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Jeffrey: What an honour to be published alongside Matt for his debut! Matt is an amazing person; easygoing, but exceptionally creative and clever, making for a great collaborator. He was lots of fun to work with! This puzzle is a prime example of persistence paying off. We first started a year ago with a 15x15 grid and only three theme entries, but then revamped it after a soft-rejection into the product you see before you. Nothing about this grid came together easily, but after many iterations, it finally fell into place. Whether you're a fan of the winter weather or not, here's to hoping this little ski trip brightened the end of your winter!

Matt: What a pleasure it was to work with Jeffrey on my first-ever crossword. Perhaps this was beginner's luck, but I credit much of our success to Jeffrey's thoughtful guidance and his knack for making the construction process so collaborative. We began by settling on a ski theme, a natural choice given my background as an avid skier. From there, the gimmick emerged organically, and the subsequent word selection flowed with surprising ease. What a fun and rewarding experience this has been. I hope everyone enjoys the puzzle!

– puzzle by Matt Proulx and Jeffrey Martinovic

HEY EVERYONE, IT'S MY DEBUT PUZZLE! Ahem. Sorry to yell, I'm just so excited and, given the theme, I figure one sentence of all caps was warranted.

In the summer of 2024 I went from casual solver to fully obsessed with puzzle construction in a matter of weeks — props to Katie G of Coffee and Crosswords, whose awesomely fun puzzle content lit the initial spark. After a healthy number of rejections and much negotiation with my inner critic, my single-pointed obsession paid off.

(I'm also quietly delighted that SMÉAGOL ended up in this grid. I very much relate, in this fashion. As a daily solver, the NYT puzzle app is definitely on the list of "my precious.")

The theme for this puzzle floated in during the wee hours, in that fuzzy hypnagogic state between sleep and wake. Thank you, brain, for churning out ideas even as I slumber. I initially submitted with a different revealer, and only upon rejection realized a much better one was right there for the picking. Very grateful to the editors for the second look, and help with grid and clue improvements.

And, of course, these notes wouldn't be complete without some hearty shout-outs. Thanks to my family and friends, especially my wonderfully supportive mom and cheerleader hubby, for listening to my theme idea rants and test-solving my puzzles. And to my grandparents, avid linguists and crossworders, gone but very much present in my love of language. Special thanks to Dena Verkuil for her generous feedback as I've learned the ropes.

I hope you enjoy this breezy Monday solve. I'm @spiritspirals on IG, if you'd like to say hi!

– puzzle by Leslie Benson

Christina: I always love working with Andrea! When I noticed how many Best Actress winners had names that were also words, I thought that as a movie buff, she'd be the perfect person to work with.

Two people from our original brainstorm, "actresses with word names," were SWANK and HUNT.

Andrea: This came together very quickly.

I'd like to thank the Academy.

An easy collaboration with one of my favorite people in life.

Christina listed some best actress winners, I thought about phrases, she made the grid, I clued it.

A little discussion whether BERRYPIE was a thing (we're both Minnesota gals, but I don't bake, so I defer to my colleague who still lives in the Midwest.)

A little more discussion about turning BOBATEA into ALBERTO (a nod to my beloved brother-in-law) (which ultimately became ALBERTA)… and we were off to the races. The Oscar Races, that is!

I'm pleased the NYT is publishing this at a timely time… no Christmas theme in March!

Enjoy! And the award goes to ….

– puzzle by Christina Iverson and Andrea Carla Michaels

In an incredibly serendipitous moment last July, my parents invited me to tag along with them to visit Starving Artist Brewing in Ludington, Michigan. Unbeknownst to them, I had just recently finished creating this puzzle and was waiting for the New York Times crossword submission portal to reopen the very next day!

The idea for this theme occurred when I had previously heard the phrase "starving artist" and realized it could be a fun revealer for a food art puzzle! I immediately imagined Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Cans" and Vincent van Gogh's "Still Life with Apples," but what's even more appropriate than paintings of individual foods? Paintings of entire meals—and what could be more prominent than Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"! This new direction allowed me to narrow down theme entry possibilities to well-known artists with paintings titled "The [type of meal]," and I ultimately decided on Claude Monet's "The Luncheon" and Paul Cézanne's "The Buffet" to complete the theme set.

I am especially fascinated with "The Luncheon," which is notable for being rejected by the Paris Salon in 1870 because the jury deemed it improper to display the intimate, everyday moment of a family eating lunch at such a monumental scale! Monet later exhibited "The Luncheon" alongside "Impression, Sunrise" at the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874.

Like the paintings in this puzzle, crosswords are art. While maybe not appearing as visually delicious as the ladyfingers in "The Buffet" or the grapes in "The Luncheon," I hope you find my canvas just as appetizing!

– puzzle by Killian Olson