| T | A | L | L | I | E | S | U | P | G | A | T | O | S | ||
| O | C | E | A | N | L | I | N | E | R | A | L | A | M | O | |
| S | T | I | C | K | Y | R | I | C | E | B | A | K | E | D | |
| C | E | L | E | B | T | S | A | R | S | E | G | A | |||
| A | D | A | L | I | T | L | E | S | P | A | C | ||||
| H | O | R | A | C | E | P | O | S | A | D | A | ||||
| B | O | T | O | X | I | N | J | E | C | T | I | O | N | ||
| P | A | R | T | N | E | R | D | A | N | C | I | N | G | ||
| F | I | T | N | E | S | S | C | E | N | T | E | R | S | ||
| E | N | M | E | S | H | E | D | G | E | R | S | ||||
| L | O | O | T | O | T | O | D | S | S | I | T | ||||
| T | C | B | Y | T | U | M | S | T | E | A | M | O | |||
| S | H | I | E | D | B | R | O | G | R | A | M | M | E | R | |
| A | L | L | A | Y | A | I | R | P | O | R | T | B | A | R | |
| D | E | E | R | E | S | T | A | Y | S | S | A | N | E |
This was my first attempt at a 15x16 grid — I wanted to try an open middle design with stacked 14s, which I quickly found was much more difficult than the stacked 11s and 12s that I'd been more used to working with. BOTOX INJECTION was the seed entry and is the obvious highlight of the puzzle, along with its cutesy "head shot" clue that pairs with the clue for SOCCER STARS. BROGRAMMER is a term I'd seen out in the wild and found interesting, though I'm not entirely convinced it'll stand the test of time. Otherwise, the grid is pretty conservative compared to my typical puzzles, though not without some tricky clues.
| F | A | U | L | T | M | A | N | E | C | A | R | T | S | W | A | M | ||||
| L | U | N | A | S | A | L | O | N | E | A | R | I | A | H | E | R | A | |||
| O | D | D | S | A | N | D | E | N | D | S | B | E | A | N | E | R | I | E | S | |
| E | R | I | T | R | E | A | O | U | T | S | A | L | T | M | A | R | S | H | ||
| A | D | E | A | M | E | N | R | A | T | R | I | P | ||||||||
| D | S | T | T | O | O | B | I | G | T | O | I | G | N | O | R | E | ||||
| B | R | A | P | E | P | A | O | R | E | C | R | E | N | E | L | |||||
| F | A | D | E | I | N | S | T | U | F | T | E | D | E | L | E | N | A | |||
| F | R | A | N | K | S | I | N | A | T | R | A | I | D | S | D | E | T | |||
| A | M | I | E | E | L | I | E | S | T | A | R | A | W | E | ||||||
| A | D | D | I | N | S | U | L | T | T | O | I | N | J | U | R | Y | ||||
| A | N | N | R | O | T | S | S | I | L | L | P | O | S | T | ||||||
| B | O | D | N | E | T | P | A | R | A | L | L | E | L | B | A | R | S | |||
| O | M | E | G | A | B | R | E | W | E | R | E | D | I | B | L | E | S | |||
| M | A | V | E | N | S | A | N | T | S | A | W | N | E | K | E | |||||
| B | R | E | A | K | I | N | G | A | S | W | E | A | T | A | K | A | ||||
| R | E | N | E | A | N | T | L | E | R | Z | E | D | ||||||||
| P | L | A | C | E | N | A | M | E | I | D | O | P | D | J | A | M | E | S | ||
| H | A | B | A | N | E | R | O | S | L | O | N | G | O | V | E | R | D | U | E | |
| I | V | E | S | R | E | S | T | S | W | A | R | D | N | I | E | C | E | |||
| L | A | T | E | S | R | T | A | S | L | U | E | S | A | N | E | R |
After checking the databases, I was surprised to see no one had done this theme before. There are countless possibilities for brain teasers. Some other favorites I didn't use:
And my favorite, though it's too long, the classic:
Then there was the title I originally submitted:
Bleachers Maine
0_23456789
This translates to NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME, which I thought was appropriate.
| G | A | S | P | S | A | W | E | B | A | L | K | S | ||
| A | S | T | R | O | D | O | G | E | V | E | N | T | ||
| S | C | O | O | B | Y | D | O | O | R | E | C | U | R | |
| E | O | N | S | A | T | E | F | I | N | I | T | E | ||
| S | T | E | P | M | O | R | N | I | N | G | D | E | W | |
| T | E | A | S | I | N | G | E | |||||||
| A | C | O | R | N | S | I | N | E | R | S | V | P | ||
| M | O | O | N | O | C | A | N | D | O | T | A | R | ||
| P | O | L | O | M | A | N | Y | A | B | A | T | E | ||
| U | S | E | R | B | R | I | T | |||||||
| P | O | S | T | A | G | E | D | U | E | M | E | A | T | |
| A | M | E | L | I | A | I | N | N | O | R | Z | O | ||
| B | A | T | I | N | P | A | S | D | E | D | E | U | X | |
| S | H | U | N | T | O | N | E | C | A | P | R | I | ||
| T | A | P | E | S | P | A | R | O | L | S | E | N |
I'm a sucker for quirks of English, so a puzzle was clearly in the cards when I noticed there are several stand-alone, differently spelled "do" rhymes. I think it was only when starting the grid that I thought of PAS DE DEUX, which purists will complain isn't quite the same pronunciation. For me, close enough. I would have loved to use DERRING-DO, but it just didn't work.
Nothing much to say about clues. They're mostly what I submitted, or at least the gist of what I submitted. Changes seemed generally to make them a bit easier. The 65-Across clue for ONE was definitely Will's. And he must have nixed my attempt to include a Monday question-mark clue at 7-D, with [Person going to court?] for WOOER.
I hope you all DO enjoy the puzzle.
| A | N | K | L | E | P | A | P | A | A | A | H | S | ||
| B | R | I | A | N | A | P | O | P | U | T | A | H | ||
| S | A | M | P | L | E | S | A | L | E | R | A | V | I | |
| S | A | R | T | R | E | P | E | R | O | N | ||||
| S | E | C | R | E | T | S | E | R | V | I | C | E | ||
| A | B | I | D | E | N | E | O | |||||||
| B | O | X | S | I | M | P | L | E | S | I | M | O | N | |
| C | Z | A | R | C | A | P | E | R | R | A | R | E | ||
| S | O | M | E | D | A | Y | S | O | O | N | S | E | X | |
| D | O | H | I | L | O | S | T | |||||||
| S | U | D | D | E | N | L | Y | S | U | S | A | N | ||
| C | H | E | E | R | T | E | E | N | S | Y | ||||
| R | U | I | N | S | Y | L | V | I | A | S | Y | M | S | |
| U | R | G | E | E | R | L | E | N | O | E | L | S | ||
| B | A | N | D | A | S | S | N | S | N | A | K | E |
| S | H | U | L | I | S | I | S | D | Y | A | D | S | ||
| M | E | G | A | S | C | O | T | W | A | H | O | O | ||
| I | R | A | N | O | M | A | N | I | C | E | L | A | N | D |
| T | O | N | I | C | B | I | L | L | E | T | ||||
| H | I | D | C | U | B | A | L | E | B | A | N | O | N | |
| S | C | A | P | U | L | A | S | O | S | E | R | A | ||
| A | L | E | R | T | K | O | C | H | ||||||
| U | N | I | T | E | D | N | A | T | I | O | N | S | ||
| S | C | A | R | G | L | E | N | N | ||||||
| A | L | I | L | E | S | A | R | C | A | D | E | S | ||
| M | A | L | I | E | S | T | O | N | I | A | O | N | T | |
| S | T | M | A | R | K | P | O | S | S | E | ||||
| P | E | R | U | S | E | R | B | I | A | S | P | A | I | N |
| E | L | I | Z | A | V | E | N | T | E | G | G | O | ||
| C | L | O | U | T | E | D | G | E | L | E | N | S |
| C | T | L | E | C | A | P | R | A | F | A | T | C | ||
| A | R | E | S | A | I | R | E | D | A | L | E | C | ||
| L | I | N | T | L | O | A | T | H | G | A | S | H | ||
| O | A | T | W | I | L | T | D | A | I | N | T | Y | ||
| G | L | O | R | I | F | I | E | S | R | N | A | |||
| A | D | O | I | B | M | R | B | I | ||||||
| L | I | T | T | E | R | B | O | X | E | S | K | I | T | |
| A | L | A | S | N | A | F | T | A | A | I | D | E | ||
| I | L | K | K | I | T | T | Y | C | O | R | N | E | R | |
| D | Y | E | N | A | E | H | O | E | ||||||
| N | E | E | D | O | N | T | P | A | N | I | C | |||
| S | H | O | V | E | L | L | O | O | S | E | M | O | ||
| N | O | V | A | E | N | D | O | W | C | H | A | P | ||
| O | P | E | N | N | O | I | S | E | A | R | M | Y | ||
| C | E | R | S | S | T | E | E | L | M | U | S | C |
Hello Crossworld! I'm Sophia, a junior at Carleton College studying computer science and math, and I'm beyond hyped to have my first puzzle in the NYT. I'm a Seattle native, musical theater geek, competitive bridge player, and the worst cook you've ever met. I've been solving crosswords with my family for as long as I can remember, and constructing on and off since high school.
This puzzle came together fairly quickly compared to others I've written — I finished a draft of the grid just a few hours after thinking of the theme. Originally, KITTYCORNER was the only revealer — It was truly a stroke of luck that I noticed in the midst of filling the grid that LITTERBOXES both fit symmetrically and described the same gimmick.
This was my first NYT submission ever, so I was truly stunned when I got the yes from the editing team (well, after a quick reconfiguration of the NE corner!) Since I write crosswords nearly exclusively for my non-puzzle obsessed classmates, my cluing tends to skew easy and modern, so thanks to the team for upping the difficulty level. Looking back on this puzzle, I do wish there was some more snazzy fill: DON'T PANIC is my favorite entry in the grid.
Enjoy the puzzle, and I hope to be here again soon!
| D | O | Y | O | U | H | E | A | R | M | E | D | R | S | |
| O | V | E | R | Z | E | A | L | O | U | S | E | E | K | |
| P | A | T | R | O | N | S | A | I | N | T | C | G | I | |
| E | L | I | A | R | E | S | C | E | R | E | A | L | ||
| I | D | Y | L | S | H | E | E | P | L | E | ||||
| C | E | N | S | U | S | W | I | I | M | O | T | E | S | |
| A | B | O | M | B | B | A | T | E | S | I | M | S | ||
| M | O | T | A | I | R | K | I | S | S | C | E | O | ||
| E | L | A | S | L | I | E | N | U | C | O | N | N | ||
| R | A | C | E | B | I | B | S | G | R | U | N | T | S | |
| A | S | H | C | A | K | E | D | Y | E | D | ||||
| S | C | A | T | H | E | L | I | M | B | H | A | J | ||
| H | A | N | A | I | D | E | S | D | E | C | A | M | P | |
| O | R | C | I | K | E | A | C | A | T | A | L | O | G | |
| P | E | E | S | E | E | D | O | Y | S | T | E | R | S |
MUNCHIES over GYM DAY might be the most autobiographical thing I've ever put into a crossword.
AIR KISS to my fellow "Orange Is the New Black" fans who appreciate seeing UZO ADUBA today. And to everyone else: wake up, SHEEPLE!
| C | O | M | I | C | S | A | N | S | C | R | A | G | ||
| O | P | E | N | L | Y | G | A | Y | L | U | L | L | ||
| P | E | A | C | E | S | I | G | N | S | A | B | L | E | |
| E | R | N | O | O | N | A | C | H | A | P | L | I | N | |
| S | A | G | A | P | G | T | H | I | R | T | E | E | N | |
| I | L | L | S | N | G | O | ||||||||
| A | T | R | I | A | T | A | P | D | A | N | C | E | S | |
| H | A | L | S | K | I | P | A | S | S | H | O | E | ||
| H | U | S | H | P | U | P | P | Y | S | A | I | N | T | |
| I | A | N | D | O | L | L | ||||||||
| S | U | R | P | R | I | S | E | M | E | A | L | T | O | |
| T | H | A | N | K | S | O | B | A | M | A | P | H | U | |
| R | U | N | E | S | D | E | T | O | X | D | I | E | T | |
| I | R | I | S | A | R | T | D | E | A | L | E | R | ||
| P | A | N | S | S | T | E | E | L | B | L | U | E |
TRENTON: To be honest, I was surprised at how long it took David to get in touch with me after my debut puzzle came out online (about fifteen minutes). So, naturally, when David mentioned the idea of collaborating on a themeless, I was quick to jump on board. I started with everyone's favorite font, COMIC SANS, and once I had the stack of 9s built, I noticed the enticing possibility of fitting OONA CHAPLIN and PG THIRTEEN underneath! I made a potential grid skeleton and sent off what I had to David, and unsurprisingly, what he sent back was full of fun stuff — I especially like the lower-right, with lively fill like THANKS OBAMA and DETOX DIET.
After a little more back-and-forth and some polishing, our grid was complete. Next came the clues — which were an absolute blast to write together! (In all seriousness, we might have had a bit too much fun.) It was a nice bonus that most of them ended up making the cut. Some of my favorites of our clues are those for 14-Across, 60-Across, 61-Across, 3-Down, 33-Down, and 49-Down.
I was initially a bit nervous to co-construct with a seasoned pro, but I needn't have worried. Collaborating with David was a fantastic experience — I'd say it was all CHILL and no PILL. On that groan-worthy note, over to you, David!
DAVID: Always a pleasure to work with Trenton! When he sent me an upper left/center packed with five long seed entries plus ultra-smooth short fill, I knew finding a similarly smooth and lively lower right would be a challenge. Once I had THANKS OBAMA and DETOX DIET in place, though, I knew I was in business. As Trenton mentioned, the highlight of the process was the cluing. There was definitely as much laughter as there was clue-writing!
| N | A | P | D | R | C | L | A | W | A | V | O | I | D | A | H | A | B | |||
| A | L | E | W | O | E | I | S | I | T | E | R | R | E | S | O | M | E | |||
| S | A | N | A | B | O | M | I | N | A | B | L | E | S | N | O | W | M | A | N | |
| A | M | I | T | Y | P | A | N | N | E | D | T | W | E | E | Z | E | ||||
| L | O | C | H | N | E | S | S | M | O | N | S | T | E | R | E | L | M | O | ||
| I | R | E | N | E | W | E | T | C | O | O | L | A | N | A | ||||||
| F | I | L | E | D | A | W | N | T | H | E | K | R | A | K | E | N | ||||
| I | S | L | E | S | U | R | A | L | R | A | T | R | E | S | E | C | T | |||
| E | L | I | S | H | A | A | R | E | T | O | O | A | A | S | R | H | O | |||
| F | A | N | T | A | S | T | I | C | B | E | A | S | T | S | O | D | S | O | N | |
| A | L | L | O | T | A | N | D | U | T | I | L | E | ||||||||
| S | A | C | R | E | W | H | E | R | E | T | O | F | I | N | D | T | H | E | M | |
| U | N | H | O | Z | S | G | O | T | A | N | F | N | E | R | O | L | I | |||
| S | T | A | C | I | E | M | O | N | R | E | E | L | R | I | V | A | L | |||
| H | I | M | A | L | A | Y | A | S | S | T | U | D | M | E | N | D | ||||
| I | C | E | R | L | E | T | E | M | O | N | E | V | E | R | ||||||
| A | L | L | A | T | H | E | N | O | R | W | E | G | I | A | N | S | E | A | ||
| O | N | E | O | F | F | T | R | O | W | E | L | S | T | O | R | M | ||||
| S | C | O | T | T | I | S | H | H | I | G | H | L | A | N | D | S | V | I | P | |
| L | E | N | T | S | T | O | I | C | A | S | T | A | N | A | E | K | E | |||
| O | R | S | O | H | U | T | C | H | T | H | E | W | A | R | R | A | D |
The original version of this idea used the theme pairs GREAT EAGLES / MIDDLE EARTH, BASILISK / HOGWARTS, MOCK TURTLE / WONDERLAND, DIRE WOLF / WESTEROS, and EWOKS / ENDOR. The editorial team felt cryptids would be better-known than fantasy genre BEASTS.
Duplicating fill answers is one of those puzz convention no-no's that doesn't bother me at all. ECHO became ECHT in this grid to accommodate AMAZON ECHO, but for me, two ECHO's in a 21x21 grid would be way happier than including ECHT. Particularly if it's a meta-dupe like ECHO (echo!).
| L | A | C | E | S | F | R | Y | P | A | B | S | T | ||
| S | L | A | T | E | L | I | E | A | L | O | H | A | ||
| D | I | R | T | C | H | E | A | P | S | A | F | E | S | |
| P | U | T | O | U | T | A | T | M | F | E | E | |||
| T | A | O | G | R | A | S | S | R | O | O | T | S | ||
| E | L | O | P | E | S | I | C | Y | ||||||
| A | P | L | U | S | M | A | G | I | S | W | A | T | ||
| T | H | E | P | L | O | T | T | H | I | C | K | E | N | S |
| S | A | R | A | T | I | E | S | P | I | N | T | A | ||
| P | H | D | B | U | S | T | E | R | ||||||
| B | U | S | H | L | E | A | G | U | E | R | D | S | ||
| O | N | T | O | U | R | L | A | R | E | D | O | |||
| O | D | I | U | M | J | U | N | G | L | E | G | Y | M | |
| S | E | N | S | E | I | E | D | K | A | U | A | I | ||
| T | R | E | E | S | F | Y | I | S | L | E | P | T |
57-Across seems like a good enough segue as any, so here's an old anti-joke about jungles.
It's high noon in the Amazon jungle, and the heat is inescapable — a sweltering, thick soup of hot air all around. The monkeys lay still on their perches, fanning themselves with palm fronds, lazily napping because it's all they have the effort to do. The jaguars search the high tree branches for a cool breeze, looking for any reprieve from the crushing humidity and suffocating heat. The alligators sit submerged in the river with just their nostrils above the surface, unwilling to let any other parts of their bodies touch the hot air. The capybaras roam the jungle floor, hunting out shady glens but finding no escape from the humidity. The jungle is, for once, quiet — the chirps, the roars, and the howls have all been silenced by the overpowering heat.
On the shore of the river, one hippo turns to another and says, "You know, I just can't get it through my head that it's Thursday."
| P | O | O | F | P | O | P | B | Y | B | A | S | |||
| J | O | N | I | A | T | R | I | A | P | I | P | E | ||
| S | H | E | L | L | S | H | O | C | K | A | R | E | A | |
| E | A | S | E | D | M | I | D | S | T | |||||
| P | R | O | C | T | O | R | P | E | E | L | O | U | T | |
| C | A | R | L | I | N | H | U | R | T | N | I | L | ||
| S | T | E | E | N | S | A | R | I | N | A | T | E | ||
| G | R | O | U | N | D | S | C | R | E | W | ||||
| A | M | O | K | F | A | T | E | A | G | I | L | E | ||
| P | A | N | T | O | G | O | A | Z | A | R | I | A | ||
| P | I | T | B | O | S | S | S | L | O | W | E | S | T | |
| E | N | R | O | N | A | U | D | R | A | |||||
| A | M | A | L | C | O | M | P | O | S | T | B | I | N | |
| R | A | I | D | A | D | I | E | U | T | I | V | O | ||
| S | N | L | P | E | E | R | S | S | T | E | W |
Looking at the various ways to develop a theme, this seems to be a popular one — that is, the starting words of specific across entries are all tied together with a revealer entry. We deliberately chose phrases where that starting word had a different meaning than that hinted to by the revealer, to try for that nice A-HA! moment. We like that the grid came out pretty clean and had some fun bonus fill.
Hope you enjoy our homage to the compost bin, it's out there doing great things for the environment!
| C | A | B | O | H | E | M | I | A | N | D | O | R | ||
| U | P | O | N | A | V | O | N | G | U | I | D | E | ||
| F | O | R | A | B | I | B | I | E | N | R | O | N | ||
| F | R | E | D | D | I | E | C | O | N | C | E | R | T | |
| S | T | R | A | I | T | L | E | R | O | I | ||||
| R | O | S | S | I | I | R | O | N | O | N | ||||
| T | A | T | E | R | T | V | M | O | M | A | W | E | ||
| A | J | A | Q | U | E | E | N | Z | I | T | ||||
| L | A | X | S | U | D | A | N | C | R | I | E | S | ||
| C | R | I | M | E | A | I | S | S | U | E | ||||
| E | A | S | E | D | T | E | A | S | E | T | ||||
| B | E | N | E | F | I | T | M | E | R | C | U | R | Y | |
| E | N | O | K | I | Y | S | E | R | T | R | A | P | ||
| A | R | I | E | S | M | U | T | E | E | L | S | E | ||
| M | Y | R | R | H | A | P | S | O | D | Y | E | D |
I don't want to say I'm a big Queen fan but the ringtone on my cell phone is "Radio Ga Ga." When I saw the Queen biopic recently, I thought the time was ripe for remembering their iconic Live Aid performance but not with a straightforward puzzle. The gimmick here was to split BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY into parts of other answers. First I looked at splitting RHAPSODY into the answers PERHAPS and ODYSSEY separated by a black square. However, splitting up BOHEMIAN didn't work as easily so I decided that a symmetrical split at the top and bottom of the grid would be more elegant.
The story goes that Elton John followed Queen at Live Aid and only half-jokingly, chewed them out for stealing the show. You can see the full 20-minute set anytime on YouTube.
| S | A | U | T | E | P | A | N | M | A | T | C | H | A | |
| A | B | S | O | L | U | T | E | O | N | A | R | U | N | |
| H | O | M | E | B | R | E | W | D | O | T | I | M | E | |
| A | D | A | A | R | M | Y | M | E | N | M | A | C | ||
| R | E | P | S | S | P | O | O | L | B | E | N | D | ||
| A | S | S | A | M | O | R | B | F | O | L | I | O | ||
| D | O | S | K | J | J | W | A | T | T | |||||
| M | A | L | C | O | L | M | G | O | O | D | B | Y | E | |
| C | L | E | A | R | Y | S | B | R | O | |||||
| G | L | A | S | S | V | E | T | D | I | D | I | T | ||
| R | I | D | E | N | A | C | R | E | N | A | D | A | ||
| E | N | O | B | O | T | T | O | M | S | G | E | N | ||
| G | O | F | L | A | T | I | M | B | A | T | M | A | N | |
| O | N | F | I | R | E | O | P | E | N | L | A | T | E | |
| R | E | S | T | E | D | N | E | R | D | C | R | E | D |
Hello again, Crossworld! I hope that the gimmick in this puzzle was the X-factor in your solving experience …
I'm a senior at Tufts University, studying Computer Science and Math. I wrote this puzzle in my spare time while interning for the NYT Puzzles team this summer as a software developer; a huge thank-you to everyone there for a wonderful experience.
This puzzle was originally scheduled for a Saturday. However, I'm pleased to make my Thursday debut! Will and the team did a great job with the cluing, but I'm happy to see a couple of my favorites make the cut (I'm particularly fond of 18-Across). Given the low density of the theme, I tried to keep the fill as clean as possible. Other than ENO, I'm pleased with the result. I'm interested to see how the Thursday crowd will react; this puzzle might play more like a themeless than your typical Thursday trickery.
| S | L | O | G | A | N | B | A | R | N | U | M | |||
| H | A | I | R | B | O | W | A | V | I | A | T | E | ||
| A | T | L | A | N | T | A | N | M | A | S | S | E | S | |
| Y | E | S | Y | E | S | T | E | A | R | S | ||||
| C | I | A | G | O | N | D | O | L | A | L | O | Y | ||
| A | N | I | T | A | E | F | F | O | R | T | S | |||
| S | P | R | I | T | S | L | A | B | E | T | A | S | ||
| T | U | P | P | E | R | W | A | R | E | P | A | R | T | Y |
| S | T | O | P | E | O | N | S | A | S | I | A | N | ||
| R | I | C | A | R | D | O | R | E | P | R | O | |||
| S | O | T | A | L | L | E | G | R | O | S | I | D | ||
| E | X | C | O | N | D | R | O | I | D | S | ||||
| C | L | O | W | N | S | S | O | C | I | A | L | I | Q | |
| T | I | D | I | E | D | D | E | S | S | E | R | T | ||
| S | P | E | E | D | S | S | T | E | A | K | S |
37-Across and 20-Down were the seed entries here. This puzzle is a good example of my evolving tastes in a freestyle crossword. These days I'm putting less emphasis on using flashy debut entries in the grid, and putting more emphasis on producing a smooth (if less flashy) grid that allows for challenging wordplay in the cluing instead. I hope solvers enjoy!
| H | A | M | M | C | H | U | P | A | C | A | B | R | A | |
| E | C | R | U | H | E | S | I | T | A | T | I | O | N | |
| R | U | M | S | U | N | D | E | R | S | T | O | O | D | |
| T | R | O | T | T | R | A | D | E | T | A | L | K | S | |
| Z | A | M | B | E | Z | I | P | S | I | |||||
| E | S | P | S | I | T | N | S | P | I | N | ||||
| R | E | N | T | A | C | O | P | G | O | O | S | E | ||
| D | E | M | I | H | I | N | E | S | C | L | A | W | ||
| O | N | I | C | E | G | A | R | L | I | C | K | Y | ||
| H | O | T | E | L | B | A | R | E | N | E | ||||
| G | R | R | C | D | D | R | I | V | E | |||||
| S | U | P | P | R | E | S | S | E | D | T | R | I | X | |
| I | L | L | B | E | T | H | E | R | E | E | A | R | P | |
| B | E | E | R | C | O | O | L | E | R | A | Q | U | A | |
| S | E | A | S | O | N | P | A | S | S | M | I | S | T |
Just gonna retweet my and Doug's constructor notes from last month, adding that The Inkubator can now be found here, and that the house clues I most enjoyed in this one are 24-Across, 40-Across, 25-Down, and 26-Down. Happy holidays!
| F | I | V | E | A | M | I | M | A | M | L | O | M | S | E | M | I | S | |||
| I | M | E | A | S | Y | T | O | D | O | A | H | A | T | I | A | R | A | |||
| S | P | A | R | T | A | S | U | D | S | R | B | I | A | G | L | E | T | |||
| C | A | L | L | I | N | G | I | N | T | S | T | I | O | N | G | H | A | N | A | |
| A | C | E | S | T | O | N | T | O | M | A | Y | A | N | T | W | I | N | |||
| L | T | R | B | O | O | I | Q | U | I | T | C | Y | B | H | I | C | S | |||
| B | U | N | D | L | E | U | P | L | T | G | E | N | ||||||||
| P | I | U | S | I | I | I | E | C | H | O | E | S | R | O | A | D | S | |||
| L | O | N | G | A | D | O | U | S | I | N | G | R | E | T | A | I | L | |||
| I | P | A | S | S | E | N | C | E | C | E | O | A | T | E | M | P | O | |||
| B | C | C | W | H | A | T | I | A | B | A | F | T | I | P | A | |||||
| R | O | O | M | E | R | A | V | E | I | L | L | S | A | L | L | I | N | |||
| A | R | M | I | E | S | M | I | S | S | M | O | T | S | A | N | N | E | |||
| S | N | A | K | T | G | E | L | C | A | P | C | R | A | B | L | E | G | |||
| E | I | D | E | R | B | O | O | K | O | F | R | A | ||||||||
| I | M | S | P | E | N | T | F | R | E | U | D | P | E | R | D | I | M | |||
| N | O | T | I | A | T | S | E | A | N | O | D | O | Z | L | O | C | I | |||
| C | O | R | A | L | A | T | T | H | E | D | R | O | P | O | F | A | H | A | T | |
| A | M | A | Z | E | K | O | I | S | L | O | W | N | A | T | A | N | T | |||
| P | O | N | Z | I | E | M | S | T | O | U | R | E | M | E | R | G | E | |||
| S | O | D | A | S | N | A | H | E | T | S | Y | S | E | R | M | O | N |
Today's puzzle is hereby dedicated to my housemate, Nick. The revealer was all his idea; I just happened to flesh out the exact wordplay and build the whole thing myself instead of seeing through on a collaborative effort. Sorry, Nick!
Note to aspiring puzzle makers: Be wary of interlocking theme answers. They. Will. RUIN. You. Really, though, crossing ADD TO QUEUE with CALLING IN (T)STION adds so much more of a constraint to the rest of the grid. Then there's crossing SAFE ZONES with the symmetrically placed revealer, and having to connect BOOK O(F) RA at the F. Don't forget that CY(B)HICS / BERETTA still needs to find its way into the grid somewhere ... and now we're up to three theme answers being accounted for.
TL;DR: I played a giant game of Tetris in order to fit all the thematic pieces into one 21x21 puzzle, while still holding myself to my usual high fill standards. Thus, this took tons of reworking, but the time and effort to produce a particularly enjoyable grid versus one that just fit the bill felt worth it. As I outlined in my latest article on crosswords, keeping the solver in mind is what matters most.
Now ... grab yourself a print copy of The Times, and enjoy this year's Puzzle Mania!
| C | A | L | S | C | O | R | E | S | A | B | I | T | ||
| A | L | A | I | S | R | A | E | L | T | R | O | Y | ||
| B | A | T | S | P | A | R | R | O | W | H | A | W | K | |
| A | M | I | E | A | L | E | A | L | G | A | E | |||
| L | O | N | D | O | N | B | R | I | D | G | E | |||
| L | I | U | M | U | S | T | E | R | S | |||||
| S | C | O | T | C | H | Z | A | C | E | X | I | T | ||
| T | O | V | H | I | J | A | C | K | S | T | S | A | ||
| E | K | E | S | J | U | G | S | U | R | R | E | Y | ||
| P | E | R | U | S | A | L | M | I | A | |||||
| R | U | B | Y | S | L | I | P | P | E | R | S | |||
| A | S | H | E | N | P | A | N | E | X | E | C | |||
| B | L | A | C | K | F | R | I | D | A | Y | T | H | E | |
| L | A | V | A | R | E | C | E | N | T | R | A | N | ||
| E | V | E | N | O | P | E | N | E | D | A | B | E |
ACME: This fun idea was all Brian's! I just talked him into making the theme phrases horizontal rather than vertical. He was going vertical to emphasize the idea of "High" jacks, whereas I thought horizontal would be easier to spot the theme (especially as it would probably be a Monday)... We put HIJACKS across the center, so we could emphasize that the "JACKS" were "Hijacked" from the answers. I love that the word HIJACKS has HIJ..K all in a row. Subtle extra layer of wordplay/letter fun!
Three of his four original JACKS made it intact (LONDON, RUBY, and BLACK), I just helped shore up a fourth for consistency, as Brian's initial idea of JACK FROST was more a thing, not a person.
Very pleased with his initial grid that had the LATIN LOVER and EXTRA EXTRA, as I am a sucker for both Italian men and extra Xs. This all came together very quickly and easily, considering we've never met. I had a lot of fun with Brian and look forward to another collaboration soon!
BRIAN: I needed some help fleshing out an idea, and who better to turn to for an early week puzzle than Andrea? Working with her was a blast - once she ironed out the theme the grid, came together nicely (at least we think so)!
I was very happy to work LATIN LOVER and EXTRA EXTRA in as bonus downs. SURE CAN is a personal fave, and with some scrabbly letters also sprinkled throughout I'm hoping there's something for all to love. Filling the grid is my favorite part of construction, and overall I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. The big north and south areas were toughest to fill — but escaping with just a couple dabs of glue isn't too shabby.
Most of the clues are hers too — they've just got a fun, creative spirit to them that really adds to the puzzle. Hope all enjoy! We've got a few other ideas simmering so keep an eye out for that in the future.
| C | T | R | L | A | C | T | I | N | L | A | T | S | ||
| O | R | E | O | T | O | A | D | Y | A | L | E | E | ||
| D | U | S | T | J | A | C | K | E | T | G | O | I | N | |
| E | T | T | U | K | E | A | F | U | N | G | O | |||
| U | S | A | T | R | A | I | L | B | L | A | Z | E | R | |
| P | E | R | S | A | T | A | A | R | O | N | S | |||
| S | L | E | D | R | O | E | D | I | D | |||||
| F | A | S | H | I | O | N | P | O | L | I | C | E | ||
| T | U | T | D | A | M | A | R | M | S | |||||
| T | R | A | U | M | A | Y | E | S | E | E | O | |||
| H | O | L | D | I | N | G | T | A | N | K | A | R | T | |
| E | D | G | E | D | R | U | B | E | A | T | S | |||
| N | E | O | N | F | O | L | L | O | W | S | U | I | T | |
| B | U | R | T | B | U | S | E | Y | I | R | O | N | ||
| A | P | E | S | I | P | A | S | S | S | E | N | T |
If you identify as LGBT and/or POC and/or non-male, and you're looking to get into crossword constructing, I'd be thrilled to offer whatever mentorship and wisdom I can to help you get your puzzles published. Contact me on Instagram: @rosstrudeau
Jeff is the master of giving quick lessons to aspiring constructors, so I'll use this note to try to do the same. Here's a breakdown of what I think makes this theme set "tight" and "snappy."
Revealer: FASHION POLICE
Is it a lively phrase? I think so. Thanks, mom!
Can it be reinterpreted or re-parsed to make new meaning? Yes. And I love revealers that reverse this convention, i.e., they take a non-literal colloquialism and turn it more literal.
Is this new meaning unexpected and/or humorous? I think so. I'm imagining the chief chastising her sergeants for not wearing the right clothes on their beat. (My original clue suggested FASHION POLICE were people who determine the theme answers, rather than the wearers.)
Theme Answers: DUST JACKET, TRAILBLAZER, HOLDING TANK, FOLLOW SUIT
Are they lively phrases? I think so. FOLLOW SUIT is kind of meh. But there are uncommon letters (J, Z), which is a bonus.
Are they ALL two-word phrases? Check.
Can the second word in ALL phrases denote a piece of clothing? Check.
Do ALL phrases regularly denote something that is not a piece of clothing? Check.
Do ALL of the first words describe common POLICE activities? Police FOLLOW suspects, they HOLD perps, they DUST for prints, and they look for TRAILs of clues. (You'll notice that some of these activities are nouns and some are verbs. An even tighter theme set would use only one or the other.)
| S | L | U | G | S | P | L | I | T | S | N | B | A | ||
| O | E | N | O | A | L | E | T | A | P | A | R | C | ||
| T | V | P | G | S | E | A | A | I | R | T | A | N | ||
| S | Y | C | O | P | H | A | N | T | E | T | U | D | E | |
| B | E | A | D | S | H | A | I | R | ||||||
| S | A | G | A | N | P | O | D | C | A | S | T | |||
| C | Z | A | R | I | C | E | A | G | E | L | E | O | ||
| O | U | R | A | N | A | G | R | A | M | I | M | P | ||
| O | R | B | R | E | B | O | R | N | A | S | I | S | ||
| B | E | A | T | E | R | S | A | N | T | S | Y | |||
| G | O | A | T | S | P | O | R | K | ||||||
| T | H | E | O | C | T | H | E | H | I | L | T | O | N | |
| A | I | M | O | L | E | A | R | Y | E | R | G | O | ||
| F | D | A | D | E | A | R | I | E | T | E | R | R | ||
| T | E | N | E | A | S | E | L | S | S | E | E | M |
| A | M | O | S | C | A | R | T | S | S | P | A | S | ||
| R | E | N | O | A | N | O | U | K | T | A | C | K | ||
| T | E | A | S | S | C | E | N | I | C | A | R | E | A | |
| T | W | O | W | A | Y | S | A | B | O | U | T | I | T | |
| H | O | O | I | N | N | A | T | E | ||||||
| S | K | I | N | O | F | F | M | Y | B | A | C | K | ||
| A | R | M | A | L | E | E | I | H | E | A | R | |||
| N | O | M | Y | A | N | M | A | R | N | O | ||||
| S | C | A | L | Y | Y | S | E | R | R | O | O | |||
| M | A | N | I | S | A | N | I | S | L | A | N | D | ||
| A | G | O | R | A | S | S | A | C | ||||||
| L | A | U | G | H | I | N | G | M | A | T | T | E | R | |
| F | I | N | E | S | T | H | O | U | R | E | D | A | M | |
| A | L | T | S | O | R | A | T | E | N | A | S | A | ||
| S | Y | S | T | K | A | L | E | S | T | Y | P | O |
It took a while for this one to come together. I was trying to place NONOS in the lower right corner, but I couldn't get it to work. It wasn't until I played with putting it in the center that I came up with the idea of splitting it into NO and NO, thereby not only creating impermissibly short entries, but also impermissibly identical entries. Clear NONOS — perfect!
I first submitted the puzzle with FAULT INSURANCE [Second serve in tennis, essentially], but I hadn't realized that "no-fault" was hyphenated. That entry was deemed inconsistent with the others, and so LAUGHING MATTER was born.
Along the way, I enjoyed chuckling over such options as ROOM TO SWING A CAT [Dance hall with a jazz band?], CHILD LEFT BEHIND ["Home Alone" plot?], and MORE MR NICE GUY [Dr. Jekyll's thwarted goal?].
I also took particular delight in finally working TYPO into a puzzle. I had long ago come up with the clue that I loved [An aye for an eye, say?], and I have been trying to squeeze the word into a puzzle ever since. Of course I'm really glad that the editing team liked my clue — and kept it!
I hope the puzzle gave you an enjoyable break from the rest of life's tumult. Now on with the day!
| T | I | G | E | R | S | H | A | R | K | S | T | U | B | |
| I | N | O | C | U | L | A | T | I | O | N | O | N | E | |
| B | O | O | K | S | O | N | T | A | P | E | M | I | A | |
| E | N | D | S | O | D | A | S | E | N | S | O | R | ||
| R | E | S | H | I | P | S | G | R | E | E | N | S | ||
| M | A | Y | B | A | R | E | B | A | C | K | ||||
| L | I | E | O | N | B | O | R | E | D | V | A | I | ||
| I | M | A | S | L | A | I | T | Y | B | E | R | N | ||
| O | Y | S | W | A | R | N | S | W | O | R | D | S | ||
| N | O | T | C | H | I | N | G | P | I | X | ||||
| S | U | C | C | O | R | B | O | D | Y | B | A | G | ||
| G | R | O | S | S | H | U | L | L | O | E | R | E | ||
| A | M | A | W | H | E | R | E | S | W | A | L | D | O | |
| T | A | S | H | E | L | E | N | K | E | L | L | E | R | |
| E | N | T | O | H | M | Y | D | A | R | L | I | N | G |
I'd like to dedicate this one to Dorothy.
| O | N | T | A | P | E | S | A | S | S | E | D | |||
| M | A | R | T | I | N | I | E | V | O | N | N | E | ||
| A | D | U | L | T | I | N | G | R | E | B | A | T | E | |
| N | I | A | T | A | C | O | N | I | C | P | A | P | ||
| I | N | N | S | C | H | I | E | F | S | O | I | L | ||
| S | E | T | U | P | A | N | G | A | P | P | L | Y | ||
| B | E | E | R | G | O | G | G | L | E | S | ||||
| Z | O | R | O | A | S | T | R | I | A | N | ||||
| C | O | R | R | E | C | T | I | O | N | S | ||||
| I | R | O | N | Y | T | E | A | G | H | A | N | A | ||
| N | U | T | S | M | E | A | T | Y | Y | S | E | R | ||
| C | I | O | B | I | R | D | I | E | S | S | A | N | ||
| E | S | P | I | A | L | Y | O | S | E | M | I | T | E | |
| P | E | I | R | C | E | N | E | M | E | S | E | S | ||
| T | R | A | S | H | Y | S | I | T | I | N | S |
probably every constructor has been asked "the question": which do you write first, the grid or the clues? if you think about it, there can only be one right answer: it has to be the grid, because you need to clue every entry that appears in the finished grid, whereas if you write all the clues first, you can't possibly expect to grid every entry you've clued.
on the other hand, you can certainly start a themeless puzzle by coming up with one good clue for a marquee entry and using it to seed the grid. that's what i did in this puzzle, with the BEER GOGGLES clue. (i'm pleased to see it unchanged in the final puzzle!) my usual grid pattern in themelesses has stacks in the NW/SE corners, but i don't love doing that with 11-letter answers because it necessitates a whole bunch of 3s in the NE and SW. so this time i tried crossing staggered stacks in the middle of the grid, and i was pleased with the results. (tip of the cap to andrew ries, whose "stagger sessions" from last year inspired this grid layout.)
| C | H | A | P | H | E | M | G | R | A | V | E | L | M | E | C | C | A | |||
| H | O | L | A | A | P | O | E | U | R | E | K | A | I | N | L | O | W | |||
| E | W | E | S | W | I | T | H | O | N | E | A | C | C | O | R | D | I | O | N | |
| A | S | P | C | A | C | E | O | L | O | E | B | P | C | T | S | |||||
| P | A | P | A | L | B | U | L | L | I | O | N | D | I | D | O | K | ||||
| D | O | L | L | A | R | E | S | T | E | E | M | T | R | I | B | A | L | |||
| S | A | L | E | S | N | O | V | A | E | P | A | N | A | M | A | |||||
| C | R | O | W | N | S | I | S | T | H | A | T | A | F | A | C | T | I | O | N | |
| H | E | R | A | A | T | T | U | S | L | I | G | O | T | S | K | |||||
| U | N | A | G | I | R | I | F | F | E | D | D | E | N | S | ||||||
| G | O | L | E | M | U | N | I | O | N | I | Z | E | D | I | T | S | M | E | ||
| R | A | C | E | R | E | P | E | A | L | C | A | L | E | B | ||||||
| A | W | E | G | O | U | D | A | A | V | E | C | G | A | G | A | |||||
| M | I | S | S | I | M | P | O | S | S | I | B | L | E | L | E | E | W | A | Y | |
| I | N | S | A | N | E | S | T | E | N | O | S | M | A | R | M | |||||
| E | N | A | M | E | L | O | I | L | R | I | G | A | N | N | O | Y | S | |||
| Y | A | S | I | R | F | I | L | L | I | N | G | S | T | A | T | S | ||||
| A | T | T | N | E | A | S | T | U | N | A | T | H | R | E | W | |||||
| R | H | E | T | O | R | I | C | A | L | Q | U | E | S | T | S | E | R | L | E | |
| K | A | S | H | A | L | A | D | I | E | S | E | E | O | R | O | L | E | |||
| S | I | T | A | R | S | T | A | N | D | S | T | E | N | S | W | A | P |
If you liked this puzzle, you should visit my website, "David Alfred Bywaters's Crossword Cavalcade & Weekly Victorian Novel Recommender", where every week you'll find, free of charge, a moderately easy themed crossword (and a novel recommendation). If you didn't like this puzzle, you should still visit my website, where this week you can take out all your crossword frustrations by hate-solving "The Worst Crossword Puzzle Ever Made."
| B | E | S | O | A | L | I | C | E | W | H | E | W | ||
| L | A | I | N | V | E | N | O | M | H | O | L | E | ||
| A | S | T | A | I | V | A | N | A | E | R | I | E | ||
| H | Y | B | R | I | D | E | N | G | I | N | E | S | ||
| S | A | Y | O | K | R | E | A | L | I | Z | E | S | ||
| L | E | T | T | E | M | P | E | |||||||
| K | A | L | A | H | A | R | I | D | E | S | E | R | T | |
| F | E | N | A | L | I | K | E | A | A | A | ||||
| G | E | N | D | E | R | I | D | E | N | T | I | T | Y | |
| S | L | I | E | R | Y | U | M | |||||||
| S | E | S | S | I | O | N | S | N | A | V | A | L | ||
| H | I | T | C | H | I | N | G | A | R | I | D | E | ||
| A | J | A | R | B | Y | C | A | R | E | M | M | A | ||
| D | A | L | E | M | O | O | R | E | T | E | E | N | ||
| O | W | L | S | S | U | L | K | Y | S | O | N | S |
| D | A | I | S | I | S | P | O | S | E | T | M | C | ||
| E | D | N | A | B | E | A | R | O | N | Y | A | Y | ||
| J | U | D | Y | G | A | R | L | A | N | D | P | V | C | |
| A | L | A | U | R | B | A | N | P | E | E | L | |||
| T | H | I | N | S | U | G | A | R | C | A | N | E | ||
| A | H | O | K | E | R | O | S | |||||||
| R | O | U | E | S | S | A | M | M | Y | A | W | E | ||
| L | O | S | A | N | G | E | L | E | S | A | N | G | E | L |
| O | D | E | O | A | T | E | N | L | O | A | N | S | ||
| E | R | M | A | E | R | T | E | |||||||
| M | O | V | I | E | S | T | A | R | A | L | P | S | ||
| S | H | I | N | E | N | E | M | Y | L | O | X | |||
| N | Y | G | O | T | A | N | N | E | N | B | A | U | M | |
| B | O | O | Y | E | S | I | A | M | A | T | T | A | ||
| C | U | R | S | T | E | E | L | E | H | E | H | S |
I submitted this puzzle just a couple of months ago, with CALIFORNIA ANGEL as the middle entry. I grew up calling them the California Angels, but I didn't get the memo that they changed the team name in 1997 and again in 2005! Will wrote to me two weeks before Christmas and said they liked the puzzle for Christmas Day but asked, basically, "is a California Angel a thing?"
He wanted me to redo it with LOS ANGELES ANGEL as the middle entry — pretty lucky it has the same number of letters, but it would have been even nicer if it was 16 letters because of the eleven-letter reveal and the need to minimize three letter words. I resisted the temptation to ask "How about a BUD LIGHT?" (as a middle entry) — who puts just one light on their Tannenbaum?
ORANGEMEN creates an interesting cluing dilemma. Do you go with the Syracuse athletes, who changed their name a few years back also? Add in the fact that any entry with "man" or "men" is going to be scrutinized for political correctness. The more you think about it, the more "Supporters of England's King William III" starts to look reasonable, even for a Tuesday. I wish I could say I cleverly planned out the southeast to have several entries that could be clued on theme, but it was all just serendipity.
Happy holidays!
| C | I | N | C | H | U | G | H | S | I | G | M | A | ||
| A | L | O | H | A | F | R | Y | A | R | I | E | L | ||
| R | O | B | I | N | H | O | O | D | Y | A | N | N | I | |
| A | S | I | A | G | O | O | R | E | S | S | U | V | ||
| T | E | D | A | N | I | M | A | L | H | O | U | S | E | |
| P | R | O | S | F | I | B | ||||||||
| K | O | N | A | R | I | P | E | T | E | M | P | O | ||
| F | A | N | T | A | S | T | I | C | V | O | Y | A | G | E |
| C | R | E | E | D | I | T | O | O | E | G | A | D | ||
| N | U | B | L | I | E | D | ||||||||
| B | E | E | T | L | E | J | U | I | C | E | T | E | L | |
| A | T | M | T | E | E | M | E | L | T | O | R | O | ||
| N | A | O | M | I | S | P | I | D | E | R | M | A | N | |
| D | I | J | O | N | S | E | C | R | E | E | S | E | ||
| S | L | I | N | G | E | D | Y | S | K | I | E | R |
For this puzzle, I randomly noticed the film BEETLEJUICE has been used as a clever clue for GAS (I'll wait here while you read that again), and I thought of the name Vin Diesel as an appropriate pairing to this.
Now two of my weakest areas of knowledge are film and TV. This includes titles, actors, characters, awards, and anything remotely related to those. Most of us have these knowledge gaps. As a solver, I always strive to learn more stuff to fill in those gaps, instead of simply saying "Who cares about (x)?".
So what does a constructor do from here? Create a puzzle theme around film and actor wordplay, of course!
The secondary purpose of this puzzle (after your entertainment, of course) was to force myself out of my knowledge comfort zone.
I hope you enjoy it!
| C | A | R | O | M | E | T | N | A | J | A | W | |||
| A | L | O | N | G | A | L | O | O | F | E | P | A | ||
| T | O | T | E | M | S | K | Y | W | R | I | T | E | R | |
| A | H | A | B | S | E | S | S | I | O | N | S | |||
| W | A | T | C | H | T | V | T | T | O | P | ||||
| B | O | O | E | Y | E | D | E | R | M | A | ||||
| A | E | R | I | A | L | R | E | C | R | E | E | L | ||
| H | R | E | C | E | S | I | A | G | O | |||||
| E | M | O | T | I | C | Y | O | Y | O | M | A | |||
| S | L | O | P | C | T | A | I | N | E | R | ||||
| T | E | L | E | C | R | O | S | E | S | B | A | M | ||
| A | G | E | T | O | A | L | L | I | T | A | L | O | ||
| G | I | R | A | R | D | I | A | R | T | I | S | A | N | |
| G | E | A | R | O | I | L | N | A | I | L | S | I | T | |
| S | T | A | L | E | D | E | S | T | I | N | Y |
MARY LOU: This CONtrail puzzle with the visual element in the black boxes of the grid, five rebus squares and 66 squares devoted to theme answers seemed like a good idea initially. However, it became one of the more labor-intensive 15x grids I've constructed.
Looking back through my email correspondence with Jeff, Will, and Sam, I found six chains with numerous back and forths. Trying to fill the grid cleanly with all these constraints was a challenge. So, I really hope you enjoyed the solve!
Thanks to Jeff for accepting the challenge of working on this puzzle and to Will and Sam on their acceptance and patience in finessing it into its final form.
| L | E | A | D | E | R | O | F | T | H | E | P | A | C | K |
| A | L | F | A | R | O | M | E | O | S | P | I | D | E | R |
| G | O | I | N | G | B | A | C | K | T | O | C | A | L | I |
| C | L | E | O | R | U | Y | C | A | P | E | S | |||
| L | U | I | S | N | O | T | H | T | S | P | ||||
| I | T | S | P | L | E | D | G | E | C | O | T | Y | ||
| B | E | T | A | R | A | Y | A | N | G | O | R | A | ||
| L | I | R | E | M | A | U | L | |||||||
| G | O | D | E | E | P | E | C | S | T | A | S | Y | ||
| N | O | L | O | D | O | R | S | E | T | I | M | O | ||
| O | R | D | C | O | P | A | G | R | E | W | ||||
| M | I | S | D | O | P | U | P | D | U | M | A | |||
| A | L | A | I | N | R | E | N | E | L | E | S | A | G | E |
| A | L | L | O | V | E | R | C | R | E | A | T | I | O | N |
| M | A | T | R | Y | O | S | H | K | A | D | O | L | L | S |
This puzzle started as just a top stack that I'd fallen in love with! The seed was GOING BACK TO CALI, though ALFA ROMEO SPIDER was high on my list as well. I initially wasn't making much headway in the bottom, so I set the puzzle aside for a while. Eventually I picked it back up again and tried MATRYOSHKA DOLLS in the bottom slot . . . suddenly, everything started working! Constructing can be a lot like solving.
| T | H | U | M | B | L | A | S | E | T | S | P | |||
| G | A | R | B | A | G | E | B | A | G | I | T | E | M | |
| I | T | S | A | L | I | V | I | N | G | M | E | N | U | |
| F | H | A | C | R | I | E | D | R | E | A | C | T | ||
| G | O | D | S | P | L | U | M | M | E | T | ||||
| A | M | A | I | N | B | A | O | B | A | B | ||||
| C | U | R | V | Y | P | O | P | P | Y | C | O | C | K | |
| C | I | T | E | S | E | X | E | S | H | A | L | E | ||
| T | R | I | M | E | S | T | E | R | L | I | T | U | P | |
| F | E | A | R | E | D | I | N | S | E | T | ||||
| A | V | I | A | T | O | R | C | A | P | E | ||||
| L | O | C | H | S | S | L | U | R | P | M | O | M | ||
| E | L | I | A | D | O | U | B | L | E | W | I | D | E | |
| E | V | A | N | J | U | N | I | O | R | P | R | O | M | |
| O | L | D | S | T | A | T | S | M | O | R | E |
This puzzle originally featured DOUBLE DIPS instead of DOUBLE WIDE. I was sorry to lose DOUBLE DIPS, which I found considerably more entertaining, but it was accompanied by a corner of less than stellar fill: TSE, ESME, SIETE, DPI. I traded those in for DOUBLE WIDE and a far better corner overall.
Recently I've had a few grids sent back with the request to revisit a corner or two due to a few meh entries. I've been told that the bar continues to be raised on accepted puzzles, which is a great thing for solvers — and forces me to become a stronger constructor in the process. It's also made me get far more aggressive about removing junk from my word list. But with each Roman numeral or obscure government agency acronym that I delete, I can't help but wonder if that's the bit of unsightly glue that could someday hold together a 54 word masterpiece. Or, more realistically, yet still lamentably elusive... a perfectly nice Sunday puzzle.
Happy almost New Year. May you find solutions to all your puzzles in 2019 (crosswords or otherwise).
| H | O | T | T | U | B | T | I | M | B | R | E | B | I | S | S | A | U | |||
| U | N | W | I | S | E | R | O | A | R | I | N | G | A | C | C | E | P | T | ||
| B | L | I | M | E | Y | I | N | R | A | N | G | E | S | E | R | A | P | E | ||
| B | I | T | E | O | R | B | I | T | S | L | I | B | E | R | A | L | ||||
| U | N | C | S | N | E | E | Z | E | I | E | S | T | P | D | T | |||||
| B | E | H | I | N | D | S | C | E | N | E | S | E | W | A | N | E | A | T | ||
| S | E | P | I | A | S | W | E | L | L | O | F | F | M | A | R | K | ||||
| J | U | G | H | E | A | D | S | E | R | E | O | C | E | L | O | T | ||||
| A | T | I | T | L | E | A | P | T | E | A | G | E | R | E | R | |||||
| F | I | N | A | L | E | M | E | R | E | F | O | V | E | A | V | E | T | |||
| A | C | U | R | A | O | U | T | O | F | B | L | U | E | S | L | O | T | H | ||
| R | A | P | B | R | E | S | T | S | U | E | D | S | T | A | C | H | E | |||
| B | E | E | R | T | A | P | S | T | A | C | K | M | A | Y | S | |||||
| L | I | S | B | O | N | X | R | A | Y | H | I | R | A | B | L | E | ||||
| P | O | P | Q | U | E | S | T | I | O | N | N | E | A | R | E | R | ||||
| N | W | A | F | E | A | R | A | G | A | I | N | S | T | G | R | A | I | N | ||
| A | R | K | F | I | L | M | V | E | N | T | I | S | M | M | I | |||||
| E | N | A | M | E | L | S | M | E | L | E | E | S | H | Y | P | E | ||||
| A | C | R | O | S | S | L | A | R | I | S | S | A | S | E | A | T | A | C | ||
| S | H | O | W | E | R | S | T | U | N | T | E | D | U | N | L | A | C | E | ||
| K | I | D | N | A | P | S | E | D | A | N | S | E | V | E | N | T | S |
I started constructing this puzzle with the nine theme answers arranged horizontally, but I couldn't get a good skeleton grid. Finally, I tried crossing four pairs of themers, and it worked out without me having to change any of them! I don't know what the probability of that is, but it seems pretty low.
When all theme answers run horizontally, a handful of fun long non-themers can run vertically. But because my themers run both ways, I kept all the fill to a maximum of seven letters. So instead of some shiny mid-length answers, I tried to keep the short answers non-ugly. ISERE crosses SERE, which I don't love. Other than that, the ones that bother me the most are IEST, RIN, SNEE, and RRN--er, MMI! (RRN means Random Roman Numeral.)
Anyway, I hope you find the puzzle as funny as I do. BEHIND scenes, get it?!?!
| Q | A | N | D | A | A | T | T | I | C | H | O | N | ||
| T | H | I | R | D | L | A | I | D | A | S | I | D | E | |
| I | M | T | O | O | O | L | D | F | O | R | T | H | I | S |
| P | E | R | U | L | E | A | F | P | E | O | N | S | ||
| D | O | G | T | A | G | L | O | L | ||||||
| H | A | V | E | N | O | O | O | M | P | H | ||||
| M | A | T | T | E | I | M | P | L | O | R | E | D | ||
| E | R | R | R | A | N | G | E | E | M | O | ||||
| W | A | I | T | H | E | R | E | E | G | Y | P | T | ||
| B | O | O | O | F | F | S | T | A | G | E | ||||
| E | R | S | E | U | G | E | N | E | ||||||
| S | H | A | R | I | S | I | N | N | W | I | N | G | ||
| I | T | S | A | Z | O | O | O | U | T | T | H | E | R | E |
| S | T | E | G | O | S | A | U | R | H | I | T | O | N | |
| I | P | A | N | U | R | S | E | O | Z | O | N | E |
Funny story; when I was constructing this puzzle, I was somehow under the wrong impression regarding black square counts - I thought there was a hard limit of 38! So I agonized over the block placement in the upper right/lower left. No matter what I tried, there was always an entry or two that stunk. Final choice came down to SISI or OTHO, and I figured SISI is somewhat inferable for a newer solver (even though it kinda stinks). Happy that the fill mostly worked out, though nowadays I'd probably just drop another block in and save myself the trouble.
This theme and the timing right before people make New Year's resolutions, fit nicely so I can do some imploring of my own. Reversal of the OZONE hole depletion is a great example of international cooperation working, but there's still much more to be done about climate change. The people who will be hit hardest by it are the poor, the needy, the ones least able to do anything about it. But we can make small changes that do add up. Maybe you can eat local, eat less beef (I suggest some tasty free-RANGE chicken) and more veggies. Maybe you can walk/bike/bus to work instead of driving. Maybe you can vote for someone who doesn't think climate change is a Chinese hoax.