| U | P | L | I | T | U | M | P | M | A | D | A | M | ||
| B | E | A | C | H | N | E | E | D | A | R | I | D | E | |
| O | N | C | U | E | A | N | G | O | R | A | C | A | T | |
| A | N | T | O | W | S | S | M | O | R | E | S | |||
| T | I | E | C | L | A | S | P | E | N | A | C | T | S | |
| B | A | L | D | T | I | R | E | S | T | U | R | K | ||
| L | O | V | E | S | E | A | T | S | P | A | Y | |||
| D | I | R | T | Y | R | I | C | E | ||||||
| A | R | M | C | H | E | S | T | C | O | L | D | |||
| B | E | A | K | A | D | O | R | A | T | I | O | N | ||
| S | P | R | I | T | Z | N | U | T | C | A | S | E | S | |
| T | I | N | H | A | T | M | E | H | H | O | T | |||
| F | I | N | G | E | R | T | I | P | E | L | O | P | E | |
| A | L | A | M | O | D | O | M | E | G | O | T | E | M | |
| D | E | S | E | X | P | O | T | G | U | S | T | S |
This grid came about after some noodling on variations of this stupidly crazy wide open grid pattern I liked (I'm a sucker for open grids). The design is also similar to my Boswords puzzle a few weeks back. With the center of DIRTY RICE, I eventually was able to build out the middle into what you see here. I tried to keep many of the longer entries as common nouns so this grid design would play a bit more nicely. Hope you enjoy!
I also just recently launched my own indie puzzle blog, McGrids! I'm exploring crossword construction in several parallel series, including asymmetrical grids, vowelless, wide-open middles (like today's), and others. If you haven't yet checked out the wealth of indie crossword puzzles out there, I highly recommend it! They've been some of my favorite discoveries during the pandemic.
| L | E | G | U | P | A | W | A | R | D | R | A | N | S | A | C | K | ||||
| O | P | I | N | E | D | B | A | B | O | O | N | E | P | I | C | U | R | E | ||
| C | O | V | E | R | E | D | B | R | I | D | G | E | G | E | T | I | T | O | N | |
| A | D | E | G | A | I | A | L | I | N | E | A | R | S | O | W | |||||
| L | E | S | S | O | N | S | G | I | N | A | R | E | L | I | S | T | ||||
| A | I | L | M | O | E | T | P | O | T | T | Y | M | O | U | T | H | ||||
| G | E | R | M | A | N | A | R | M | Y | P | A | Y | N | A | R | N | I | A | ||
| A | R | I | A | Y | E | S | P | E | R | F | I | D | Y | E | N | D | ||||
| D | A | D | B | O | D | S | T | E | R | R | A | M | A | A | R | G | O | |||
| S | T | E | E | L | E | N | O | T | E | B | R | A | O | L | S | E | N | |||
| G | A | R | D | E | N | A | P | A | R | T | M | E | N | T | ||||||
| S | P | R | A | Y | O | W | E | P | L | A | Y | D | E | E | P | E | R | |||
| T | E | E | N | B | U | D | S | E | E | D | M | I | S | R | U | L | E | |||
| A | R | M | S | U | R | E | D | I | D | P | O | O | F | T | E | E | ||||
| V | I | E | F | O | R | A | R | R | D | I | R | T | Y | T | R | I | C | K | ||
| E | L | M | E | R | S | G | L | U | E | O | T | O | H | R | U | N | ||||
| B | E | E | T | L | E | N | T | W | T | E | D | I | T | O | R | S | ||||
| B | E | D | A | R | I | S | E | N | A | R | E | S | R | O | C | |||||
| C | A | R | L | S | J | R | C | O | M | P | A | S | S | N | E | E | D | L | E | |
| O | R | E | O | P | I | E | U | N | P | A | C | K | S | C | R | E | E | N | ||
| L | S | D | T | A | B | S | G | O | T | H | S | T | A | R | O | T |
Many of my puzzle ideas over the years have come to me while running — brainstorming theme possibilities makes the miles go by faster. This puzzle was no exception. I'd had a vague notion to try to build a theme around terms like "c-sharp" and "g-force," but it hadn't gone anywhere.
Then one day while running in the hills near my house, I crossed a little footbridge over a creek and I remember thinking that a bridge was a span, which led to me to think of C-Span, which then somehow morphed into the realization that a covered bridge was a C-SPAN in a way. I quickly came up with a few other, similar examples, and thought I might be on to something.
When I got home, I did some searching in the XWord Info database to see if the theme had been done before. I did find this cool crossword by Andrew Zhou, but my idea was different enough from his that I moved forward with brainstorming more theme answers, selecting a symmetrical set, and then constructing the puzzle.
This puzzle is light on theme material (seven themers as compared to the eight or nine that I usually aim for in a Sunday), which allowed for a grid with more long and mid-length non-theme material than in most 21 x 21 puzzles that I've constructed. On that note, I'm amazed that OREOPIE is making its debut in a New York Times crossword: a seven-letter phrase with five vowels is extremely useful from a construction perspective, so whatever the reason for its absence to-date, I suspect it will show up again. ARTY-FARTY is also making its first appearance; those who know me won't be surprised at how tickled I am to be the guy responsible.
Because it's Earth Day when I'm writing this, it seems appropriate to note that proceeds from this puzzle are going to support my undergraduate alma mater, the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley, where faculty and students bring incredible energy and intellectual horsepower to bear on the many environmental challenges facing our country and our planet.
| A | M | I | D | C | R | A | P | O | I | O | W | A | ||
| L | A | V | A | R | E | R | U | N | B | R | A | G | ||
| I | C | E | D | C | O | F | F | E | E | A | G | R | A | |
| D | O | W | B | E | T | R | A | Y | S | |||||
| E | M | M | Y | S | P | A | L | A | U | N | O | S | ||
| S | O | Y | A | I | R | P | O | R | T | W | I | F | I | |
| P | A | T | H | N | O | R | T | I | C | |||||
| T | H | E | I | N | S | I | D | E | I | N | F | O | ||
| B | R | R | O | E | D | G | A | R | B | |||||
| E | A | U | D | E | P | A | R | F | U | M | R | C | A | |
| C | D | S | N | O | T | I | T | I | M | M | A | D | ||
| H | O | T | B | A | T | H | S | F | O | |||||
| O | N | E | A | F | E | E | F | I | F | O | F | U | M | |
| E | A | R | N | U | N | L | I | T | D | A | N | A | ||
| D | I | S | K | L | A | M | B | S | Y | M | C | A |
Hidden-word-at-the-end-of-the-answer puzzles don't always rock my socks, but when I noted that FEE, FI, FO and FUM could all comprise exactly half of the last word in the theme answers, the symmetry was sock-rocking enough to pursue.
If you're interested in learning to make crosswords, tune in on Mondays and Thursday evenings to my solving-and-constructing Twitch stream. Or, as always, feel free to contact me via Twitter or Rosswords, my indie crossword site.
| S | A | M | E | R | A | P | T | E | S | S | A | Y | ||
| P | R | O | M | O | U | R | S | N | O | T | R | E | ||
| R | E | P | O | A | R | E | A | O | L | A | F | S | ||
| I | T | T | B | D | A | Y | J | U | U | L | ||||
| G | O | O | B | E | R | S | T | A | G | T | E | A | M | |
| O | P | E | R | A | A | I | R | H | E | A | D | S | ||
| R | E | G | A | L | E | I | O | U | ||||||
| B | U | T | T | E | R | F | I | N | G | E | R | S | ||
| P | A | N | C | A | N | A | R | Y | ||||||
| S | L | O | P | O | K | E | S | T | A | E | B | O | ||
| I | M | P | A | L | E | D | D | U | M | D | U | M | S | |
| E | T | S | Y | H | O | R | S | T | E | E | ||||
| G | E | N | I | E | F | U | J | I | E | L | L | A | ||
| U | P | E | N | N | E | G | O | S | T | E | E | M | ||
| M | I | D | A | S | N | E | S | T | A | R | T | S |
Hi all! I'm Nina Sloan, and I'm thrilled to be making my New York Times debut! A quick intro: I'm 19 years old, I'm originally from New York City, and I'm currently a freshman at Dartmouth College. I've loved crosswords since I was a kid — –the result of many mornings spent peering over my dad's shoulder at the breakfast table as he solved the daily puzzle. With his encouragement, I first tried my hand at crossword construction, and I am so happy I took his advice.
Ironically, I came up with this theme idea while pursuing its opposite: candies that double as terms of endearment. To my surprise, the confectionary industry has far fewer TOOTSIE POPS than it does AIRHEADS or BUTTERFINGERS. Inapt marketing aside, my sweet tooth certainly got its fix while constructing this puzzle.
This puzzle was also among the first I constructed (way back in December 2019!), and it has taken on several iterations since then. When I first submitted this to the New York Times, it had four more black squares than now, which Joel Fagliano suggested I remove. This allowed me to fit in STALE AIR and ROAD RAGE, two of my favorite bits of fill in this puzzle. And, while "Automatic anger?" was the original clue for 5-down, "Fit on a hard drive?" was one of several much-appreciated clue improvements from the editorial team.
I hope you enjoy the puzzle and happy solving!
| N | P | R | S | I | N | R | A | S | P | E | D | |||
| A | R | I | T | O | O | C | O | N | Q | U | E | R | ||
| V | I | N | C | E | N | T | O | C | T | U | P | L | E | |
| I | M | G | U | R | O | L | D | Z | A | P | ||||
| E | S | T | E | R | E | Y | R | E | S | T | ||||
| L | O | U | I | E | S | E | E | T | H | E | ||||
| W | I | F | E | S | E | R | I | A | L | E | U | R | ||
| E | D | I | T | O | U | T | N | U | M | B | E | R | S | |
| L | A | B | D | R | Y | E | S | T | E | R | I | E | ||
| S | H | O | D | D | Y | V | I | E | W | S | ||||
| H | O | N | E | L | E | D | A | T | O | P | ||||
| A | F | T | O | N | E | S | I | L | O | S | ||||
| P | U | C | C | I | N | I | O | T | H | E | L | L | O | |
| E | N | C | O | R | E | S | U | S | E | I | L | L | ||
| C | O | I | N | E | D | T | A | R | E | Y | E |
We've been friends through high school and college, and over the years we've bonded over math, crosswords, computer science, and puzzlehunts. We're excited to be making our New York Times debut!
When thinking of a theme, our inner math nerd shone through, and we wondered if we could use clue numbers in an unconventional way. After a few iterations, we came up with what seemed like a crazy idea involving famous mathematical sequences. While we were excited about the concept, we had no idea if there was a grid that worked, and it's practically impossible to find one by hand.
In the end, we had to write a comically complicated program that generated feasible grids, and then checked a few hundred candidates manually until we found the grid you see in today's puzzle (you can read more on this blog post). It isn't perfect—it's heavy on three-letter words and has a few cheater squares—but we were happy with the outcome. We also considered sequences like CUBE, POWEROFTWO, PERFECT, and COMPOSITE but none of them ended up in the final puzzle.
Filling out the grid was a real challenge, because we couldn't add or remove black squares without breaking our theme. That being said, we were pretty happy with the diversity and quality of our resulting fill given these constraints.
| R | A | C | I | S | T | V | I | P | T | B | A | R | ||
| A | L | L | N | E | W | E | M | U | H | O | R | A | ||
| S | T | A | G | E | A | C | T | O | R | A | J | A | R | |
| P | E | S | O | H | O | N | E | S | T | A | B | E | ||
| S | T | A | T | E | B | O | S | N | ||||||
| S | P | E | C | S | D | O | G | S | ||||||
| C | O | G | B | A | K | E | S | A | D | L | I | B | ||
| U | N | O | S | T | E | R | P | S | D | E | C | O | ||
| M | E | A | T | F | L | A | G | S | K | Y | ||||
| E | S | T | A | S | S | O | S | A | D | |||||
| U | S | M | C | T | H | R | U | M | S | |||||
| D | O | N | T | P | A | N | I | C | N | A | T | E | ||
| A | N | D | I | R | I | G | H | T | O | N | R | E | D | |
| R | E | E | L | A | N | G | O | P | E | N | E | D | ||
| K | A | R | L | B | A | Y | W | I | D | E | L | Y |
After finally finding four entries that could be split to form a new "red" phrase, the challenge for me was to fit the "L-shaped" pieces into a crossword puzzle, along with the revealer. This was a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and I've done my fair share of these this past year. While many western states allowed "right on red" for many years it took the energy crisis of the 70s to make this a national policy. Still, NYC does not allow right on red as a general rule. It's certainly a hazard for us bicyclists and pedestrians, and questions about its real energy-saving benefits have caused many to rethink this policy. I hope the puzzle provided a pleasant challenge to solvers, and even more that we've finally "turned the corner" on COVID.
| A | P | P | S | D | R | A | W | R | I | C | A | N | ||
| M | A | R | I | R | E | N | O | O | N | I | C | E | ||
| P | L | O | T | I | A | G | O | O | S | T | E | R | ||
| O | U | T | O | F | L | E | F | T | F | I | E | L | D | |
| C | A | D | E | N | T | L | E | O | D | D | A | Y | ||
| A | L | E | R | T | T | O | R | Q | U | E | ||||
| I | T | S | S | O | Y | O | U | U | R | B | A | N | E | |
| N | O | T | P | E | P | T | E | L | A | V | I | V | ||
| F | I | A | S | C | O | S | S | I | N | E | ||||
| S | T | A | R | C | R | A | F | T | R | E | D | O | S | |
| H | O | S | E | N | I | C | E | J | O | B | ||||
| I | N | P | E | R | I | L | B | A | C | A | R | D | I | |
| R | E | U | B | E | N | B | A | N | K | L | O | A | N | |
| T | U | R | I | N | G | A | G | U | I | L | E | R | A | |
| S | P | E | E | D | S | E | S | S | E | S | E | T |
Hi solvers and onlookers, I'm so happy to see you and I hope you enjoyed this puzzle! It's a bit weird to contrast it with the puzzles I'm making now — I wrote this one last summer when I had been constructing for ~six months. From my current standpoint, I'm certainly putting more effort into exciting and fresh mid-length fill, and I hope to write more clues that editors keep. I love featuring my ANGELOU clue, and I'm hype I discovered the symmetric intersection of these two 14's.
I'm grateful to stand on the shoulders of giants with the diagonal symmetry here, and excited to bring it to the NYT after writing many diagonally symmetric puzzles for other venues, including last week's Boswords championship puzzle (available as part of the 2021 Spring Puzzle Packet, and you can watch the postgame interview with me & the three spectacular finalists on Twitch).
While this is only my third NYT puzzle, in the last year or so I've published about 50 puzzles in other venues and about 50 more on independent blogs. The latter includes my own blog — xwords by a ladee — where I post challenging themeless puzzles with both conventional and more boundary-pushing clue sets. Besides the Boswords championship, some personal recent highlights are my American Values Club themeless that ran two weeks ago and my latest USA Today puzzle, which ran on May 3 (permalinks / Sally's writeup).
Feel free to keep in touch with me on twitter @ my crossword-constructing alter ego @xandraladee … otherwise I'll see you next time I make an appearance over here!
| N | B | A | A | L | L | S | T | A | R | A | C | T | ||
| E | I | G | H | T | Y | E | I | G | H | T | W | H | O | |
| G | R | E | E | D | I | S | G | O | O | D | S | A | P | |
| A | T | O | M | N | T | H | S | P | O | R | T | |||
| T | H | U | I | G | E | T | I | T | A | C | A | I | ||
| E | S | T | E | R | T | E | R | I | D | U | D | E | ||
| A | A | H | N | O | M | A | T | T | E | R | ||||
| B | A | T | T | E | D | N | O | S | H | E | S | |||
| H | O | U | S | E | R | E | D | N | S | A | ||||
| O | N | T | O | B | R | E | W | A | I | D | A | N | ||
| T | H | O | U | S | N | A | R | K | Y | E | G | O | ||
| M | O | T | T | O | R | E | I | S | L | A | P | |||
| E | M | U | W | A | I | T | A | M | I | N | U | T | E | |
| S | I | N | N | I | G | H | T | Y | N | I | G | H | T | |
| S | E | E | M | A | S | H | E | D | P | E | A | S |
This puzzle's minitheme has a funny backstory. In the pre-COVID days, I used to create a monthly word puzzle out of sticky notes and post it in my cubicle for any interested co-workers. I even had a leaderboard sticky note with the names of everyone who had solved the puzzle. Erik Agard sat next to me, so as you can imagine, the leaderboard almost always had at least one name on it before you could say "sticky note"!
One month, I made a puzzle out of two columns of sticky notes where I changed the first letters of alliterative two-word phrases. For example, a sticky note in the first column read "halted," and a sticky note in the second column read "silk." Changing the first letters of those two words yielded "malted milk," and "m" became a letter that was part of the final answer (which, if memory serves, was "Mahomes," as in Kansas City's legendary quarterback). Another pair of sticky notes read "mighty"/"fight," and my intended answer was "eighty-eight."
One co-worker stopped by my cubicle and stared at the puzzle for several minutes, evidently perplexed. We got to talking about which answers she'd already figured out, and she mentioned "nighty night" for "mighty/fight." Nighty night! I hadn't even considered that, but it was clearly just as good an answer. I quickly patched up the puzzle by changing "fight" to "night" (so solvers would know that "night" wasn't part of the answer), though this amusing find ultimately intrigued me so much that I decided to make a whole puzzle out of it. Moral of the story: Always get your puzzles test-solved!
| D | O | C | S | C | A | B | A | C | H | E | S | T | E | R | M | S | ||||
| O | P | A | L | O | R | I | C | H | I | L | L | A | S | I | A | N | S | |||
| R | E | M | I | G | E | T | A | K | I | C | K | O | U | T | O | F | Y | O | U | |
| I | R | E | M | I | T | E | R | S | T | A | P | L | E | R | S | |||||
| C | A | R | R | Y | T | H | A | T | W | E | I | G | H | T | H | E | R | E | S | |
| H | A | I | O | A | T | A | X | L | E | E | R | A | ||||||||
| C | O | C | O | T | C | E | L | L | R | E | G | A | T | T | A | |||||
| H | U | R | T | S | S | O | G | O | O | D | P | U | S | H | I | T | ||||
| U | S | E | P | U | P | A | E | T | O | M | S | S | K | E | E | T | ||||
| M | E | W | E | V | E | R | T | F | I | N | A | L | E | A | S | Y | ||||
| I | W | A | N | N | A | B | E | S | E | D | A | T | E | D | ||||||
| U | S | P | S | T | E | P | I | D | E | E | L | E | D | Z | A | P | ||||
| R | E | A | L | M | O | R | S | O | A | D | O | R | E | O | D | E | ||||
| S | C | R | E | A | M | I | M | C | O | M | I | N | G | O | U | T | ||||
| A | T | A | T | R | O | T | D | E | N | C | H | M | A | L | E | |||||
| G | N | U | A | L | T | A | A | N | A | A | N | T | ||||||||
| A | M | E | B | A | B | A | B | Y | O | N | E | M | O | R | E | T | I | M | E | |
| C | A | N | A | R | I | E | S | A | B | U | T | S | M | O | T | |||||
| T | H | E | K | I | D | S | A | R | E | A | L | R | I | G | H | T | A | V | A | |
| S | E | R | E | N | E | M | A | R | R | Y | T | A | R | O | L | I | P | |||
| R | O | S | E | S | I | T | S | M | E | S | T | O | P | S | E | E |
Q: So Brad, tell us about your latest puzzle. Why the childbirth theme?
A: Well, I just love babies. They're such great people — so down-to-earth and thoughtful. So I figured, why not a puzzle honoring all the infants out there who work so selflessly to enrich their parents' lives.
Q: But isn't this a Mother's Day puzzle?
A: I guess you could see it that way, since the Times changed the title from "Labor Day Concert" to "Mother's Day Concert." And that's fine. But to me, I believe the children are our future, as Whitney Houston taught us.
Q: You dedicated the puzzle to your mom though.
A: Yes, I did. Hi Mom! If you're reading this, you still owe me fifty bucks.
Q: Let's shift gears. How did you pick the songs for this puzzle?
A: That was tough. There are so many great songs about childbirth. "Stand and Deliver" by Adam Ant. "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot. And more recently, "Despacito," which I understand means "obstetrician" in Spanish.
Q: Any regrets about doing a crossword that makes light of the hardships of pregnancy and labor?
A: There is one song/clue I kind of regret not including: "Greeting to expectant Mom who just bought some new maternity clothes? [Peggy Lee 1966]"
Q: I'm afraid to ask. . . . OK, what's the answer?
A: "Hey Big Spender."
Q: I think it's best you left that one out.
Thanks to Carol and Theresa, my favorite moms!
| I | M | A | C | S | E | L | L | S | N | O | V | A | ||
| B | O | C | A | P | L | E | A | T | A | R | I | D | ||
| M | A | N | D | A | R | I | N | O | R | A | N | G | E | S |
| T | E | R | R | I | A | M | A | S | S | |||||
| E | G | G | W | H | I | T | E | S | ||||||
| M | E | H | U | S | H | E | R | I | N | B | O | P | ||
| E | R | A | S | E | I | L | K | D | E | E | R | E | ||
| D | I | S | K | S | L | E | I | S | M | E | A | R | ||
| A | C | H | Y | D | E | N | N | Y | O | T | T | O | ||
| L | A | B | V | I | S | A | G | E | S | G | E | T | ||
| R | E | A | D | S | P | A | R | |||||||
| S | P | O | R | C | L | E | P | L | A | C | E | B | O | |
| H | E | W | N | A | D | O | R | E | H | E | I | R | ||
| U | R | N | S | P | I | L | O | T | O | N | E | S | ||
| T | E | S | T | S | T | E | M | S | O | S | L | O |
My husband does not have a robust appetite due to cancer. He does love a small bowl of fruit salad every day. MANDARIN ORANGES are the #1 ingredients and inspired this puzzle.
I feel this grid design works nicely for a 15/9/10/10 theme set, as long as you don't mind not having fill longer than 9.
| S | O | F | A | I | B | E | A | M | S | G | P | S | ||
| T | W | I | X | M | U | S | C | A | T | L | E | E | ||
| I | N | R | E | F | R | A | N | K | O | C | E | A | N | |
| N | E | E | B | I | N | E | E | R | I | E | S | T | ||
| G | R | E | W | I | N | T | O | F | A | V | ||||
| S | O | R | E | P | L | U | G | F | E | Y | ||||
| E | P | C | O | T | K | E | E | N | E | I | P | O | ||
| C | L | A | S | H | I | N | N | S | P | R | I | G | ||
| H | O | P | C | A | N | T | O | P | E | S | C | I | ||
| O | W | E | O | L | G | A | H | A | R | T | ||||
| S | N | L | B | L | A | C | K | S | E | A | ||||
| S | H | O | U | T | E | D | A | L | E | H | U | N | ||
| P | O | W | E | R | G | R | I | D | S | D | I | R | T | |
| A | P | E | O | R | A | C | L | E | U | F | O | S | ||
| Y | I | N | L | O | W | K | E | Y | E | T | S | Y |
Hey, gang! It's a week of second shots for me: a few days ago, it was the vaccine, and today it's the New York Times Crossword!
Many find inspiration in its more storied forms: a shooting star, a beautiful painting, a profound quote. Not me. All my best themes seem to stem from memes, TV, or, in this case, stray texts from friends who'd rather keep things LOW KEY for the weekend.
A big thank-you to the editorial team for pushing me on this revision process. It offered me a chance to swap out MOTOR CONTROL for the far sexier BIRTH CONTROL and also enabled me to pay homage to the great FRANK OCEAN (waiting on that album drop!). I'm excited that they let me use a slightly more modern clue for HALSEY, too.
One of the best aspects of the crossword community is how eagerly experienced constructors help newer ones. I want to continue this tradition by keeping an open e-door policy on social media. If you're an aspiring constructor looking for advice or a second opinion, please DM me on Twitter (@KPat95) or Instagram (@KPatterson95).
Thanks for solving — I hope you enjoy :)
| N | A | Y | S | A | G | G | E | D | T | L | C | |||
| O | N | E | A | D | R | A | T | E | T | I | E | R | ||
| V | I | T | A | L | O | R | G | A | N | O | K | A | Y | |
| A | M | I | G | A | A | L | A | K | I | D | ||||
| S | E | S | A | M | E | S | I | D | L | E | ||||
| V | I | D | A | L | I | A | O | N | I | O | N | |||
| A | M | I | E | G | T | O | A | S | T | R | O | |||
| V | A | N | V | E | E | R | O | F | F | Z | A | P | ||
| I | H | O | P | E | E | L | O | M | A | L | E | |||
| V | I | N | O | R | D | I | N | A | I | R | E | |||
| M | A | R | M | F | L | A | T | C | A | P | ||||
| E | P | A | O | P | S | M | O | O | L | A | ||||
| G | R | A | D | V | A | C | U | U | M | O | V | E | N | |
| O | G | R | E | E | L | A | P | S | E | E | R | S | ||
| V | O | 5 | S | E | N | S | O | R | S | T | Y |
My mundane morning shower routine sparked the inspiration for this puzzle when the brand name of a certain shampoo caught my eye and lit up my constructor brain. Although initialisms are a basic theme type, I was pleased to see that these particular letters had never been used before and the revealer was a "fun, different take on this type of theme genre" according to Joel Fagliano.
Five theme entries and a revealer — plus being careful not to include any extraneous "VO" combinations anywhere in the puzzle — constrained my grid of any bonus long down entries, but I was happy to be able to debut some new entries to the XWord Info database.
Hope you enjoy the solve!
| G | L | A | N | D | I | G | O | R | A | W | E | D | |||
| Q | U | I | N | O | A | S | O | N | Y | R | A | G | U | ||
| U | P | T | O | W | N | S | A | L | E | M | S | L | O | T | |
| I | T | E | M | G | A | U | D | Y | C | O | L | B | Y | ||
| P | A | R | A | S | I | T | E | C | A | N | S | O | |||
| L | A | T | H | E | L | A | N | P | O | L | |||||
| A | T | H | O | S | E | F | L | A | T | P | A | S | A | ||
| T | H | E | U | S | U | A | L | S | U | S | P | E | C | T | S |
| I | R | A | S | P | R | E | E | N | I | D | E | S | T | ||
| T | E | D | R | O | T | E | D | A | L | I | |||||
| E | G | G | O | N | T | R | U | E | G | R | I | T | |||
| P | S | A | L | M | M | E | R | Y | L | R | A | M | A | ||
| H | O | M | E | A | L | O | N | E | A | R | E | N | A | S | |
| A | M | E | N | A | N | D | Y | I | C | E | A | G | E | ||
| T | E | S | S | B | O | S | S | T | A | S | T | E |
The JASA Crossword Class just ended its spring semester this past week, but we will have a summer semester starting soon. The start date is still to be determined, but information and registration will be posted when it is available.
As always, we're really proud of the work our students put into this puzzle!
| A | C | C | R | A | R | A | T | E | A | S | P | S | ||
| T | R | A | I | L | M | I | X | E | S | U | T | A | H | |
| M | I | D | D | L | E | S | E | A | T | C | E | R | A | |
| S | P | Y | S | L | E | D | S | N | O | R | T | H | ||
| R | Y | E | S | E | M | O | N | E | Y | |||||
| A | B | A | S | E | G | R | O | T | T | O | ||||
| A | C | E | I | T | S | E | A | T | U | R | T | L | E | |
| P | A | E | S | E | T | E | D | P | A | Y | E | R | ||
| T | I | R | E | M | A | R | K | S | T | I | P | I | N | |
| G | A | S | H | E | S | B | O | R | E | S | ||||
| H | A | G | G | I | S | L | O | S | E | |||||
| M | A | R | L | O | S | T | A | I | N | C | H | O | ||
| A | L | D | A | F | O | R | T | S | U | M | T | E | R | |
| I | V | E | S | B | R | U | T | E | F | O | R | C | E | |
| D | E | N | S | I | S | E | E | F | O | L | K | S |
With this puzzle, I wanted to try out a new themeless layout that allowed for some 13-letter entries. I started with this grid layout and one seed: ALLSYSTEMSGO. I quickly discovered that I was onto something when I dropped NOTUPTOSNUFF into 21 Down, and then it was pretty smooth sailing from there. I hope you all enjoy the end result! Thanks as always to the editing team for sprucing up some of my clues and also for keeping my favorite one of mine ([Leftovers from a doughnut, say] for TIREMARKS).
PS: if you're a POC or are from an underrepresented group in crosswords and you have an interest in dipping your toes into construction, I would love to do what I can to help you get started! Whether it's discussing theme ideas, trading tips on grid construction, or collaborating on a puzzle, I would love to chat! You can DM me on Twitter @yacobyo or hit me up on Facebook.
| D | R | A | G | S | H | O | W | B | R | I | T | O | N | |
| R | I | C | E | W | I | N | E | O | H | N | O | N | O | |
| O | P | E | N | A | T | A | B | W | E | T | M | O | P | |
| S | I | L | E | N | T | B | S | E | T | H | A | N | E | |
| S | T | A | T | H | E | I | R | T | E | T | E | |||
| V | E | T | T | E | S | H | O | H | O | |||||
| W | H | A | L | E | D | E | A | T | L | O | C | A | L | |
| K | E | N | O | L | I | N | D | R | Y | L | A | N | D | |
| R | A | G | N | A | R | O | K | E | M | E | N | D | S | |
| P | L | O | D | T | O | U | P | E | E | |||||
| T | R | O | D | B | R | U | T | J | I | B | S | |||
| S | H | A | N | I | A | D | E | M | O | U | N | I | T | |
| A | S | C | E | N | D | I | R | E | A | L | I | Z | E | |
| S | P | A | Y | E | D | S | T | A | T | E | G | E | M | |
| H | A | T | E | R | S | H | O | T | S | P | O | T | S |
I made this puzzle at the same time I was making the finals puzzle for Boswords 2020. I wanted to minimize 3s since I thought that would be fun for a finals puzzle in a tournament — fewer toeholds, etc. Hence, this one has no 3s! It's a fun layout to work with, and I'm glad about how clean it came out, though I would like it better with a bit more pizzazz.
For the first time since 2015, this leaves me with no puzzles on file — work has taken over my life lately, but that "zero" number has me motivated to try and get back into constructing. Until next time!
| B | R | A | H | E | G | G | O | M | E | R | L | E | A | P | S | O | ||||
| L | A | M | E | T | R | O | N | P | A | E | A | N | C | R | U | M | P | |||
| U | N | E | D | U | C | A | T | E | D | G | U | E | S | S | T | A | P | E | R | |
| R | U | N | G | S | N | O | L | O | V | E | E | S | I | E | G | E | ||||
| P | S | E | U | D | O | B | E | T | T | E | R | M | O | U | R | A | P | |||
| T | R | A | L | A | R | B | I | B | I | P | O | D | ||||||||
| H | A | I | P | L | A | N | T | A | P | P | A | L | L | G | U | M | P | |||
| A | T | O | M | S | T | H | E | T | O | N | E | B | O | P | I | T | ||||
| M | I | T | E | G | O | O | D | S | O | R | T | S | E | D | E | R | S | |||
| S | T | A | R | G | E | N | U | I | N | T | I | C | L | E | R | E | D | |||
| S | P | A | N | S | A | O | B | U | R | N | ||||||||||
| I | S | M | S | I | L | I | C | R | U | B | B | E | R | I | B | A | R | |||
| M | A | I | L | I | N | C | A | F | E | N | O | I | R | N | O | N | O | |||
| A | U | R | A | S | C | O | I | F | D | O | E | T | E | X | T | S | ||||
| C | L | A | P | P | A | N | N | E | D | P | R | I | V | A | Y | E | S | |||
| C | O | O | E | D | C | U | E | S | T | E | R | N | ||||||||
| S | E | L | B | R | I | C | A | T | I | N | G | S | T | I | F | F | S | |||
| A | L | E | X | A | L | O | T | Z | O | N | A | F | I | L | T | H | ||||
| A | L | B | U | M | L | A | S | T | D | I | T | C | H | E | F | F | O | R | T | |
| B | E | R | R | A | A | T | E | A | M | M | A | I | M | T | R | A | M | |||
| N | A | Y | S | C | I | A | O | S | E | A | T | S | Y | A | W | L |
| F | I | G | B | R | I | N | E | L | A | L | A | |||
| I | P | A | F | R | I | D | A | Y | I | Z | O | D | ||
| J | A | Z | Z | E | R | C | I | S | E | Q | U | I | D | |
| I | D | E | A | S | H | O | C | T | U | R | N | S | ||
| N | S | A | T | A | H | O | E | |||||||
| G | A | V | E | D | A | I | R | Y | Q | U | E | E | N | |
| O | D | E | V | I | C | B | U | R | G | L | E | |||
| P | I | R | A | T | E | D | P | R | E | S | A | L | E | |
| R | E | D | D | E | R | T | A | I | D | I | D | |||
| O | U | I | J | A | B | O | A | R | D | U | S | E | S | |
| A | T | S | I | X | S | O | S | |||||||
| S | P | E | C | S | L | C | D | A | D | A | P | T | ||
| W | O | V | E | S | I | O | U | X | F | A | L | L | S | |
| A | K | I | N | G | E | D | D | E | S | L | I | P | ||
| M | E | L | T | T | R | E | S | S | Y | E | S |
For some themes, there seem to be quite a limited set of themers leading to a rather constrained grid. Not this one! While still feeling really solid, I loved the wide realm of themer options and really really loved the ones I landed on. It was so fun to fill the grid with a little more flexibility than most of my themes. Being able to include ample tasty letters like J and Z was super fun as well! Basically, I'm just stoked on the puzzle over all. I hope you are too!
| M | R | I | P | A | N | T | Y | C | L | A | P | S | ||
| A | E | R | A | L | G | A | E | E | A | G | L | E | ||
| R | O | E | S | P | O | I | L | E | D | B | R | A | T | |
| S | P | L | A | S | H | P | R | E | S | E | N | T | ||
| H | E | A | D | B | A | N | G | E | R | E | N | E | ||
| A | N | N | O | Y | C | O | D | M | E | T | E | R | ||
| L | S | D | S | A | L | C | O | L | O | R | S | |||
| L | I | S | A | F | R | A | N | K | ||||||
| E | M | A | I | L | S | T | E | N | I | S | M | |||
| M | A | C | E | S | P | E | A | S | A | N | T | A | ||
| B | C | C | T | H | E | R | A | P | Y | D | O | G | ||
| A | R | R | I | V | A | L | M | I | N | I | O | N | ||
| S | A | U | S | A | G | E | L | I | N | K | A | G | E | |
| S | M | E | L | T | G | E | N | I | E | N | E | T | ||
| Y | E | S | E | S | M | I | N | O | S | A | S | S |
I am humbled and thrilled to have a second puzzle in The Times. I started working on this theme during a lecture on constitutional history in February 2020. As we discussed the Warren Court, I jotted down "FELIX FRANKFURTER (16)" in my notebook margins. I was later pleasantly surprised to see how many nicknames there are for sausage.
The justice did not make it into my final submission, as I chose 34-Across as the central themer instead. I know this entry may be unfamiliar to some, but I am delighted to debut a truly "colorful" answer from my childhood. I hope the puzzle brightens your day!
| B | I | G | B | A | N | G | T | R | E | A | D | S | ||
| S | A | F | E | A | R | E | A | H | E | A | L | U | P | |
| P | A | S | T | O | N | E | S | B | E | D | T | I | M | E |
| A | S | O | F | D | P | L | U | S | B | B | L | |||
| A | G | E | T | S | E | L | I | O | T | |||||
| W | H | E | R | E | A | M | I | A | A | A | ||||
| O | U | T | A | V | E | D | A | M | O | B | S | |||
| N | E | T | P | R | E | S | E | N | T | V | A | L | U | E |
| T | S | A | R | H | A | N | O | I | D | N | A | |||
| E | T | C | S | E | S | A | M | E | S | T | ||||
| P | E | N | Z | I | A | S | S | L | O | |||||
| A | L | A | T | R | A | W | L | P | C | B | S | |||
| B | A | C | K | T | O | T | H | E | F | U | T | U | R | E |
| S | T | R | O | L | L | E | A | R | L | O | B | E | S | |
| T | E | E | P | E | E | W | H | I | M | P | E | R |
Dr. Arno Penzias, who once headed Bell Labs in the 1990's, turned 88 on April 26th. This puzzle is a tribute to Arno and a fond reminiscence of my Bell Labs days, where I received this gift from Arno.
The three 15-letter theme entries were waiting patiently in one of my empty grids for over a decade. The pandemic allowed me to dust off the cobwebs, reload Crossword Compiler, install the XWord Info Word List and revisit construction after a 10-year hiatus. Arno's t-shirt quote and the synergy with the PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE phrases led to this time-capsule offering. The cruciverbal grid-gods were clearly smiling as BIGBANG + PENZIAS and TSELIOT + WHIMPER slid cleanly into the grid (with a little assist from the corner cheater squares)!
P.S. A short farewell message to Nancy Salomon, my mentor, who passed away this month. Without her "tough love", I would not have derived this tremendous joy that comes from constructing crosswords. Thank you Nancy for pulling me into this pursuit and introducing me to my crossword tribe!
| E | N | I | D | M | O | I | S | T | A | W | L | S | ||
| L | I | F | E | A | L | I | C | E | L | I | O | N | ||
| M | A | Y | A | I | D | I | O | T | E | L | L | A | ||
| E | P | O | N | Y | M | S | R | E | G | U | L | A | R | |
| R | E | U | S | E | A | S | S | S | T | I | F | F | ||
| S | E | C | S | I | X | F | E | E | T | A | A | S | ||
| P | A | P | C | O | P | S | E | S | M | L | ||||
| A | L | T | A | U | N | D | E | R | C | H | A | T | ||
| D | E | C | R | Y | F | I | O | N | A | |||||
| A | S | H | T | R | E | E | S | P | Y | S | W | A | P | |
| M | I | S | T | Y | E | L | I | S | A | |||||
| B | R | Y | N | S | E | A | M | Y | O | R | Z | O | ||
| S | E | D | G | E | S | C | I | O | R | D | E | R | ||
| A | A | R | G | H | L | E | S | A | L | T | A | R | ||
| R | I | I | S | E | S | O | R | I | A | L |
This one came from the realization that SIX FEET UNDER would make a good revealer for a letters-below-the-grid puzzle, but my original idea was to have FOOT underneath the grid six times, until I couldn't come up with enough symmetrical theme answers. Once I eventually hit upon the solution of using FT instead, it was still some time later before I came up with the 17-letter IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT to match the grid-spanning WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT.
Even then, I wasn't sure I would be able to get a grid to come together, given all the theme material in such close proximity at the bottom of the puzzle, so I was pleased to find a nice arrangement for stacking some of the themers. It was important to me to have the bottom part of the puzzle connected to the top by more than just the grid-spanners, particularly as the grid spanners appear incomplete until you understand the trick. Fortunately, running non-thematic 10s alongside them ended up working out, without having to make too many concessions. In the bottom portion of the grid, I thought SPY SWAP and ASH TREE were nice answers crossing three themers apiece, and I'm partial to the quirky lower-right corner where OAR and ORR meet ORZO and ORDER (I hope ORE and OREO don't feel too left out).
As far as clues go, a few of mine I'm glad to see make the final version are those for 27-Across, 32-Across, 44-Across, 61-Across, and 9-Down. I thought the new clues for 43-Across and 1-Down were nice additions from the editorial team. I'm also a bit impressed that they were able to come up with a colloquial equivalent for IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT without repeating any of its words, which I found monstrously difficult to clue for that reason, resignedly going with the not-at-all ungainly [Colloquial phrase which suggests that there is an inference to be drawn from the preceding statement]. Yeah, I know, it rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?
Until next time, happy solving!
| M | A | S | T | D | E | F | I | B | M | O | B | |||
| A | R | C | H | A | P | I | T | Y | P | A | N | E | ||
| D | A | R | E | M | A | R | A | T | H | O | N | E | R | |
| C | L | A | M | U | P | L | E | G | O | S | E | T | ||
| A | S | P | E | N | W | A | I | S | T | H | I | G | H | |
| P | E | P | S | I | C | O | L | A | B | O | G | S | ||
| S | A | Y | S | T | R | O | N | G | M | A | N | |||
| N | O | R | S | E | M | Y | T | H | ||||||
| I | A | M | L | E | G | E | N | D | R | E | I | |||
| S | I | N | G | T | E | A | T | O | W | E | L | S | ||
| U | N | A | G | I | R | O | L | L | O | H | G | E | E | |
| A | S | C | E | T | I | C | E | M | E | R | G | E | ||
| B | E | A | R | D | C | O | M | B | S | L | O | I | N | |
| L | A | S | S | I | M | O | U | T | P | U | Z | O | ||
| E | M | T | N | E | W | D | O | S | P | E | W |
The MAN.
The MYTH.
The LEGEND.
| A | S | F | O | R | R | E | P | O | A | L | S | O | ||
| S | E | I | K | O | A | X | O | N | R | E | E | D | ||
| I | L | L | G | O | M | A | K | E | A | M | O | V | E | |
| A | L | L | O | T | I | C | E | P | L | A | N | E | T | |
| M | O | B | S | T | R | A | I | N | E | R | S | |||
| L | I | E | G | E | P | R | A | I | S | E | ||||
| E | V | I | L | E | M | P | I | R | E | |||||
| G | E | N | E | R | A | T | I | O | N | A | L | P | H | A |
| H | E | I | S | T | F | I | L | M | S | |||||
| A | P | O | L | A | R | I | M | A | M | S | ||||
| I | M | O | N | A | R | O | L | L | L | A | T | |||
| B | O | O | B | O | I | S | I | E | I | P | O | D | S | |
| E | N | P | A | S | S | A | N | T | S | E | N | O | R | |
| A | R | E | S | H | U | G | O | T | R | I | N | I | ||
| M | A | D | E | I | R | O | N | S | U | C | K | S |
SID: This puzzle owes its existence to a grid design technique I associate most strongly with Robyn Weintraub. Robyn often places her double and triple stacks just inward from the edge of the grid, using small "fingers" of black squares to partition the outermost rows and columns into three segments each instead of two. Short entries at the border of a grid are usually easier to wrangle than long ones, so this strategy offers more flexibility to the constructor, and consequently, more interesting fill to the solver. Here, Matthew and I extended the technique by creating domino-shaped "fingers" all around the perimeter and placing triple stacks in each quadrant. We hope the result makes for a pleasant and smooth solving experience.
It was fun to get GENERATION ALPHA into this grid. I enjoy including entries that represent the youngest segment of our solving audience, like Matthew's students. It's also exciting to debut 3-Down, a not-so-subtle homage to the brilliant crossword podcast Fill Me In, hosted by puzzle luminaries Brian Cimmet and Ryan Hecht. (Sorry it took so long, guys! I'd been trying to get you in at 3-Across all this time.)
Lastly: I recently started editing the new crossword feature for The Juggernaut, a digital publication focused on stories relevant to the worldwide South Asian diaspora. Our goal is to publish puzzles with themes, entries, and clues that highlight South Asian culture, emphasizing cultural elements rarely seen in other crossword venues. If you liked seeing MAHARISHI in this Times crossword and want to see more brown representation, the Juggernaut puzzles are for you! And if you're interested in constructing a puzzle for The Juggernaut, please get in touch — we're committed to publishing newer constructors, especially folks with South Asian cultural backgrounds.
MATTHEW: Thrilled to share this funky puzzle with y'all! I haven't worked much with lower-word-count themeless grids (almost all the themeless constructors whose work I admire most live in 70-to-72-Wordville, and I spend a lot of time emulating them), but working on this inventive 64-worder with Sid was a treat. I'd like to think we've each improved our cluing chops since dropping this one in the mail last year, so I'm extra thankful to the Times team for coming through with some great edits, including 23-Across, 48-Across, and 40-Down. Happy solving!
| D | I | S | C | S | C | A | T | S | A | S | K | S | V | A | M | P | S | |||
| I | C | A | R | E | A | C | H | Y | U | N | I | T | I | N | O | I | L | |||
| M | E | R | Y | L | I | R | A | N | T | I | M | E | G | A | T | O | R | |||
| D | I | F | F | E | R | E | N | C | E | O | F | O | P | I | N | I | O | N | S | |
| O | S | L | O | H | A | L | F | N | O | T | E | S | ||||||||
| C | L | A | R | O | S | O | W | E | T | O | O | U | S | T | I | M | P | |||
| H | I | G | H | W | A | Y | M | E | D | I | A | N | T | A | T | T | L | E | R | |
| A | L | I | E | N | O | A | T | T | N | U | T | E | V | I | T | E | ||||
| T | A | L | L | C | U | R | I | O | B | O | O | T | M | A | R | S | ||||
| S | C | E | P | T | E | R | N | E | R | D | A | V | O | C | A | D | O | S | ||
| S | T | O | C | K | D | I | V | I | D | E | N | D | ||||||||
| H | O | T | S | A | U | C | E | S | O | D | A | R | A | T | T | R | A | P | ||
| O | P | A | L | S | K | O | R | S | M | E | L | L | R | E | L | O | ||||
| O | R | N | O | T | S | N | O | W | S | E | A | H | A | D | I | T | ||||
| D | A | G | W | O | O | D | A | N | I | M | A | L | P | R | O | D | U | C | T | |
| S | H | O | A | L | I | A | E | N | E | M | Y | A | M | E | X | E | S | |||
| S | P | A | R | E | R | O | O | M | A | F | E | W | ||||||||
| M | O | D | E | O | F | T | R | A | N | S | P | O | R | T | A | T | I | O | N | |
| A | T | A | R | I | I | A | G | O | H | A | I | L | E | N | D | O | W | |||
| G | O | T | I | N | E | T | O | N | I | K | E | A | A | D | E | L | E | |||
| S | H | A | F | T | R | E | N | E | S | S | N | S | M | S | D | O | S |
I am delighted to be making my crossword debut. I began doing crossword puzzles only a few years ago. When I decided to set a goal of constructing one myself and hopefully seeing it in the New York Times, I had no idea how challenging and humbling it would be.
Although the theme and theme answers have stayed the same since its inception, the rest of the grid underwent multiple iterations before it became the puzzle you see today. I am so grateful to the NYT puzzle editors for their patience, guidance, and encouragement throughout the process. I am pleased with the final product, and along with a theme that appeals to the math geek in me, there are more than a few entries that just made me smile. I hope you enjoy it.
| T | I | T | L | E | M | E | O | W | I | S | L | A | ||
| I | S | A | A | C | G | A | M | E | P | E | A | S | ||
| M | O | U | T | H | O | R | G | A | N | A | R | T | S | |
| C | O | N | S | E | N | T | V | I | E | |||||
| G | U | S | H | E | S | R | I | B | J | O | I | N | T | |
| A | N | T | S | P | F | Y | U | C | C | A | S | |||
| S | O | A | K | E | A | S | T | D | E | E | S | |||
| K | N | U | C | K | L | E | H | E | A | D | ||||
| P | E | A | T | E | Y | R | E | N | O | S | H | |||
| P | L | A | C | I | D | M | L | B | G | N | U | |||
| B | A | C | K | L | A | S | H | P | E | R | S | O | N | |
| A | T | L | B | L | A | M | E | M | E | |||||
| N | E | A | T | B | O | D | Y | D | O | U | B | L | E | |
| D | A | I | S | E | M | I | T | A | S | T | E | R | ||
| J | U | M | P | D | O | T | H | N | E | W | E | R |
| S | C | A | B | P | R | A | T | T | V | A | D | S | ||
| T | A | R | A | L | O | B | O | H | O | N | E | Y | ||
| E | N | G | R | E | V | E | N | B | E | T | T | E | R | |
| I | D | O | N | T | B | E | L | I | E | V | E | I | T | |
| G | O | N | O | W | R | O | D | |||||||
| N | O | F | R | I | G | G | I | N | W | A | Y | |||
| C | A | M | E | B | O | N | N | C | O | N | G | A | ||
| R | P | I | B | I | G | S | A | L | E | B | O | W | ||
| A | S | T | R | O | E | T | S | Y | J | A | G | S | ||
| G | E | T | O | U | T | T | A | H | E | R | E | |||
| N | N | E | A | S | H | E | S | |||||||
| T | H | A | T | S | C | R | A | Z | Y | T | A | L | K | |
| C | H | I | L | I | S | A | U | C | E | E | D | I | E | |
| H | O | R | D | E | S | I | N | K | R | A | Z | E | ||
| O | R | E | O | S | K | N | E | E | S | T | A | T |
KRISTIAN: Mike had the initial idea for this puzzle, sending me a grid with three of the four theme answers that made the final cut plus another one that we ended up replacing to make the theme a little tighter. I suggested that we use the same clue for each of the theme answers, but the editing team decided to mix it up. Once we were happy with the theme answers, I took a stab at filling the grid, then we took turns tweaking the puzzle until we got a result that we liked.
I like how snappy all the theme answers are, and I'm a fan of 59-Across as an answer but not as a condiment, because I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy food. Enjoy the puzzle!
MIKE: I hope that my 2nd NYT puzzle (another collaboration with old pal KH) doesn't give people whiplash, i.e. this here straight-forward-themed Tuesday after last month's themeless Saturday! As even editors said on acceptance, while this theme is more straight-forward than what they might normally publish, they liked the theme entries and some of the longer fill like CHILI SAUCE and EVEN BETTER and THE VOICE (and even the shorter BARNONE).
As usual, I sent Kristian an idea with theme entries and some fill, and he worked his mojo to fill the grid. I think K tweaked THATSCRAZYTALK from something else that I'd had in there, but I'm most proud of NO FRIGGIN' WAY — that's just a fun entry, theme or no theme.
I did insist to Kristian that our clue for ASTRO should avoid certain (ahem) cheaters, and so… The Jetsons! [sound effect of the Jetsons' little flying pods lol].
I hope you enjoyed our puzzle, and I hope to see y'all real soon on my own!
| A | F | R | O | P | A | L | A | U | O | G | R | E | ||
| L | A | I | T | H | B | O | M | B | C | R | A | G | ||
| B | U | S | I | N | E | S | S | M | E | E | T | I | N | G |
| U | N | I | S | O | N | T | O | R | M | E | N | T | S | |
| M | A | N | R | O | D | N | E | T | ||||||
| G | Y | M | M | E | M | B | E | R | S | H | I | P | ||
| B | A | S | E | S | F | E | R | R | Y | A | D | O | ||
| R | I | T | A | S | O | L | I | D | O | I | L | S | ||
| A | D | A | P | A | R | E | D | I | N | L | E | T | ||
| G | E | R | M | A | N | M | E | A | S | L | E | S | ||
| E | S | T | L | E | I | A | V | A | ||||||
| I | G | L | E | S | I | A | S | C | A | S | T | E | R | |
| S | E | E | M | E | A | F | T | E | R | C | L | A | S | S |
| I | N | G | A | G | A | U | G | E | E | X | P | O | ||
| S | T | O | W | O | R | N | O | T | D | I | A | N |
I don't have much exciting to say about this puzzle, so I'll instead take this opportunity to shamelessly promote my site, where I've been publishing some semi-experimental crosswords recently. I also publish a roundup of my favorite indie puzzles from every month, so it's a good way to get acquainted with the plethora of great indie constructors out there.
| S | P | A | S | A | G | O | C | R | E | S | S | |||
| T | A | M | P | T | A | C | T | H | O | N | K | S | ||
| U | R | B | A | N | M | Y | T | H | A | D | D | I | N | |
| P | A | L | M | E | A | R | M | R | E | S | T | |||
| O | D | E | W | O | R | D | O | F | M | O | U | T | H | |
| R | E | D | T | A | P | E | W | A | S | P | I | E | ||
| A | G | E | N | T | G | A | S | X | ||||||
| M | O | M | E | N | T | O | F | T | R | U | T | H | ||
| A | C | H | E | W | I | R | E | S | ||||||
| L | E | I | M | I | A | J | O | S | H | I | N | G | ||
| I | N | G | O | O | D | F | A | I | T | H | N | O | N | |
| T | E | N | U | O | U | S | O | M | A | H | A | |||
| C | I | T | E | S | S | Y | L | V | E | S | T | E | R | |
| A | R | I | A | S | S | E | G | A | R | I | L | L | ||
| L | E | T | M | E | T | A | T | P | E | P | S |
I'm pleased to have my next puzzle appear in the New York Times. I don't think it will ever cease to be a thrill. I submitted this puzzle in May 2020, when New York was locked down, and postal mail was delayed (this was my last submission by postal mail a couple of weeks before electronic submissions were accepted).
I'm writing this just after my husband and I return home from our long-awaited weekend visiting our now-vaccinated adult sons and their friends. What a year it's been. My original clues were made a bit easier for publication. Thanks to my dad for test solving the hard version (he told me it was hard). My favorite clue that didn't make it was for 48-Down: Like many backseat drivers' comments.
| B | E | E | R | B | A | R | B | A | T | H | E | D | ||
| A | N | G | E | L | P | I | E | A | R | E | O | L | A | |
| L | O | O | S | E | E | N | D | L | E | A | N | E | R | |
| E | S | S | I | E | D | I | G | S | L | O | N | E | ||
| G | D | P | T | E | A | S | E | R | A | D | ||||
| T | R | A | N | S | I | C | O | N | E | A | R | |||
| H | E | R | S | T | O | R | T | R | E | F | O | R | M | |
| A | F | T | A | C | M | I | L | A | N | L | I | E | ||
| D | I | C | K | C | H | E | N | E | Y | A | L | P | O | |
| R | A | E | S | C | R | O | L | L | S | A | W | |||
| W | E | I | R | D | H | U | H | N | A | B | ||||
| A | L | T | A | E | P | I | C | T | E | S | T | S | ||
| T | A | I | C | H | I | E | A | S | T | R | O | O | M | |
| E | T | C | H | E | S | F | R | E | E | T | I | M | E | |
| R | E | S | I | S | T | S | A | R | A | L | E | E |
| P | L | O | T | A | R | M | O | R | B | A | B | A | S | |
| R | I | D | E | S | H | A | R | E | A | L | L | I | E | |
| I | T | D | E | P | E | N | D | S | S | P | U | R | T | |
| D | E | E | M | A | B | E | T | S | H | E | L | F | ||
| E | R | R | S | P | U | R | Y | E | A | G | E | R | ||
| W | H | E | N | I | S | I | T | R | A | E | ||||
| F | E | A | R | N | I | P | P | E | K | E | ||||
| T | A | N | G | L | Y | S | P | A | R | E | S | |||
| W | I | L | T | M | E | A | E | C | O | N | ||||
| A | D | S | M | A | S | T | H | E | A | D | ||||
| K | E | E | N | O | N | L | O | K | I | P | S | I | ||
| A | P | H | I | D | G | A | R | I | S | E | C | T | ||
| N | O | O | N | E | A | N | D | Y | O | U | A | R | E | |
| D | O | P | E | S | S | T | E | A | D | I | C | A | M | |
| A | L | E | R | T | P | A | S | Y | S | T | E | M | S |
It's great to be back in the Times for my third puzzle, and somehow also my third Saturday puzzle! I promise I make easier puzzles sometimes.
This one's got a bit of an origin story. I'm always on the lookout for fresh entries to include in crosswords, whether it's phrases I hear in conversation or stuff I see online. One day at school, my friends and I were brainstorming random entries to search in XWord Info's database to try to find ones that had never appeared in the Times crossword before (this is surprisingly addictive, try at your own risk).
At one point, my buddy Mark suggested PLOT ARMOR — zero hits on XWord Info — and it was love at first sight. It's such a juicy little term, plus it's decently inferable if you've never seen it before. So I built this grid around it, and I'm pretty chuffed with how it turned out! I was especially happy to squeeze in 24-Down, even though the answer may or may not be missing a word at the end...
If you dug this puzzle and want more, I regularly post indie crosswords over on my site — and only some of them are Saturday-level!
| R | A | D | N | E | R | S | O | T | S | S | E | A | M | S | B | F | A | |||
| A | S | I | A | G | O | N | C | A | A | C | L | I | O | A | W | A | R | D | ||
| P | H | A | R | O | S | I | T | L | L | H | I | M | A | L | A | Y | A | S | ||
| C | O | L | E | A | D | V | O | C | A | T | E | D | B | E | T | A | S | |||
| D | R | I | P | S | E | E | M | D | O | M | E | S | S | C | R | I | M | |||
| S | E | N | T | S | L | O | G | P | E | S | O | S | H | E | E | D | ||||
| I | M | A | M | M | A | C | J | R | D | A | B | E | A | R | S | |||||
| H | O | T | C | O | C | O | A | R | H | O | D | A | V | I | D | |||||
| A | N | A | W | E | N | T | B | Y | E | B | Y | E | O | N | E | I | D | A | ||
| R | A | M | D | O | R | I | C | A | N | T | I | D | O | T | E | S | ||||
| A | R | E | T | U | T | I | N | K | E | R | I | R | S | A | B | C | ||||
| S | U | R | F | I | N | U | S | A | M | I | D | A | S | L | T | E | ||||
| S | N | A | I | L | S | I | N | B | A | D | S | H | A | P | E | I | O | N | ||
| D | E | T | E | R | R | T | E | A | M | E | X | C | A | R | D | |||||
| E | G | G | D | R | O | P | M | Y | E | R | S | O | A | T | H | |||||
| L | E | A | R | W | E | I | R | D | S | O | T | U | A | L | L | Y | ||||
| I | T | S | O | K | E | N | J | O | Y | J | E | S | U | L | I | E | U | |||
| F | L | U | E | S | D | O | N | O | T | O | P | E | N | K | O | N | G | |||
| B | R | I | N | G | I | T | I | N | S | H | U | E | C | U | A | N | D | O | ||
| T | E | N | D | E | R | A | G | E | H | I | R | E | U | N | R | E | E | L | ||
| W | E | E | L | E | G | O | S | I | N | N | S | T | I | T | L | E | D |
I've lost a lot of chess games in my day, so this theme is personal for me. And yet for all the chess I play, this puzzle wasn't inspired by one of my own games at all, but rather an episode of The Queen's Gambit where one of Beth Harmon's opponents lingers ever so slightly when knocking over their king in resignation. The theme flooded into my head immediately; the rest was history.
That's a lie, actually. The rest was not history. This theme set was a beast to assemble. I really wanted king T'CHALLA to work, but the only phrase I could find that hides him was CATCHALL ACCOUNT — like... an email account that all your other emails get forwarded to...? I also wanted SPORT UTILITY for TUT, but that wreaked absolute havoc on the fill.
Speaking of fill, well... listen. I don't like GARY, IN either. Or rather, I'm sure the city is wonderful. I just don't like any city + state abbr. in my grids. But if it lets me get away with WENTBYEBYE, HOTCOCOA, and OCTOMOM... get GARY IN there!
I had a couple clues I was sad to see go — "Priceless moments?" for SALES, "Dust that's meant to get in your eyes?" for CHALK ART, "Bounced playfully?" for WENT BYE BYE. The revealer was originally "Victory formation... that's often preempted by this puzzle's theme?" but I understand the need to make that one more on the nose, and overall I'm happy with editorial's revisions.
Lastly, while "Game Over" was my original title, I was holding out hope that they'd consider my ALT: "Topple The Patriarchy." Alas.
Hope you enjoyed the solve!
| F | A | N | C | Y | S | I | R | I | P | B | J | S | ||
| A | R | E | A | S | E | P | I | C | E | R | I | E | ||
| L | I | T | T | L | E | R | O | C | K | L | I | V | E | |
| L | A | S | S | R | E | D | O | R | O | G | E | N | ||
| G | A | I | N | T | U | S | H | |||||||
| B | L | A | C | K | A | N | D | W | H | I | T | E | S | |
| B | L | A | M | E | O | D | O | R | I | T | O | |||
| R | A | R | E | J | O | R | T | S | A | D | H | D | ||
| A | I | G | P | A | R | T | O | B | E | Y | S | |||
| D | R | E | S | S | R | E | H | E | A | R | S | A | L | |
| P | A | S | S | S | L | O | T | |||||||
| S | T | I | L | T | O | N | C | E | R | O | L | O | ||
| O | R | Z | O | C | O | C | O | C | H | A | N | E | L | |
| B | O | Z | O | C | Z | A | R | A | C | T | E | D | ||
| S | T | A | N | S | E | A | T | S | T | O | K | E |
Jeff's always talking about making your themes elegant — this is what he means, right?
I really love this puzzle and hope you all enjoyed it, whether you have an LBD in your closet or are more of a JORTS person who learned something new about fashion today. It's nice to present a theme on a topic that doesn't get a lot of play in crosswords, so I hope it feels fun and fresh, especially for those who don't always feel like you're in the crossword target audience.
I'm also very happy to debut BLACK AND WHITES, which are my absolute favorite cookies — so much so that my wife and I served them at our wedding instead of cake. My personal favorites are from Bea's Bakery in Tarzana, CA. If anyone who works there is reading this, please send me a few — it's surprisingly hard to find a good one here in DC!
