| B | E | R | G | S | A | L | E | M | L | O | F | T | ||
| I | D | O | L | A | C | E | L | A | A | R | E | A | ||
| N | U | D | I | S | T | C | A | M | P | P | A | L | L | |
| B | O | E | R | S | B | A | T | I | K | |||||
| A | B | S | N | E | U | T | R | A | L | Z | O | N | E | |
| C | O | L | O | G | N | E | U | N | I | R | E | D | ||
| E | G | O | S | A | E | T | N | A | ||||||
| S | O | W | H | A | T | E | L | S | E | I | S | N | E | W |
| A | L | E | X | A | P | O | L | E | ||||||
| U | M | P | T | E | E | S | E | A | S | A | L | T | ||
| N | U | I | S | A | N | C | E | T | A | X | H | A | S | |
| M | E | T | E | R | B | U | G | L | E | |||||
| A | S | I | N | N | O | O | D | L | E | S | O | U | P | |
| S | L | E | D | A | N | N | I | E | P | U | R | E | ||
| K | I | S | S | Y | O | Y | O | S | N | I | N | A |
| D | O | S | M | A | S | T | R | A | M | A | D | A | ||
| E | K | E | A | N | E | W | A | B | O | A | R | D | ||
| A | B | C | T | I | T | A | N | I | U | M | R | O | D | |
| L | Y | R | I | C | N | O | S | A | P | P | S | |||
| T | E | E | T | H | I | N | G | R | I | N | G | |||
| T | R | A | C | E | I | N | E | E | D | I | T | |||
| E | S | P | Y | E | N | O | A | R | U | B | A | |||
| L | I | L | P | R | E | T | Z | E | L | K | I | N | ||
| I | N | A | W | E | S | A | L | N | E | S | S | |||
| S | E | N | O | R | A | S | R | O | S | E | S | |||
| R | U | S | S | I | A | N | T | W | I | S | T | |||
| I | N | U | K | C | N | N | O | T | T | E | R | |||
| S | E | L | F | I | E | S | T | I | C | K | O | N | E | |
| I | M | T | O | R | N | E | L | I | E | U | S | A | ||
| S | O | A | R | E | D | L | E | A | D | T | E | T |
| S | C | A | R | F | A | G | A | R | N | A | S | H | ||
| A | I | R | E | D | T | U | N | A | A | R | L | O | ||
| T | A | M | P | A | B | E | I | G | E | S | T | A | R | |
| S | O | S | O | L | U | L | L | D | A | M | N | S | ||
| S | K | I | P | T | O | M | Y | L | U | G | E | |||
| T | A | P | T | A | P | E | E | L | S | |||||
| I | L | O | S | T | P | A | W | N | Y | E | T | I | ||
| L | O | P | Z | H | U | Z | H | U | P | U | H | S | ||
| L | O | T | R | O | N | T | O | L | O | M | A | N | ||
| H | E | L | L | G | U | N | S | I | T | |||||
| T | H | E | D | E | A | D | S | I | E | G | E | |||
| H | I | H | A | T | E | A | R | N | I | D | O | L | ||
| E | T | O | N | B | U | C | K | A | R | O | U | G | E | |
| M | O | O | T | A | C | H | E | A | T | A | R | I | ||
| E | N | D | S | R | E | A | D | P | A | L | E | S |
| C | A | R | T | B | A | R | E | R | E | C | T | S | ||
| A | L | E | E | L | L | E | N | A | R | N | I | A | ||
| B | A | B | E | R | U | T | H | I | C | A | N | S | O | |
| I | M | M | U | N | E | S | A | V | E | S | ||||
| N | O | I | R | M | A | L | E | E | D | G | E | |||
| L | E | D | S | W | A | P | D | O | O | R | ||||
| B | A | C | K | I | N | G | S | A | G | E | M | O | ||
| A | N | K | A | R | A | R | O | U | S | E | D | |||
| T | I | C | T | M | C | A | G | O | N | I | Z | E | ||
| I | M | O | N | R | O | W | S | F | I | T | ||||
| K | A | R | O | E | N | O | S | O | S | H | A | |||
| T | I | D | E | D | M | I | N | C | E | S | ||||
| A | R | M | A | N | I | N | O | A | H | S | A | R | K | |
| B | I | G | T | O | P | I | N | T | O | L | O | U | ||
| C | O | M | E | T | S | W | E | E | P | E | S | P |
| D | E | N | T | I | S | T | E | S | C | O | R | T | ||
| L | O | V | E | N | O | T | E | S | H | A | V | E | S | |
| I | D | I | O | T | T | A | X | T | O | R | E | U | P | |
| E | G | A | N | A | R | T | M | A | J | O | R | S | ||
| S | E | N | T | R | B | I | I | M | S | A | D | |||
| E | M | T | O | O | P | T | B | A | ||||||
| S | T | A | R | N | O | S | E | D | M | O | L | E | ||
| T | E | R | I | Y | A | K | I | S | A | U | C | E | ||
| D | Y | N | A | M | I | T | E | S | T | I | C | K | ||
| I | P | O | T | U | X | O | S | H | ||||||
| S | E | R | I | F | R | A | M | A | F | R | O | |||
| F | I | N | E | B | E | M | A | D | C | R | O | W | ||
| R | A | T | E | D | R | P | L | O | T | H | O | L | E | |
| E | C | A | R | T | E | L | I | M | E | A | D | E | S | |
| B | E | S | T | O | W | E | A | S | E | S | O | N |
Hey everyone! I'm a 14-year-old student from Singapore. I'm thrilled (and a little stunned) to be debuting today as one of the youngest constructors in the themeless puzzle genre. It was pretty surreal opening that acceptance email in the middle of the school day, which was followed by roughly 10 minutes of jumping and dancing (Sit down, Bryan, geography's starting soon …).
I started constructing last November while on a trip to Vietnam, and since then it's definitely cemented its spot into my daily life — I often jot down entries in the margins of my notes or think of clues in between classes.
Ironically, despite my passion for constructing, I'm still not that great at solving crosswords! I do enjoy picking up new words and phrases with each solve.
This puzzle was actually my first submission to a publication. My favorite entry has to be STAR-NOSED MOLE — such a bizarre and fascinating little creature. I'm very grateful to the Times puzzle editing team for their patience and guidance throughout the whole process.
Outside of crosswords, I enjoy acting, writing, drawing and cycling (which is the best way I know to clear my head).
Thanks for solving my first themeless puzzle! I hope you all enjoyed working through it as much as I did putting it together.