | A | W | S | T | S | |||
| M | E | R | C | U | R | Y | W | E | L | L | S | |||
| A | N | I | M | E | L | A | Y | I | N | E | R | T | ||
| R | I | D | O | F | A | G | E | N | I | G | E | R | ||
| T | E | E | N | Y | N | E | D | E | P | O | X | Y |
It came as quite a (pleasant) surprise when this puzzle was accepted because I worried that too few solvers would enjoy both aspects of the theme (the chemistry and the literature). My original submission had the theme answers THORIUM WHITE, MERCURY WELLS, CESIUM LEWIS, and OXYGEN HENRY, but Will asked for a revision because O. Henry only uses one initial while the other authors use two, and the result is what you see here!
I was glad for the chance to revise the grid. Although I like the original theme set and the new theme set roughly the same, the original submission only had two long non-theme slots, which were filled by the somewhat boring entries PATHLESS and SALT LICK. In my revision, I tried to work in more interesting long downs so that solvers could still enjoy the puzzle even if the theme did not strike their fancy.
| S | T | R | A | P | E | N | J | O | Y | M | A | T | ||
| P | O | A | C | H | L | O | I | R | E | O | B | E | ||
| Y | E | N | T | A | K | O | F | I | A | N | N | A | N | |
| R | I | S | K | I | S | T | O | |||||||
| P | A | C | M | A | N | S | A | U | N | T | E | R | ||
| A | S | H | T | O | N | K | U | T | C | H | E | R | ||
| T | H | I | G | H | I | V | A | N | S | O | P | S | ||
| T | E | C | S | P | L | U | M | E | I | S | L | E | ||
| I | R | K | E | A | R | L | E | P | R | I | A | M | ||
| M | A | R | I | O | A | N | D | R | E | T | T | I | ||
| I | M | A | G | E | R | Y | Y | E | S | Y | E | S | ||
| R | A | G | E | S | P | E | C | |||||||
| V | I | N | D | I | E | S | E | L | E | M | P | T | Y | |
| I | Z | E | C | R | O | N | E | P | O | S | E | R | ||
| N | E | T | Y | A | L | T | A | T | W | I | N | S |
One of the biggest surprises for me in the Sherlock Holmes series was the fact that Sherlock has a brother. Sherlock is such a distinctive character that I find it intriguing to think of there being someone else like him. It's even more surprising to find out that a real-life friend has a twin, and that sense of surprise was the inspiration here.
I made this puzzle a while ago, and if I were to do it again, I would try to change the entry MONSTROSITY. At the time I constructed this puzzle, I counted myself lucky just to find fill that worked. Now that I'm more comfortable with filling grids, I try much harder to find entries that are not just acceptable but also entertaining. Although MONSTROSITY is a perfectly cromulent word, it's not very pleasant. Therefore, I would rather have found an entry more likely to bring a smile to the solver's face.
| H | O | L | E | S | B | L | U | E | J | A | Y | B | R | I | C | K | ||||
| W | A | H | I | N | E | Y | O | T | E | A | M | O | E | T | H | A | N | E | ||
| A | G | A | S | S | I | F | E | E | L | B | A | D | L | E | O | N | I | D | ||
| T | A | R | T | S | L | A | W | T | E | A | L | P | A | N | E | |||||
| T | R | A | I | L | M | I | X | E | S | M | I | L | L | I | H | E | L | E | N | |
| N | E | I | L | T | O | E | P | E | A | S | ||||||||||
| M | A | G | I | C | A | C | E | T | A | T | E | S | T | O | N | E | ||||
| Y | I | P | P | R | O | M | I | N | E | N | T | E | L | I | ||||||
| A | S | P | E | N | Y | E | L | L | O | W | S | E | A | E | D | G | E | R | ||
| O | N | S | T | A | G | E | B | E | S | E | T | B | T | W | E | L | V | E | ||
| M | O | T | H | E | R | R | E | S | E | L | L | S | R | E | L | I | E | F | ||
| I | M | O | S | I | T | A | R | S | L | A | N | A | I | S | G | N | U | |||
| N | E | R | D | F | E | S | T | B | U | L | B | S | E | T | S | |||||
| G | R | E | E | N | T | E | A | H | A | P | B | L | A | C | K | E | Y | E | ||
| L | O | S | S | A | T | L | A | S | E | L | O | I | ||||||||
| L | I | G | H | T | H | A | R | M | O | N | I | C | A | B | E | R | R | Y | ||
| A | L | A | I | F | O | R | M | L | E | T | T | E | R | S | D | I | E | U | ||
| R | I | B | M | O | T | E | L | B | A | S | A | L | B | E | L | |||||
| V | U | L | G | A | R | N | E | O | N | G | A | S | L | I | A | B | L | E | ||
| A | M | E | L | I | A | A | T | P | E | A | C | E | E | M | B | O | S | S | ||
| S | O | N | Y | S | T | O | R | K | M | O | O | N |
In his notes for a recent puzzle, Joel Fagliano mentioned how it's useful to tinker with a theme until you find the best presentation for it. This advice was extremely applicable to today's puzzle, which began as three independent ideas that merged over about two years.
When a puzzle's theme is not so straightforward, I like to delay the solver's realization of the theme so that the epiphany happens gradually. For this puzzle, therefore, I placed the black I one space from the edge so that there would be a black square to the left of 1-Across (HOLES). Hopefully, when solvers realize that 1-Across should be BLACK HOLES, they'll notice this (seemingly unnecessary) black square and initially conclude that the theme is a rebus where black squares stand for the word BLACK. I don't know if this trick will work on many people, but I do like to delay the theme epiphany, and a trick or two can help to cause such a delay.
Thanks to Jeff Chen for advice on how to expand the selection of 4- and 5-letter words in my word lists. I fill by hand as much as possible, but a few of the wider-open sections would have been messy without computer aid. Also, as always, thanks to Will Shortz for all the encouragement and for making the puzzle submission polished enough to be published.
| W | A | S | T | E | T | R | E | E | D | L | G | A | ||
| I | D | E | A | S | H | O | W | I | E | O | A | R | ||
| Z | E | R | O | P | E | R | C | E | N | T | S | U | M | |
| A | L | A | W | U | S | S | O | M | E | N | ||||
| R | I | P | S | A | W | S | G | U | I | L | T | Y | ||
| D | E | E | P | S | H | E | Y | A | R | N | O | L | D | |
| A | T | O | S | O | L | U | S | E | S | |||||
| S | T | R | I | N | G | Q | U | A | R | T | E | T | ||
| J | E | R | K | E | A | U | S | U | E | |||||
| A | N | Y | L | O | N | G | E | R | B | L | A | N | D | |
| B | E | H | E | L | D | A | S | S | Y | R | I | A | ||
| S | A | R | I | A | L | M | A | I | C | U | ||||
| N | C | R | V | O | C | A | B | L | E | S | S | O | N | |
| B | E | D | E | R | R | O | L | K | N | E | L | T | ||
| A | D | S | R | E | E | S | E | E | L | S | E | S |
This puzzle was quite literally a labor of love because it originated as a present for my mom! She's an avid quilter, and this was the best quilting-related theme I could think of. In fact, for a while I had QUILTS at 27-Across instead of GUILTY (with QATAR at 27-Down), but I decided that QUILTS was not worth the price of SDS at 28-Down. Some other theme answers I considered were BA(THREAD)ING and YOUCAN(TWINE)MALL.
This was the first time I constructed after my debut came out last November, so I made a big effort to adapt to the critiques of that puzzle. First, many had said that the debut would have benefitted from a revealer, so for this puzzle I started with a revealer and built the rest around it. Secondly, many thought the debut's non-theme fill was clean but boring. Therefore, for this puzzle, I decided to allow a few less-than-desirable entries such as LGA, NCR, and ASTI in order to accommodate a few more exciting entries like TRYHARDS, LOSE-LOSE, and SPARKLER.
The grid was tough to fill because it was my first attempt at more than four theme answers and because the Q of STRING QUARTET had to sit inconveniently in the center of the grid. I'm glad the theme necessitated five components because otherwise I would have been tempted to trim down the theme in order to make the filling easier.
When I realized this puzzle could be a pangram, I got pretty excited. However, after reading many crossword blog posts that were decidedly anti-pangram, I realized that including every letter of the alphabet does not increase the solver's enjoyment. Therefore, I gave up the pangram idea, and that certainly improved the puzzle because it brought the word count down from 78 to 76 and removed the need for some cheater squares.
Merry Christmas again, Mom!
| C | A | D | R | E | G | O | T | L | A | W | A | B | I | D | E | S | ||||
| U | N | R | E | E | L | O | R | R | E | N | E | R | E | C | E | N | T | |||
| B | O | Y | S | W | I | L | L | B | E | B | O | Y | S | O | R | E | L | S | E | |
| I | D | E | O | G | O | D | V | A | N | T | O | M | E | A | N | A | ||||
| C | E | R | N | A | T | M | I | Y | A | M | W | H | A | T | I | Y | A | M | ||
| A | U | N | T | I | E | R | A | I | D | S | M | E | R | E | ||||||
| W | H | A | T | S | D | O | N | E | I | S | D | O | N | E | S | I | D | E | D | |
| E | A | R | E | D | E | R | S | T | G | A | M | U | T | |||||||
| E | S | T | A | R | F | M | A | M | A | R | E | M | A | R | K | |||||
| V | A | S | T | E | L | M | S | R | A | R | E | N | O | T | I | N | G | |||
| I | T | A | I | N | T | O | V | E | R | T | I | L | L | I | T | S | O | V | E | R |
| L | I | L | T | E | R | P | I | T | A | O | K | R | A | R | I | S | E | |||
| T | E | R | R | O | R | S | E | W | S | A | L | A | E | S | A | |||||
| A | D | D | E | R | A | R | K | S | A | C | R | E | S | |||||||
| S | L | O | T | S | H | A | T | E | R | S | G | O | N | N | A | H | A | T | E | |
| W | I | R | E | S | E | T | O | N | B | L | O | U | S | E | ||||||
| I | T | I | S | W | H | A | T | I | T | I | S | A | V | G | W | A | B | E | ||
| V | E | G | H | U | R | L | R | O | E | R | A | G | S | M | U | T | ||||
| E | R | A | G | O | N | E | N | O | U | G | H | I | S | E | N | O | U | G | H | |
| L | A | M | E | S | T | R | I | P | E | A | U | T | O | U | S | L | E | |||
| S | L | I | M | E | S | S | P | Y | R | P | M | S | T | E | E | R |
I constructed this puzzle while staying at my sister's house, so a big thanks to her for the hospitality! Another shout-out goes to Doris Day, whose recording of "Que Sera Sera" I played many times while filling the grid. (The song didn't make it into the puzzle, but its tautological refrain and circular storyline fit with the theme).
For a while, the central three theme answers were going to be I YAM WHAT I YAM, IT IS WHAT IT IS, and WE R WHO WE R (a Kesha song), which I thought made a fun trio due to their parallel wording. However, two strangely-spelled pop-culture references seemed a bit much for one puzzle, so I scrapped WE R WHO WE R. (IYAMWHATIYAM is not too hard to parse, but WERWHOWER would look pretty strange to those unfamiliar with the song).
The central ring was a late addition; I had already filled and clued a version of the puzzle before I thought of it. Incorporating the ring made the overall fill much more difficult because it required extra black squares in the center, forcing a wide-open periphery. Wording the note was also tricky because most people know the line as "A rose is a rose is a rose," but Gertrude Stein first phrased it as "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." Therefore, the note does not mention where to start reading the ring, making both interpretations possible. I regretted leaving the note ambiguous, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
| S | T | O | A | M | E | L | T | S | P | E | E | D | ||
| C | R | U | D | A | R | I | A | P | O | L | A | R | ||
| O | A | T | H | J | I | N | X | L | O | F | T | Y | ||
| W | I | D | E | R | E | C | E | I | V | E | R | |||
| S | N | O | R | E | S | E | E | N | A | S | H | |||
| E | X | T | E | N | D | E | D | S | T | A | Y | |||
| A | C | T | Y | E | A | P | I | E | R | R | E | |||
| P | R | O | M | O | L | O | W | D | E | I | G | N | ||
| P | O | W | E | L | L | M | A | R | P | E | A | |||
| L | O | N | G | D | I | V | I | S | I | O | N | |||
| E | N | S | S | A | N | C | R | U | M | B | S | |||
| S | T | R | E | T | C | H | E | D | O | U | T | |||
| I | T | A | L | Y | C | O | O | T | G | O | Y | A | ||
| M | O | R | A | L | K | A | L | E | E | D | I | T | ||
| P | E | E | V | E | S | T | A | R | D | Y | N | E |
This puzzle is special to me because it was my first acceptance ever. Actually, it was not accepted immediately; the original version was 76 words, with the long downs of FREEZER BAG and SALINE DROP in place of the current 4-Down/38-Down and 31-Down/51-Down slots. However, Will said that SALINE DROP was not really crossword-worthy, so I added another pair of black squares to create the current version. I'm glad he asked for the revision because, in addition to removing the undesirable SALINE DROP, it made the overall fill much cleaner.
| A | S | F | A | R | S | A | N | R | O | T | C | P | U | L | L | E | R | |||
| N | A | O | M | I | C | L | E | R | I | C | A | L | U | N | I | A | T | E | ||
| C | H | A | N | G | E | O | F | P | A | L | A | C | E | S | O | M | U | C | H | |
| H | A | L | E | T | R | I | A | G | E | T | A | N | S | I | D | E | A | |||
| O | R | E | S | A | N | E | L | E | W | I | N | E | Y | N | E | T | S | |||
| R | A | D | I | I | I | D | E | A | L | S | O | F | M | A | R | C | H | |||
| A | G | A | I | N | O | N | E | N | O | E | L | |||||||||
| C | I | R | C | U | S | T | A | L | E | N | T | L | A | O | S | H | E | E | ||
| A | C | E | A | N | D | E | A | N | S | M | A | T | T | E | R | I | N | G | ||
| B | Y | G | O | N | E | M | O | P | Y | M | A | U | P | T | O | |||||
| A | F | A | R | E | W | E | L | L | T | O | A | L | A | R | M | S | ||||
| S | E | L | F | V | I | N | Y | U | P | L | U | S | T | E | R | |||||
| P | R | E | S | E | L | E | C | T | S | R | I | B | B | O | N | E | L | L | ||
| Y | E | S | C | O | N | K | C | A | N | A | L | O | F | W | O | R | M | S | ||
| P | O | N | T | P | U | N | T | O | T | A | L | |||||||||
| S | P | R | I | N | G | F | A | L | L | I | N | G | Y | E | A | S | T | |||
| C | L | A | N | P | U | P | A | L | Y | A | L | T | A | A | N | E | W | |||
| R | A | N | K | A | L | L | Y | S | A | M | U | E | L | N | O | V | A | |||
| I | N | D | I | A | N | O | F | M | A | L | I | C | E | A | N | D | M | E | N | |
| P | A | R | E | N | T | M | O | N | T | A | N | A | N | B | E | I | N | G | ||
| T | R | Y | S | T | S | B | R | O | S | E | S | S | C | R | E | S | S |
I'm thrilled to have my first Sunday published! The larger size presented a whole new world of difficulty to fill, but it was extremely satisfying to get a completed grid.
This puzzle began with a theme exactly opposite the current one. I planned for the revealer to be WITHDRAWAL, with theme answers that were common phrases missing the letters AL, such as ICE IN WONDERLAND, FLOUT BOYS, or FAT ATTRACTION. I had just finished a course in computer science, so after I made a list of themers, I wrote a program to make sure I was not missing any juicy potential theme phrases. The program was designed to output a list of all English words that became different English words when the string "al" was removed, and my plan was to look over the list to see if it contained anything interesting that I had not thought of on my own. At the top of the list was the pair "Aladdin" and "add-in," and I realized that ALADDIN would make a great title for a puzzle that involved inserting "al" rather than deleting it, so I decided to change from WITHDRAWAL to ALADDIN.
There were a couple of reasons for the switch. First, ALADDIN makes a better title than WITHDRAWAL because ALADDIN is unrelated etymologically to ADD-IN whereas WITHDRAW and WITHDRAWAL have the same stem. Secondly, subtracting letters can make it difficult to tell what the base phrase is, but this is less of a problem when letters are added because then the base phrase is still present in its entirety. Therefore, I turned the theme on its head, and the result is what you see. (By the way, thanks to Mrs. Prosser and Lori Levin for teaching me the requisite programming skills!)
I always struggle to balance cleanliness with liveliness. In this grid, I was especially happy to fit HIPSTER, PUSSYFOOT, and APLOMB, but there are also a few entries I would rather have done without; if I'm ever brave enough to attempt another Sunday, I would like to include more interesting non-theme answers. In addition, my favorite Sundays usually have extra theme layers (for an example, see pretty much any Sunday by Elizabeth C. Gorski), so I would also love to try my hand at adding extra elements to the theme.
| C | A | R | O | B | R | E | P | S | T | V | A | D | ||
| A | G | A | P | E | O | X | E | N | H | I | K | E | ||
| M | O | D | E | M | M | E | T | E | E | D | A | M | ||
| P | R | O | N | O | U | N | C | E | A | B | L | E | ||
| S | A | N | A | G | E | K | O | M | O | D | O | |||
| U | N | H | Y | P | H | E | N | A | T | E | D | |||
| A | L | I | A | S | H | E | R | D | A | M | O | |||
| P | O | N | E | Q | U | A | Y | S | S | P | U | R | ||
| P | E | T | O | U | R | S | T | I | E | R | S | |||
| T | W | E | L | V | E | L | E | T | T | E | R | |||
| S | E | R | I | E | S | R | E | L | A | H | A | |||
| P | E | N | T | A | S | Y | L | L | A | B | I | C | ||
| H | E | L | D | I | L | L | S | A | R | E | N | T | ||
| E | R | A | T | N | E | A | T | L | E | T | G | O | ||
| M | A | Y | O | G | E | M | S | L | A | S | E | R |
Since cross-referential clues are a staple of crosswords, I liked the idea of clues that refer not to other clues but rather back to themselves. Some other theme answers that I considered were ENGLISH, ADJECTIVAL, and HORIZONTAL. My first act after adding the black squares and the theme answers was to find a place for a Q, since Q is the most intriguing letter to me. Strangely, when filling the grid, I had much more trouble in the NW and SE corners than in the more wide-open parts of the puzzle.
This is my crossword debut. Special thanks to the people who have fostered my interest in crosswords: my mom, who has helped me solve many, many crosswords over the years; my dad, who solves jumbles and cryptograms entirely in his head; Mike Boehnke, a family friend whose visits always bring about group crossword sessions; and Jason Mohr, my European History teacher who kindly pre-solved my earliest attempts at construction.