| E | B | A | Y | T | I | K | I | B | E | G | E | T | ||
| M | O | L | E | O | N | U | S | A | M | O | R | E | ||
| M | O | U | T | H | W | A | S | H | H | I | T | O | N | |
| A | T | M | E | A | C | H | G | O | D | S | ||||
| A | I | W | A | S | L | U | R | P | E | E | ||||
| H | A | N | D | S | A | N | I | T | I | Z | E | R | ||
| T | W | E | E | T | Y | K | Y | L | O | I | S | U | ||
| M | E | W | S | E | N | E | P | S | A | S | ||||
| L | D | S | R | E | D | O | C | R | E | O | L | E | ||
| W | I | N | D | O | W | C | L | E | A | N | E | R | ||
| O | P | O | S | S | U | M | H | U | N | T | ||||
| A | I | R | S | L | A | T | E | S | P | A | ||||
| S | E | T | U | P | S | A | L | T | W | A | T | E | R | |
| E | T | H | E | R | T | Y | K | E | H | A | R | M | ||
| S | A | Y | S | O | U | S | S | R | A | R | T | Y |
As a chemistry teacher, I can't believe it's taken me this long to make a chem-themed puzzle! And I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament tomorrow. Happy (dis)solving!
| C | O | N | S | U | L | I | N | S | P | I | R | I | T | |
| A | P | O | L | L | O | S | E | T | A | D | A | T | E | |
| R | E | C | A | N | T | F | A | R | C | I | C | A | L | |
| D | R | A | M | A | S | A | T | E | D | E | L | L | ||
| T | A | M | S | S | C | H | L | E | P | D | Y | S | ||
| A | G | E | S | P | R | A | Y | T | A | N | ||||
| B | O | R | D | E | R | O | N | S | P | I | C | E | D | |
| L | E | A | R | N | E | D | O | M | A | K | A | S | E | |
| E | R | S | A | T | Z | P | L | A | C | E | N | T | A | |
| W | I | Z | A | R | D | R | Y | N | A | T | ||||
| P | G | A | N | A | M | E | I | T | R | O | T | H | ||
| A | R | U | M | T | O | M | E | M | I | N | E | R | ||
| S | U | R | E | S | U | R | E | M | A | S | A | L | A | |
| T | E | A | S | E | R | A | D | O | N | E | D | A | Y | |
| A | L | L | H | E | A | L | S | S | I | N | E | W | S |
This is the second complete grid I built around the seed entry SPREZZATURA during development of this puzzle in late 2020. The first one had a lower word count (66), with intersecting triple stair-stacks through the middle of the grid. Although visually flashier, I wasn't totally satisfied with the quality of the fill options, so I opted to go back to the drawing board.
I later recalled Byron Walden's final puzzle from the Crosswords From Your Couch Tournament, with its elegant pinwheel shape, and decided to try using this pattern in a 68-word variation — leading to the published version.
| L | I | F | T | U | P | P | F | F | T | P | E | L | T | S | W | A | N | |||
| A | C | R | O | S | S | R | E | A | R | W | I | P | E | R | C | E | C | E | ||
| S | E | A | O | F | T | R | A | N | Q | U | I | L | I | T | Y | H | E | I | R | |
| T | B | I | L | L | A | I | D | S | R | O | C | S | S | O | U | N | D | |||
| I | L | L | S | A | P | S | E | S | E | T | S | O | F | T | O | N | G | S | ||
| N | U | T | S | U | P | E | R | V | H | S | N | E | A | L | ||||||
| G | E | Y | S | E | R | E | D | E | R | A | S | E | B | R | O | C | H | E | ||
| T | E | A | R | B | R | O | W | E | D | R | E | F | L | E | X | |||||
| U | N | L | A | D | E | J | E | S | U | S | L | I | K | E | T | E | A | T | ||
| N | E | A | R | S | R | U | N | E | D | T | A | Z | H | A | V | E | ||||
| D | O | C | S | S | A | N | D | S | O | F | T | I | M | E | O | N | I | N | ||
| E | S | T | O | O | R | K | F | A | U | N | A | M | U | S | E | D | ||||
| R | O | O | F | B | A | D | R | A | T | I | N | G | T | I | G | E | R | S | ||
| G | U | S | T | A | F | N | O | D | U | L | E | S | E | T | H | |||||
| O | L | E | O | L | E | A | N | D | R | E | F | A | S | T | T | A | L | K | ||
| M | O | S | T | W | I | D | E | O | U | T | S | D | E | E | ||||||
| S | O | N | O | F | T | A | R | Z | A | N | A | R | R | S | P | A | N | E | ||
| A | V | E | R | T | P | E | E | T | A | R | C | O | G | A | M | I | N | |||
| L | I | A | R | S | T | A | T | E | O | F | T | E | N | N | E | S | S | E | E | |
| E | N | T | O | R | A | D | A | R | T | R | A | P | A | N | T | O | N | Y | ||
| M | E | O | W | S | P | Y | S | C | O | G | S | E | X | A | N | T | E |
Back in 2005, I used the clue [Shroud of Torino?] for CAR COVER. On the old Times Forum and Crossword Fiend, then in its rookie year, a poster vituperatively objected to the cheeky reference to the Shroud. Given the over-the-top rhetoric, I suspected it was all a put-on, but if indeed the correspondent was truly offended, then I hope today's very respectful clue at 32-Down will square things between us.
Speaking of cheeky, I definitely thought about how one might clue REAR WIPER as someone changing diapers. The clue [Clearer in hindsight?] is definitely for the car part. If I were going the other way, it would be [Clearer with hindsight?]. For once, the less scatalogical version is funnier to me.
Hoping you came away from solving the puzzle with a sense of triumph!
| S | H | I | N | M | V | P | S | M | O | T | E | L | ||
| L | O | C | O | R | E | I | N | A | D | A | G | E | ||
| A | V | I | D | F | E | T | A | D | O | J | O | S | ||
| V | E | L | O | C | I | R | A | P | T | O | R | |||
| S | L | Y | F | O | X | S | I | N | N | T | H | |||
| F | O | I | S | T | E | N | C | O | R | E | ||||
| A | C | E | P | T | E | R | O | D | A | C | T | Y | L | |
| C | O | C | O | G | O | T | S | O | M | E | ||||
| T | R | I | C | E | R | A | T | O | P | S | K | E | N | |
| E | G | G | D | Y | E | S | H | R | E | D | ||||
| D | I | S | E | P | I | E | L | A | P | S | E | |||
| B | R | O | N | T | O | S | A | U | R | U | S | |||
| A | P | B | I | O | A | R | G | O | B | U | S | T | ||
| P | E | A | R | L | W | E | L | L | E | D | I | E | ||
| P | R | N | D | L | E | X | E | D | D | E | E | R |
I owe this theme to my wife, Andie, and I knew I had a winner when the clue for T-REX popped into my head. As it turns out, there are surprisingly few well-known dinosaurs that don't end in "saurus." You can't have more than one "lizard" in a puzzle, and BRONTOSAURUS made the cut over stegosaurus (roof lizard) for purposes of symmetry. Diplodocus (double beam) was another honorable mention, but its etymology was too un-inferable.
I also learned that both Michael Crichton's and Steven Spielberg's versions of VELOCIRAPTOR were actually modeled on a dinosaur called deinonychus (terrible claw). While that clue would have been awesome, the obscure answer; not so much.
Finally, as a lifelong Bucs fan, I tried to clue MVPS to Tom Brady, but everything came out awkward. The editors replaced my best attempt with something more Monday-friendly. Hopefully, Tom won't be offended, and hopefully, you enjoyed this puzzle!
| L | A | C | K | S | A | P | E | X | B | E | E | T | ||
| A | L | L | E | Y | F | L | O | E | L | A | D | E | ||
| B | L | O | W | N | G | L | A | S | S | A | R | M | S | |
| A | T | M | C | O | A | T | I | N | S | E | T | |||
| M | O | P | S | A | C | E | P | I | T | C | H | E | R | |
| B | L | E | E | P | S | L | O | S | O | S | U | |||
| A | D | D | T | O | A | M | A | N | A | T | E | N | ||
| S | P | A | C | E | C | A | S | E | ||||||
| Z | A | G | T | I | T | H | E | I | C | E | E | S | ||
| I | R | E | A | D | O | S | N | O | C | A | P | |||
| P | O | R | K | B | A | R | R | E | L | N | O | S | H | |
| F | U | M | E | S | O | N | U | S | T | I | E | |||
| I | S | A | Y | H | O | L | D | M | Y | B | E | E | R | |
| L | E | N | O | I | D | E | A | M | O | U | S | E | ||
| E | D | E | N | P | E | S | T | S | O | R | T | S |
I remember hearing the phrase "Hold my beer" in a sitcom a couple years ago and immediately finding a pencil and paper to see if I could come up with interesting theme entries.
My first version of this puzzle had PILL BOTTLE as one of the entries, and the editors felt that it was too similar to a beer bottle. My clue for SPACE CASE was "Resident of La la land," but they went with something a bit more direct for a Tuesday.
Hope a few people are inspired to drink a beer during or after this solve!
| V | A | C | A | Y | T | A | I | L | T | E | T | R | A | ||
| O | H | A | R | E | R | U | N | E | O | P | R | A | H | ||
| L | E | N | I | N | I | T | C | H | B | E | I | G | E | ||
| E | A | T | A | T | C | O | U | R | S | E | E | X | A | M | |
| S | P | A | A | S | K | R | E | E | F | S | |||||
| L | A | S | T | E | D | R | C | A | T | W | O | ||||
| B | L | O | C | I | R | A | N | I | O | W | A | N | |||
| L | A | U | N | D | R | Y | D | E | T | E | R | G | E | N | T |
| I | M | P | E | I | S | A | H | L | R | E | D | O | |||
| P | E | E | R | N | C | P | A | S | S | E | D | ||||
| B | T | E | A | M | T | A | T | L | C | D | |||||
| A | N | N | O | Y | A | N | C | E | S | A | D | E | L | E | |
| R | E | A | I | R | A | G | R | O | T | I | D | A | L | ||
| L | O | T | S | A | R | E | I | D | I | N | U | I | T | ||
| O | N | S | E | T | D | E | E | D | C | O | M | M | A |
For notes on my puzzle, ACPT 2022, and maybe a few other things check out my blog.
| N | E | W | B | T | K | O | D | M | C | J | O | B | ||
| Y | O | H | O | M | I | N | I | O | H | A | R | E | ||
| U | N | I | O | N | I | S | T | S | N | E | M | E | A | |
| S | T | U | H | O | C | K | E | Y | M | O | M | |||
| O | K | E | Y | D | O | K | E | E | P | E | E | S | ||
| R | A | J | G | P | A | S | T | A | N | D | ||||
| E | N | U | R | E | S | F | L | O | W | N | ||||
| S | E | G | O | H | A | Y | E | D | G | E | ||||
| B | T | E | A | M | A | B | S | O | R | B | ||||
| D | O | U | B | T | M | I | A | N | A | B | ||||
| M | E | T | R | O | T | U | R | N | K | E | Y | S | ||
| J | O | C | K | E | Y | F | O | R | E | E | K | |||
| A | V | O | I | D | E | M | M | A | S | T | O | N | E | |
| D | I | C | T | A | D | E | U | S | E | N | O | S | ||
| A | N | T | S | Y | S | I | R | S | L | G | B | T |
LUCY: When Ross first approached me with TURNKEYS as a theme idea, I loved the concept of the KEYs visually "turning" in the grid (he's so clever!). But between the limited options for theme entries and the tricky interlockings, I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to pull this one off at first. After expanding our word lists to include as many KEY words as possible (HOCKEY… BAG?), and many hours of grid tweaking, we finally landed on a grid we were happy with.
This puzzle was initially submitted with MONKEY POD as a theme entry, but the Times editing team thought something more accessible would be better. One more round of tweaking resulted in the puzzle you have today — yay!
ROSS: I love Lucy. Also, I just made a puzzle zine! It's a work of light historical fiction and 12 crosswords with a twist that NYT Spelling Bee fans will love. Order your copy of the Honeypot Puzzle Fragments here!
And, as ever, if you're interested in learning how to make crosswords, feel free to reach out to me via Twitter or my personal puzzle site, Rossword Puzzles.
| G | I | T | M | O | P | A | L | G | A | H | ||||
| A | S | W | A | N | I | D | I | G | E | R | G | O | ||
| G | H | O | S | T | C | A | M | E | C | L | E | A | N | |
| P | E | A | S | M | A | T | H | L | E | T | E | |||
| S | C | O | R | P | I | O | R | A | I | D | E | D | ||
| A | R | I | A | S | U | N | S | E | T | S | ||||
| M | A | N | T | A | T | A | P | A | S | S | H | O | ||
| O | P | T | I | C | A | L | I | L | L | U | S | I | O | N |
| A | S | S | C | R | A | V | E | P | E | R | S | E | ||
| R | E | T | W | E | E | T | M | E | T | A | ||||
| R | E | W | I | N | D | N | O | M | I | N | A | L | ||
| A | L | I | S | T | E | R | S | P | O | T | S | |||
| N | U | D | E | S | C | E | N | E | L | O | O | S | E | |
| O | D | O | R | O | V | A | L | A | N | N | I | E | ||
| N | E | W | S | P | F | R | E | G | A | L |
More often than not, I make themeless puzzles without a starting seed and wait to see what options develop. But, that wasn't the case for this puzzle.
If you suspected the grid-spanner at 36-Across might be the starting seed here, you'd be right! When that answer/clue combo came to me, I set to work building a puzzle around it, hoping there'd be room for other fun fill.
I hope you found the fill fun indeed, and as always, I hope you enjoyed the solve!
| M | U | S | T | B | E | N | I | C | E | A | P | B | S | |
| O | B | A | M | A | B | I | D | E | N | C | H | A | T | |
| N | E | W | Z | E | A | L | A | N | D | T | O | D | O | |
| I | R | E | R | Y | E | S | I | L | E | N | T | O | ||
| C | E | R | A | C | U | T | A | D | E | A | L | |||
| A | D | S | L | O | G | A | N | S | T | U | T | S | I | |
| G | E | R | U | N | D | S | P | A | T | E | ||||
| R | I | D | R | A | T | P | A | C | K | G | E | S | ||
| O | B | I | T | F | O | O | T | A | G | E | ||||
| B | E | R | R | A | C | L | A | M | B | A | K | E | S | |
| A | F | T | E | R | A | L | L | T | A | L | C | |||
| B | O | B | A | T | E | A | Y | A | M | F | D | A | ||
| A | R | I | D | T | V | R | E | P | O | R | T | E | R | |
| N | E | K | O | N | E | X | T | P | L | E | A | S | E | |
| K | E | E | N | A | S | S | I | S | T | A | N | T | S |
I'm so excited to finally have a Saturday puzzle on the books! For me, Saturday puzzles have a special place since as a solver it took me so long to finally finish one — I know the joy that can come when you finally do it. I used to work on the Saturday puzzle throughout the rest of the week, trying to chip away at it bit by bit.
Anyways, I hope this puzzle has something for everyone. I'm a High School History Teacher, and I'm sure you can see a bit of that come out in the puzzle. Also, my brother is a chemist, and an aspiring crossword solver, so I'm hoping to throw him a bone on 29-Down — a word that I learned while constructing this puzzle.
Hope you enjoy the puzzle!
| H | O | T | T | A | M | A | L | E | T | A | F | F | Y | C | S | P | A | N | ||
| A | S | I | A | M | I | N | O | R | E | M | I | L | E | O | P | E | R | A | ||
| R | O | C | K | I | D | O | L | S | M | O | V | I | E | T | R | O | P | E | S | |
| E | S | S | E | W | I | S | E | P | R | E | P | O | G | R | E | S | ||||
| M | I | E | N | S | T | E | P | S | O | N | I | T | ||||||||
| P | O | W | E | R | S | T | R | I | P | M | I | R | Y | S | A | L | ||||
| I | S | H | I | T | S | A | M | E | S | S | D | E | A | D | S | P | O | T | ||
| V | S | I | G | N | E | S | C | A | P | E | E | S | I | H | E | A | R | |||
| O | I | L | P | A | L | M | K | N | E | X | S | T | O | R | M | Y | ||||
| T | E | E | S | I | M | D | B | K | L | U | M | E | S | P | Y | S | ||||
| P | E | A | N | U | T | A | L | L | E | R | G | Y | ||||||||
| J | A | D | E | N | C | L | A | P | T | H | O | U | B | A | M | A | ||||
| S | A | V | O | R | S | G | R | U | B | W | E | T | O | N | E | S | ||||
| I | N | L | E | T | E | G | Y | P | T | I | A | N | W | O | O | D | Y | |||
| S | E | A | S | H | O | R | E | S | T | O | N | E | A | G | E | D | I | E | ||
| T | B | T | D | I | M | E | M | I | D | D | L | E | S | E | A | T | ||||
| O | P | E | N | S | P | A | C | E | R | I | D | E | ||||||||
| H | I | A | L | L | T | I | E | R | I | S | I | T | T | O | M | E | ||||
| M | E | N | T | A | L | L | A | P | S | E | B | L | A | C | K | S | T | A | R | |
| P | R | E | E | N | A | T | E | I | T | M | A | N | H | A | T | T | A | N | ||
| G | A | Z | E | S | G | E | N | R | E | S | T | A | Y | L | O | O | S | E |
I'm excited to be back in the Times and doubly excited to have my first Sunday puzzle published.
This puzzle started with a pair of entries that didn't make it into the final version: SOLAR PANEL/PLANE, which cropped up while I was looking for entries for another theme now lost to time. Once I had that entry and the aha moment that "this could be a puzzle," I went to the largest online list of anagrams I could find and spent the next week or so sifting through it to see what was out there. Some entries that were interesting, but not the best for crosswords or had the anagram in the wrong place, were PARENTAL/PATERNAL LEAVE, ONE MORE NIGHT/THING, and NEVER/NERVE ENDING.
Filling in a 21x21 grid always takes a lot of time, so I spent a while either putting it off or trying to make my favorite entries fit into a 15x15 grid, but over the fall, I got caught up in the Delta wave of coronavirus, leaving me stuck at home for a week, and finally giving me the motivation to finish it. As a final note in the puzzle, the solution to 117-Across has a third possible anagram that can form a real phrase. Can you figure it out?
[Solution: BLACK RATS]
| L | A | B | T | A | D | A | G | A | M | B | L | E | ||
| O | D | E | I | N | I | T | R | O | I | L | E | D | ||
| O | M | G | L | A | M | A | A | L | T | O | I | D | ||
| F | A | U | L | T | L | I | N | E | S | S | A | Y | ||
| A | N | N | E | E | T | E | A | S | E | R | S | |||
| A | D | O | R | N | S | G | E | O | D | E | ||||
| G | U | T | V | I | D | E | O | G | A | M | E | S | ||
| O | H | I | S | E | E | A | S | L | E | E | P | |||
| D | U | M | P | T | R | U | C | K | S | D | R | Y | ||
| S | H | E | A | R | T | O | E | T | A | P | ||||
| P | R | E | S | A | L | E | S | H | E | A | F | |||
| A | P | I | C | H | O | P | S | T | I | C | K | S | ||
| S | H | E | I | L | A | G | O | A | L | H | I | T | ||
| P | I | C | K | U | P | N | U | K | E | O | T | O | ||
| S | L | E | E | V | E | E | T | S | Y | S | A | P |
I'm Rachel, a writer and editor from Raleigh, NC, whose book Pickleball For All (HarperCollins) is out this August. While I've written stories for The New York Times (among many other outlets) before, this is my first puzzle in the paper and my first published puzzle anywhere!
I'm so grateful for the opportunity, and I owe Robyn Weintraub, crossword constructor extraordinaire and my hometown next-door neighbor, a huge thank you for helping me hone my idea and rooting me on.
I hope you all have fun "picking up" on the theme and that this puzzle is the first of many I publish in the NYT!
| O | D | O | R | P | S | A | T | B | E | E | T | |||
| H | U | L | U | I | A | G | O | M | U | N | R | O | ||
| O | D | D | S | G | R | A | F | O | R | G | A | N | ||
| M | E | T | E | O | R | O | L | O | G | I | S | T | ||
| S | H | E | W | O | N | L | E | I | N | E | O | |||
| W | E | D | D | I | N | G | P | L | A | N | N | E | R | |
| A | L | I | E | N | S | L | O | N | G | O | ||||
| P | I | A | F | P | A | W | T | H | I | N | ||||
| O | Y | V | E | Y | A | S | P | I | R | E | ||||
| Y | O | G | A | I | N | S | T | R | U | C | T | O | R | |
| S | E | X | C | N | N | R | A | N | I | N | D | |||
| P | S | Y | C | H | O | A | N | A | L | Y | S | T | ||
| L | I | G | H | T | M | A | C | S | O | B | I | T | ||
| I | D | E | A | S | E | P | E | E | D | I | C | E | ||
| T | O | N | I | S | E | R | A | A | G | E | D |
I think this is the first puzzle I've constructed where the wordplay is in the clues. It was a fun change of pace for me: hopefully solvers enjoy it as well!
| O | N | S | B | U | N | C | H | O | O | Z | E | |||
| P | E | C | A | S | A | H | I | P | R | O | S | |||
| T | A | I | L | D | E | C | O | R | T | E | R | I | ||
| I | T | S | O | K | D | R | I | E | R | O | R | G | ||
| M | I | S | P | L | A | C | E | S | O | S | O | O | N | |
| I | D | O | E | I | D | L | O | C | H | S | ||||
| S | E | R | V | E | R | P | A | N | K | O | ||||
| M | A | S | A | V | E | X | W | R | I | T | ||||
| L | A | P | A | Z | G | E | N | O | M | E | ||||
| R | E | S | E | T | B | E | G | S | P | A | ||||
| G | E | O | T | A | G | G | A | L | O | S | H | E | S | |
| O | R | B | P | A | P | E | R | S | H | A | R | E | ||
| B | A | B | Y | S | O | C | K | S | E | M | I | R | ||
| A | S | I | A | U | R | K | E | L | B | A | A | |||
| G | E | E | K | S | T | O | R | Y | O | L | D |
Building a puzzle around ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS with each of the three possible outcomes depicted was one of my very first theme ideas, long before I was familiar with enough crossword mechanics to make it work. When I revisited the idea several months later, ROCK breaking SCISSORS was still the hardest to wrangle, leading to some *very* tortured iterations.
A number of early drafts included a single ROCK rebus, which I ultimately abandoned in favor of what seemed to be the most straightforward approach: including each "winning" item as a standalone answer with each "losing" item visually represented as circled letters. Many thanks to Brooke Husic for being a helpful sounding board.
I'm gratified that most of the clues are mine, especially my three favorites — 44A, 5D, and 49D — and hope you enjoy!
| S | T | A | G | E | E | G | O | T | P | E | R | P | ||
| E | A | G | E | R | G | R | E | A | T | A | P | E | S | |
| W | H | A | T | A | G | O | O | D | B | O | Y | A | M | I |
| E | O | S | A | I | G | L | U | G | ||||||
| R | E | P | A | S | T | S | D | E | C | A | N | T | S | |
| S | C | O | T | T | I | S | H | P | O | E | T | |||
| U | S | T | A | U | N | A | F | L | U | |||||
| S | P | I | N | N | I | N | G | W | H | E | E | L | ||
| R | U | E | O | V | I | O | R | E | S | |||||
| B | R | A | S | S | S | E | C | T | I | O | N | |||
| G | Y | R | A | T | E | S | O | D | D | S | O | C | K | |
| L | A | S | Y | O | N | B | A | E | ||||||
| F | R | O | M | S | T | E | M | T | O | S | T | E | R | N |
| H | A | D | A | H | U | N | C | H | O | H | Y | A | Y | |
| A | D | E | N | D | D | A | Y | P | A | S | T | A |
NARAYAN: For over a decade, I lived the life of a quasi-single Indian-American dad in Texas with a live-in Chinese mother-in-law (no, this isn't the failed pilot for a sitcom!). Soon after she moved in, I was banished from the kitchen. I was happy to oblige because she was a brilliant cook who soon learned to cater to my Indian tastes and vegetarian restrictions. Her English wasn't very good, but it was far better than my Mandarin, so that became our medium of broken communication.
One day, she offered to make "calm" soup for dinner. I had no idea what that meant, but I figured it had to be good ... but even after soup was served, I couldn't see what made it (or me) "calm". After a few more instances of this, I realized that she was actually saying "com", not "calm". Of course, that makes even less sense. She was puzzled by my questions about the contents of the soup, so she brought me a can of com. That's when it hit me: between her poor command of the language, her less-than-perfect eyesight, and poor kerning on the can label, she had misread "corn" as "com". And a therne was bom!
I shared this theme with Ashish, and we batted around possibilities like "burn" for "bum", "garner" for "gamer", etc. Once we had enough fodder for a puzzle, Ashish came up with a bit of brilliance for the revealer: "from stem to stern" offered a clean way to tie it all together.
| X | R | A | Y | E | Y | E | S | A | R | A | F | A | T | |
| X | O | X | O | X | O | X | O | R | E | L | A | T | E | |
| X | Y | L | O | P | H | O | N | E | M | A | L | L | E | T |
| H | O | O | T | C | Y | R | I | L | ||||||
| I | P | S | O | H | I | T | O | N | N | E | S | T | ||
| S | H | O | O | O | C | A | L | A | A | Q | U | A | ||
| A | O | L | R | E | V | L | U | R | K | |||||
| I | B | A | R | P | A | T | S | Y | L | I | V | E | ||
| D | I | R | E | E | R | A | N | I | T | |||||
| N | A | P | S | T | E | R | S | E | C | O | V | E | ||
| O | S | L | O | S | T | E | A | L | O | X | E | N | ||
| E | R | A | T | O | F | I | N | N | ||||||
| T | E | X | T | B | O | O | K | E | X | A | M | P | L | E |
| R | O | U | T | E | R | O | L | I | V | E | O | Y | L | |
| I | N | S | O | L | E | P | Y | R | E | N | E | E | S |
This puzzle was a long time in the making. Back when I first started constructing, I had the idea to put XXX at 1-Down, as I thought it would be cool if I could stack three long answers starting with X. The resulting stack, and its symmetrical counterpart (which began with the two-X grid-spanner TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE), took shape early on, but the rest of the grid was a different story — I tried out many different arrangements of black squares before I found this one, which fortuitously also allowed for SOLAR PLEXUS and FALL EQUINOX. This might be the themeless puzzle I spent the most time working on, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
As far as clues go, I particularly like my clues for 1-Across, 17-Across, 37-Down, and 52-Down, and I think the editing team's clue for 3-Down is a fun addition. I'm also glad to see my clue for PHOBIAS, [Admissions to a counselor] in the final version. I have felt that some clues in past Times puzzles have not been the most sensitive when it comes to mental health concerns, so I think a clue like this is definitely a step in the right direction (in no small part because the clue doesn't come off whatsoever as judgmental, as some clues for PHOBIAS might). Anything that helps to remove some of the stigma from counseling — and getting help, in general — is a good thing.
Hope you enjoyed the puzzle!
| D | C | B | A | S | E | D | K | E | E | P | T | O | ||
| A | L | I | S | T | E | R | S | O | R | L | E | A | N | |
| G | O | T | T | A | C | A | T | C | H | E | M | A | L | L |
| A | V | E | R | Y | G | I | R | L | S | S | K | A | ||
| M | E | M | O | T | I | C | O | S | C | A | I | N | ||
| A | R | E | R | I | N | K | S | C | A | N | E | D | ||
| B | O | O | T | Y | S | H | O | R | T | S | ||||
| K | I | N | G | O | F | B | E | E | R | S | ||||
| M | E | D | I | A | C | I | R | C | U | S | ||||
| G | O | T | O | N | O | N | E | H | R | B | E | T | ||
| O | V | E | N | P | U | G | E | T | M | A | L | E | ||
| O | I | L | B | A | R | E | D | D | A | M | N | S | ||
| G | E | O | C | E | N | T | R | I | C | O | R | B | I | T |
| L | A | N | C | E | D | S | N | O | W | C | O | N | E | |
| E | D | E | S | S | A | G | O | D | H | O | O | D |
This was all a very elaborate ruse to get a rejection letter saying, "The team just wasn't very excited by your BOOTY SHORTS 15x."
That message never arrived. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
| W | I | L | T | O | S | C | A | R | N | E | S | S | R | A | E | |||||
| A | S | E | A | O | W | E | T | O | Y | U | C | C | A | B | E | L | L | |||
| R | A | N | K | H | A | L | O | S | E | T | H | O | S | R | A | P | S | |||
| M | O | D | E | M | P | E | N | C | I | L | M | O | U | S | T | A | C | H | E | |
| A | H | E | M | B | O | O | T | L | E | E | R | R | I | T | A | |||||
| O | P | H | E | L | I | A | F | E | S | S | E | D | Y | E | N | |||||
| R | E | A | E | B | A | N | D | M | A | D | V | E | E | S | O | U | T | |||
| S | E | N | D | T | E | A | S | E | T | B | A | S | S | T | U | B | A | |||
| O | D | D | A | S | S | E | R | T | P | O | T | T | O | T | E | M | ||||
| A | W | A | Y | P | O | E | T | R | Y | M | A | R | I | N | E | |||||
| D | E | A | C | O | N | L | E | O | M | Y | E | O | O | N | M | E | D | S | ||
| R | U | L | E | R | S | P | I | L | O | S | E | G | O | D | S | |||||
| E | B | O | O | K | N | G | O | O | R | G | A | N | S | W | S | J | ||||
| S | I | N | F | O | N | I | A | H | A | N | S | E | L | M | I | L | E | |||
| S | E | E | S | F | I | T | L | O | N | M | A | Y | B | E | N | O | T | |||
| P | A | L | P | E | S | T | L | E | S | T | R | A | N | G | E | |||||
| K | C | A | R | T | A | G | T | E | A | M | S | D | E | L | I | |||||
| B | E | E | D | T | H | E | Q | U | E | S | T | I | O | N | A | P | P | L | Y | |
| L | E | D | E | D | R | U | M | S | E | L | B | O | W | R | E | I | E | |||
| E | R | E | S | T | R | I | E | S | S | I | E | G | E | E | E | L | S | |||
| U | S | D | V | A | N | S | T | A | R | O | T | P | R | O | M |
Have you ever been on an Easter egg hunt? I have not. The idea for this puzzle began with finding an Easter egg of a different sort. I thought first about the video game Easter egg in the Atari game Adventure. That Easter egg was created by game designer Warren Robinett. Translating that into a puzzle didn't work out, so I transitioned to having hidden EGGs, more like a traditional Easter egg hunt.
During first iterations I managed to fit in grid art of an Easter bunny that my wife described as looking like the rabbit from Donnie Darko. Good thing that didn't make it through the editing process as the grid was definitely not meant to horrify anyone.
| T | A | P | E | J | U | D | O | W | H | A | M | S | ||
| O | B | E | Y | A | S | E | A | R | O | B | O | T | ||
| T | A | K | E | A | W | A | L | K | A | N | O | D | E | |
| A | C | O | R | N | S | T | E | M | P | V | E | E | ||
| L | I | E | O | N | B | A | N | D | S | H | E | L | L | |
| L | U | L | U | S | U | E | Z | |||||||
| C | H | A | L | L | E | N | G | E | P | R | E | E | N | |
| A | O | L | I | D | O | L | S | R | N | A | ||||
| B | E | L | T | S | T | O | L | L | B | O | O | T | H | |
| S | A | K | E | I | R | O | N | |||||||
| L | I | Q | U | I | C | A | P | S | R | E | H | A | B | |
| I | C | U | P | O | L | E | I | N | S | A | N | E | ||
| G | I | A | D | A | L | O | O | S | E | E | N | D | S | |
| H | E | R | O | S | A | N | T | E | E | D | I | T | ||
| T | R | E | E | S | N | Y | S | E | D | Y | E | S |
What I enjoyed most about constructing this puzzle was creating a grid with six theme answers, which I had not tried before.
When I was searching for theme answers, there were not too many options fitting the pattern for TA*LK and CHA*NGE. Since TAKE A WALK and CHALLENGE were both 9 letters, the same as LOOSE ENDS, I thought about having all theme answers be 9 letters long. Five 9-letter theme answers seemed like not enough theme content for the puzzle, so I wondered if I could squeeze in six theme answers.
I came up with a workable grid by closing off the middle and finding an arrangement of theme answers where I could find a couple of words that crossed through three of the theme answers. The resulting grid, to my delight, still provided space for six down answers that were seven letters or longer. The grid worked out so well that I've used variations of the grid when constructing other puzzles.
| A | N | T | E | G | A | U | L | O | C | T | ||||
| A | D | E | A | L | O | L | M | O | S | B | R | R | ||
| B | O | W | L | I | N | G | B | A | L | L | L | A | Y | |
| U | P | T | O | C | H | U | M | A | M | I | S | S | ||
| S | T | A | N | Z | A | M | I | D | N | I | G | H | T | |
| E | E | K | I | A | N | A | G | R | E | E | S | |||
| D | E | F | T | O | P | A | L | A | D | D | ||||
| L | I | G | H | T | N | I | N | G | ||||||
| S | E | A | R | O | A | D | Y | E | L | P | ||||
| M | A | X | I | M | A | Y | E | S | A | L | T | |||
| E | M | P | L | O | Y | E | E | V | E | L | O | U | R | |
| D | E | I | S | T | A | X | L | E | E | T | S | Y | ||
| U | S | A | I | N | S | P | I | R | A | T | I | O | N | |
| S | E | T | F | O | Y | E | R | M | O | A | N | A | ||
| A | X | E | G | A | L | A | A | N | N | E |
| S | L | A | P | S | I | R | S | T | H | E | M | E | ||
| M | A | D | R | E | C | U | E | W | A | X | E | D | ||
| U | S | A | I | N | B | O | L | T | I | L | I | A | D | |
| G | E | M | S | T | O | N | E | S | N | O | T | T | Y | |
| T | I | S | Z | E | K | E | ||||||||
| P | R | I | N | C | E | F | I | E | L | D | E | R | ||
| N | A | A | N | H | E | L | P | M | E | R | O | B | ||
| A | N | S | E | L | Y | A | S | S | P | R | A | Y | ||
| B | A | T | E | N | O | K | I | S | L | O | S | E | ||
| M | A | R | G | A | R | E | T | C | O | U | R | T | ||
| A | R | S | E | R | B | S | ||||||||
| S | I | P | T | E | A | P | H | O | T | O | I | D | S | |
| A | N | A | I | S | T | I | M | D | U | N | C | A | N | |
| S | T | I | N | T | O | N | O | S | E | E | Y | A | ||
| S | O | N | G | S | O | K | S | E | S | T | O | P |
Excited to be back in the NYT, this time with a themed puzzle — my first!
This started with Usain Bolt's incredibly apt name, and I figured it would be easy to find other examples of what I later learned are called "aptonyms". Turns out there aren't many good examples, and keeping them bound to sports figures kept it a pretty tight theme.
The only name I came across after submitting was poker pro Chris Moneymaker — and while his name is beyond perfect, he is probably just a bit too out of the public eye to be worthy for inclusion. Hope you enjoy!
| C | A | P | S | S | P | L | A | T | F | A | W | N | ||
| O | S | H | A | L | O | A | T | H | E | L | I | E | ||
| S | T | A | Y | S | A | L | I | V | E | E | F | T | S | |
| M | I | S | I | V | E | R | S | E | D | A | T | |||
| O | R | E | C | K | U | S | E | R | I | D | ||||
| L | E | S | S | E | R | O | R | O | N | O | ||||
| M | A | C | E | E | O | L | I | A | N | M | G | R | ||
| E | R | E | E | C | L | I | P | S | E | E | L | M | ||
| G | A | R | S | T | A | T | E | S | G | O | Y | A | ||
| A | C | T | U | P | R | E | N | T | T | O | ||||
| T | H | A | N | O | S | A | E | T | N | A | ||||
| N | I | S | P | L | A | Y | E | R | I | O | N | |||
| A | O | N | E | R | A | Z | O | R | E | D | G | E | D | |
| M | I | L | A | I | L | I | K | E | E | R | N | E | ||
| I | D | Y | L | G | A | Z | E | S | R | E | D | S |
I'm excited for my NYTXW Thursday debut! First, I'd like to give a big shout out to Loren Muse Smith and Tracy Gray's 2017 puzzle, which I drew inspiration from heavily (standing on the shoulders of giants).
I enjoy puzzles that take advantage of the online solving experience (like this past Sunday's Easter Egg Hunt puzzle on the NYT's xword app that transformed EGG rebuses into images of colorful eggs). So when I thought of this theme, I imagined how cool it'd be for certain black squares to literally eclipse the SUN and then disappear to reveal the SUN rebuses (I'm not an astronomy buff, so I had to constantly look at this image to remember how a solar eclipse actually worked).
I created a list of probably 50+ theme answers, of which many didn't make the cut, including: SAMSUNG GALAXY, EASTER SUNDAY, E PLURIBUS UNUM, MENS UNDERWEAR, LETS UNPACK THAT, and COMES UNDER FIRE. The grid constraints were pretty difficult. I spent days trying to create a grid where the SUN rebuses were scattered randomly — I even created 16x15 and 16x16 versions too — but ultimately found that a 15x15 grid with symmetrical rebus squares yielded much cleaner results.
Even though this is your typical weekday rebus puzzle, I hope solvers still have a pleasant "aha" moment. Thanks to Will Shortz and the editing team for their thorough (and I mean thorough) suggestions that helped improve this puzzle.
| L | I | F | E | H | A | C | K | L | E | A | N | O | N | |
| I | M | A | M | O | R | O | N | A | R | C | A | N | E | |
| B | A | R | E | N | E | C | E | S | S | I | T | I | E | S |
| I | R | O | N | S | K | E | A | T | S | L | O | T | ||
| D | E | E | D | C | E | L | T | S | G | E | N | E | ||
| O | T | S | P | A | R | E | S | Y | O | D | O | G | ||
| A | I | M | E | D | T | U | B | I | N | G | ||||
| O | L | D | S | O | U | L | D | I | L | A | T | E | S | |
| H | A | I | K | U | S | F | I | N | E | D | ||||
| S | T | E | M | S | B | O | G | G | S | N | Y | U | ||
| T | E | T | E | M | O | R | S | E | M | I | E | N | ||
| O | S | S | S | O | D | O | I | R | O | G | E | R | ||
| P | H | O | T | O | S | Y | N | T | H | E | S | I | Z | E |
| I | O | D | I | N | E | C | E | R | B | E | R | U | S | |
| T | W | A | N | G | S | E | S | S | A | Y | I | S | T |
| C | O | D | E | R | E | D | T | G | I | F | ||||
| M | A | C | A | R | O | N | I | L | I | L | M | O | ||
| M | A | T | H | T | E | S | T | S | E | R | A | S | E | |
| U | L | T | R | A | T | E | C | H | D | E | M | O | ||
| D | A | R | E | M | E | R | G | E | D | O | S | E | ||
| B | Y | E | F | A | R | O | A | F | R | O | D | |||
| A | S | A | N | A | S | T | L | D | R | O | R | E | ||
| T | I | T | A | N | C | O | F | F | E | E | U | R | N | |
| H | A | S | I | T | A | L | L | A | R | T | S | Y | ||
| L | A | V | A | L | A | K | E | S | ||||||
| J | I | F | A | P | P | L | E | Y | M | C | A | |||
| C | A | N | I | T | L | O | S | T | S | O | U | L | ||
| O | M | E | L | E | T | P | A | N | O | H | A | R | A | |
| S | U | P | E | R | S | I | Z | E | T | O | N | E | R | |
| A | P | T | N | A | N | A | S | P | A | S | M |
| S | C | U | L | P | T | G | N | A | W | D | A | B | S | I | N | F | O | |||
| N | O | M | O | R | E | M | I | R | O | O | S | H | A | T | U | R | K | |||
| A | P | P | L | E | J | A | C | K | E | T | W | H | A | T | M | A | K | E | S | |
| G | A | S | W | A | T | S | O | N | A | N | D | C | R | I | C | K | E | T | ||
| G | E | N | E | N | A | N | O | A | A | N | D | E | ||||||||
| C | A | R | B | O | M | B | M | I | N | T | Y | I | B | E | X | |||||
| C | O | C | A | P | O | S | T | B | A | C | A | T | A | N | Y | |||||
| S | I | T | T | I | N | O | N | T | H | E | D | O | C | K | E | T | D | S | L | |
| I | N | V | A | D | E | G | A | R | R | N | U | L | L | V | A | L | U | E | ||
| L | V | I | L | A | N | D | R | A | E | P | O | E | M | |||||||
| L | I | K | E | A | M | I | L | L | I | O | N | B | U | C | K | E | T | S | ||
| M | O | T | O | D | O | C | L | E | G | O | S | T | U | |||||||
| E | A | T | S | P | A | L | E | O | B | O | O | S | O | D | I | S | T | S | ||
| R | T | E | U | N | D | E | R | G | R | O | U | N | D | R | O | C | K | E | T | |
| C | H | A | R | T | W | O | O | D | T | A | R | H | O | L | Y | |||||
| H | E | M | I | A | L | B | E | E | P | I | T | F | A | L | L | |||||
| C | A | N | O | E | T | R | A | M | N | E | A | T | ||||||||
| F | R | O | N | T | O | F | T | H | E | P | A | C | K | E | T | T | A | U | ||
| Y | O | U | T | I | C | K | E | T | D | A | R | N | S | O | C | K | E | T | S | |
| A | I | N | T | O | I | L | Y | D | R | I | B | F | A | E | R | I | E | |||
| M | E | G | A | W | E | L | L | S | T | A | C | F | T | Y | P | E | S |
The "letter/phonetic change" pun puzzle has eluded me for too long! As a solver, I grew up delighting in gems like USE THE FORCEPS LUKE and PIZZA RETREAT, but never found myself interested in brainstorming any myself. I wanted every last theme I created to feel unusual, or at least technically intricate. After all, as a constructor, I'll always be most drawn to crosswords in a challenging sense — can I pull off such a crazy theme idea based around this one example? Can I pack a wide-open corner with all this jazzy fill?
Today's puzzle is the result of dialing things back a notch, while still staying true to my quirks. It occurred to me one day that there were plenty of words like JACKET, BUCKET, TICKET, etc., and so I simply pursued a way to create punnery around this. I'd wanted to make a pun theme forever, but the set of examples needed to really sing. It took a bunch of imagination on the cluing side to make this a reality in my mind, along with the desire to pack in as much content as possible — wouldn't it be weird if I only had a small selection of -CKET examples? Too much theme tends to cause filling troubles, so I knew what I was getting into … but hey, constructor quirks.**
We talk a lot these days on the editorial team about what makes a good pun, and everyone's mileage varies; for me, though, it all comes down to whether or not I can imagine the punny phrase used in a goofy, real-world, outside-of-crosswords context. There's "crossword funny" — i.e., okay, you've found that adding a few letters can make something wacky — and then there's "dad joke funny." My goal is to impart the humor of the latter within the constraints of the former. At its best, it leaves you with both groans and ahas. My fingers (and words, of course) are crossed.
Enjoy my latest for The Times, a privilege as always!
**P.S.: Bits of fill like EATS PALEO? PRE-WEB? File these under "constructor quirks," too. My style is to err on the side of peculiarity over boredom, any day of the week.
| L | O | A | F | N | U | M | B | S | O | M | N | I | ||
| A | C | N | E | B | R | O | I | L | R | E | A | M | ||
| G | E | N | E | R | A | L | T | S | O | B | L | I | P | |
| G | A | U | D | Y | S | T | E | M | S | A | V | A | ||
| A | N | I | M | E | S | C | O | L | O | N | E | L | ||
| R | I | T | E | H | O | S | T | U | N | I | T | E | ||
| D | A | Y | R | O | L | O | S | I | N | E | S | |||
| F | O | O | D | F | I | G | H | T | ||||||
| O | A | S | I | S | I | T | R | Y | S | A | G | |||
| B | L | I | N | I | J | A | D | A | M | I | L | E | ||
| S | A | N | D | E | R | S | S | C | U | L | P | T | ||
| C | D | C | R | E | B | U | S | A | T | E | A | T | ||
| E | D | I | T | C | A | P | N | C | R | U | N | C | H | |
| N | I | T | E | A | C | T | O | R | A | C | A | I | ||
| E | N | Y | A | P | H | O | T | O | L | E | S | S |
Excited to be making my NYT crossword debut! A little about me: I grew up in Denver, CO, graduated from Duke, and currently live in New York City. I've been a fan of puzzles (a la Martin Gardner) and word games (anybody else remember Yahoo's Word Racer?) since childhood — I'm grateful now for the chance to share a puzzle of my own creation with you all.
This crossword sprouted from the fun mental imagery of GENERAL TSO and COLONEL SANDERS pitted against each other in a poultry-based battle for dominance. After scouring Wikipedia for more food-related individuals, CAP'N CRUNCH arrived with naval support (though it's lost to history which side he fought on), and the FOOD FIGHT revealer came to mind soon after.
Many thanks to Alex, Matthew, Tom, and Ann for their test solves and feedback, and a big shout-out to my girlfriend Steph, who happily accepted "brainstorming clues for a crossword puzzle" as a date night activity.
I'll be donating the proceeds from today's crossword to GiveDirectly, a nonprofit that delivers direct cash transfers to the world's poorest households, giving those living in poverty the "dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives." If you'd like to join in support, please visit their site.
| J | I | G | T | D | P | A | S | S | D | R | O | P | ||
| O | D | E | O | R | A | C | L | E | R | O | B | E | ||
| I | L | L | M | A | N | H | U | G | E | C | O | N | ||
| N | E | S | T | E | G | G | R | E | M | A | K | E | S | |
| E | S | Q | A | P | L | O | M | B | ||||||
| L | A | C | E | U | Z | I | S | T | O | O | T | H | ||
| I | R | A | N | E | A | R | S | E | N | T | R | Y | ||
| B | I | N | D | E | C | K | O | U | T | T | O | M | ||
| R | E | D | F | I | N | I | N | G | M | O | O | N | ||
| A | S | Y | L | A | A | S | E | A | A | M | P | S | ||
| H | O | N | O | R | S | R | P | M | ||||||
| S | E | E | S | A | W | S | A | R | E | A | R | U | G | |
| E | R | A | S | N | O | C | L | U | E | E | R | R | ||
| W | I | R | E | U | N | R | E | S | T | E | G | O | ||
| N | E | T | S | P | S | Y | C | H | E | F | E | W |
I hope you enjoy solving this puzzle as much as I did making it! This one's dedicated to my siblings, Ethan and Olivia, who are twins, and who are celebrating their 20th birthday today! Love you guys.
| R | A | M | P | L | A | T | E | R | A | S | P | S | ||
| I | K | E | A | A | L | I | B | I | L | E | I | A | ||
| C | R | A | M | C | O | M | B | O | M | E | A | L | S | |
| C | O | N | F | I | F | E | A | X | L | E | S | |||
| I | N | S | T | A | N | T | R | E | P | L | A | Y | ||
| O | W | I | N | G | V | E | T | |||||||
| S | H | E | E | T | S | W | A | N | L | A | I | D | ||
| T | I | L | T | A | T | W | I | N | D | M | I | L | L | S |
| Y | O | L | O | H | I | T | S | A | T | O | L | L | ||
| B | U | N | S | L | U | E | S | |||||||
| B | U | R | G | E | R | F | L | I | P | P | E | R | ||
| A | S | A | M | I | E | L | I | A | L | E | E | |||
| B | U | M | P | E | R | C | R | O | P | B | A | Y | S | |
| B | E | B | E | E | X | U | R | B | I | N | O | T | ||
| A | R | I | D | I | X | N | A | Y | B | T | U | S |
This puzzle arose in the usual way (for me, anyway): 1) "What is a common theme type I haven't tried recently?" I ponder. "Oh, phrases including words common to a beloved pastime/hobby. Ok. I like those. Which pastime to use?" My first thought: curling. Still a good idea — I'll come back to it!
Second thought: PINBALL! "Has there been one already? Hmm...no. Can I find any such phrases? Yes!" I arrived at the themers pretty quickly. What I couldn't find was a revealer (or even space for one). "How can I get PINBALL or something in here?!" I just happened to notice that PINBALL's letters were IN the themers I had found. So I circled them in my program just to see if I could somehow work with that fact. When I did, it kinda looked like a pinball was now bouncing around my puzzle. Huzzah! I thought this would be too squishy a justification/gimmick for the NYT, but I guess not!
It shows that relatively simple workflows, ideas, and executions can still yield paydirt. Also — I love that I was able to build a grid with long paired down non-themers in the NW/SE (warts they create and all)!
| I | M | A | G | E | I | T | S | O | K | |||||
| V | A | L | O | R | C | R | A | Z | E | |||||
| A | W | A | I | T | S | K | I | S | M | E | T | |||
| B | A | M | B | I | C | H | A | P | S | |||||
| G | R | R | I | V | S | A | K | A | S | U | M | |||
| A | I | D | S | T | E | R | N | L | Y | O | N | O | ||
| P | D | F | S | O | N | I | C | E | B | N | A | I | ||
| E | G | A | N | B | O | D | H | I | A | T | M | S | ||
| D | E | C | A | T | U | R | O | V | E | R | H | I | T | |
| I | R | A | S | T | Y | K | E | |||||||
| G | E | N | E | S | I | S | T | H | E | S | I | M | S | |
| O | M | G | K | N | I | S | H | E | S | V | I | E | ||
| N | A | D | A | E | N | E | R | O | S | L | A | V | ||
| Z | I | O | N | S | A | P | O | R | R | O | M | E | ||
| O | L | G | A | S | I | T | B | Y | I | W | I | N |
In the planning stages of this puzzle, I knew that I wanted the "down arrow" to make a perfect line across the grid, traveling downwards from left to right. My initial theme set was (DOWN)WARD FACING DOG, BRING (DOWN) THE HOUSE, WHOA SLOW (DOWN) THERE, and HONEY WE'RE GOIN' (DOWN) (yes, the Fall Out Boy song). Eventually, I relaxed my criteria to change the trajectory of the line of arrows, which in turn yielded a more interesting set of theme entries. Thank you to Matthew Stock, for helping me sort through this early decision-making.
It was a personal choice to include grid art in the form of an arrow-esque set of black squares. It took a lot of time to make it work, but I felt that it was a nice enough aesthetic touch to make the extra effort worth it.
Clue writing is often my favorite part of the construction process, as it comes with hours of going down internet rabbit holes and making puns with yourself. Among my favorite puns were a trio of tricky two-worders: "Hamilton producers?" for ATMS, "Mating call?" for I WIN, and "Adding purpose?" for SUM. To me, finding interesting cluing angles for mundane fill is the crossword equivalent of using high-quality salt or olive oil in a dish. These small upgrades can subtly elevate the whole meal, and set the table for other flavors to shine. Short clues can allow long ones to stand out, and I'm grateful the editors kept my favorite long clue: "Video game with a "rosebud" cheat code that grants free money" for THE SIMS.
(On a final note, I want to acknowledge that two brilliant crossword constructors, Ricky Cruz and Paolo Pasco, published a puzzle last year with a similar premise but completely different execution. My puzzle was pending acceptance with the Times when their puzzle ran in Fireball Crosswords. I wanted to clarify that point, while also drawing attention to how unique and brilliant their take on the same idea is.)
| W | A | S | H | T | E | E | M | S | E | T | N | A | ||
| A | L | P | O | R | A | M | O | S | T | H | O | R | ||
| F | L | I | R | T | A | T | I | O | N | H | E | S | S | |
| T | E | E | N | A | G | E | R | S | S | I | R | E | ||
| S | N | L | B | I | N | U | L | C | E | R | S | |||
| L | U | C | M | E | S | A | M | I | A | |||||
| S | O | L | O | P | A | R | E | N | T | I | N | G | ||
| W | H | O | A | M | I | K | I | D | D | I | N | G | ||
| P | A | I | N | R | E | L | I | E | V | E | R | S | ||
| E | R | R | A | D | E | N | E | R | E | |||||
| I | M | E | A | S | Y | O | H | O | T | B | A | |||
| E | L | L | A | G | E | N | I | U | S | B | A | R | ||
| I | D | L | E | M | U | S | I | C | S | T | A | N | D | |
| S | T | E | P | G | A | S | O | L | A | L | T | O | ||
| M | O | S | H | S | C | O | N | E | B | L | U | R |
The entire middle stack was the seed for this puzzle. I like to think of it as a poem for all you other parents of young children out there. Relatedly, I'm happy to premiere this non-port cluing angle for 36A!
And last, as a developmental psychologist, I'm glad that my debut puzzle in the Times includes 18D. Thanks to Brooke Husic for test solving, and to many, many others in the crossworld who've helped me out.
| B | O | G | H | A | D | U | P | B | L | I | S | S | ||
| A | V | I | A | L | E | R | O | R | U | N | T | O | ||
| N | E | V | E | R | F | E | L | T | B | E | T | T | E | R |
| G | R | E | W | D | I | M | B | E | N | Z | E | N | E | |
| N | O | P | E | G | R | A | D | L | O | L | ||||
| T | A | N | K | A | B | R | O | G | A | N | ||||
| U | S | A | S | C | R | A | W | L | A | G | E | S | ||
| G | A | M | E | S | H | O | W | N | E | T | W | O | R | K |
| S | P | E | C | O | W | L | I | S | H | I | R | A | ||
| O | O | P | S | I | E | E | R | N | S | T | ||||
| A | S | H | A | P | E | X | S | M | O | G | ||||
| T | H | E | A | T | E | R | A | T | A | L | O | S | S | |
| B | A | R | B | E | D | W | I | R | E | F | E | N | C | E |
| A | M | B | E | R | A | C | T | I | I | C | A | M | ||
| T | E | S | T | S | R | E | Y | N | A | E | M | I |
