Trenton Lee Stewart author page
2 puzzles by Trenton Lee Stewart
with Jeff Chen comments
See the 5 answer words debuted by Trenton Lee Stewart.
| L | A | P | S | B | O | S | S | Y | C | H | I | P | ||
| E | P | I | C | E | V | I | T | E | L | I | M | A | ||
| G | O | T | O | E | L | E | V | E | N | A | G | E | S | |
| S | P | A | R | K | R | A | P | T | W | H | A | T | ||
| N | E | I | L | P | L | U | S | O | N | E | ||||
| R | A | T | S | N | O | S | E | P | A | C | ||||
| A | S | H | S | C | O | T | K | E | T | T | L | E | ||
| P | A | R | T | A | K | E | T | E | N | A | I | M | ||
| S | P | I | R | E | S | M | E | N | D | N | E | T | ||
| L | E | N | I | S | A | Y | F | E | S | S | ||||
| H | A | L | F | O | F | F | M | A | M | A | ||||
| A | C | R | E | L | O | N | G | A | N | G | U | S | ||
| S | T | I | R | O | N | E | A | N | D | D | O | N | E | |
| N | O | D | E | A | L | A | M | O | O | N | I | T | ||
| T | R | E | E | T | Y | P | E | D | M | E | T | S |
For us math lovers, number-focused puzzles GO TO ELEVEN. Apt that the two longest bonuses are a HIGH OCTANE / THRILL RIDE!
Stop shaking your head at me.
Simon and Trenton DO THE MATH today, repurposing number-related phrases to arrive at ONE AND DONE. They could have used ONE as a basic revealer, but ONE AND DONE caps off the equation by dropping the mic. ONE … AND DONE. Boom!
Probably best that I'm not in show business.
I enjoyed this one more than last year's DO THE MATH, mainly because the first themer made for a bigger opening. Tough to compare any two puzzles though, as there's a fine line between Jeff and clever.
PLUS ONE, TAKE TEN, and HALF OFF are all in the language, and (11 + 1 - 10) / 2 indeed results in ONE AND DONE.
(ONE AND DONE is a common term for basketball players who do their mandatory one year in college, and they're done, declaring for the NBA draft afterward.)
With five shortish themers, I expect near perfection in gridwork, and Simon and Trenton didn't disappoint. I love it when I can't point to a single hiccup on a Monday. Sure, there are some entries that my crossword-newb neighbor down the street won't know, but these are all crossed by common words. In fact, a great majority of the entries are regular words instead of proper names, which is a big reason why I sailed through the solve.
I loved the prompt to rewatch "This is Spinal Tap" clips, and the theme both started and ended strongly. I'm already part of Trenton's FANDOM, and it's neat to see his and Simon's partnership at work.
| S | A | S | H | M | A | S | S | F | E | S | S | |||
| H | Y | P | E | A | U | T | O | D | E | L | T | A | ||
| Y | E | A | R | I | N | O | N | E | A | T | E | N | ||
| C | O | U | N | T | I | N | G | C | R | O | W | S | ||
| C | R | E | S | T | S | C | E | N | A | N | S | A | ||
| O | A | R | A | A | S | T | U | F | T | |||||
| S | M | A | S | H | I | N | G | S | U | S | H | I | ||
| T | E | C | H | L | L | A | M | A | S | L | O | T | ||
| S | N | E | E | R | P | U | M | P | K | I | N | S | ||
| D | A | M | P | M | B | A | D | E | M | |||||
| B | R | A | C | I | A | O | R | I | B | E | Y | E | ||
| R | O | L | L | I | N | G | S | T | O | N | E | S | ||
| A | L | I | E | N | O | T | I | S | A | H | E | M | ||
| G | O | B | A | G | D | E | L | I | D | O | P | E | ||
| A | S | I | F | A | R | E | A | S | W | A | T |
Complete sets of three to five things are crossword construction gold. Figure out how to cleverly disguise or misdirect away from those set elements, and voila!
Today Simon and Trenton play twenty questions — er, six questions — to hint at the animal, vegetable, and mineral in three band names: COUNTING CROWS, SMASHING PUMPKINS, ROLLING STONES. It took me forever to figure this out, counting the minutes as I was smashing my head on my desk. I was anything but rolling, but I enjoyed earning my a-ha moment.
In 2007, I was mulling over a career change, and I randomly picked up The Mysterious Benedict Society. Three hours later, I'd decided to work toward becoming a middle grade author. Talk about an influential experience! Those first 50 pages consumed me.
I literally squeed (rhymes with "peed") when I saw Trenton's byline today. My kids are now devouring his books, just the other day telling me how much more talented he is than me.
Kids say the darnedest things.
Great work gridding around the middle section. It's not easy to work around the gap in a divided themer — apt that GAP fills the gap!
Fine, he is more talented than me!
Employing only three themers ups my expectations around fill, and Simon and Trenton delivered. SPACE RACE, MAINSAIL, AMBROSIA, SLIDESHOW are excellent. There is a RACE / RACING duplication, but how many solvers notice that kind of thing?
I would have loved some extra element to explain why we were playing Twenty Questions around band names — feels like MATCHBOX 20 wanted to be involved somehow? Thankfully, the freshness in the clues kept my OCD brain distracted. I've never heard ROLOS defined as "fez-shaped," but that's precisely how I'll describe them from now on.