| I | M | P | S | L | O | V | E | S | C | E | N | E | S | |
| L | A | I | T | A | D | A | M | S | A | V | A | G | E | |
| L | I | K | E | B | I | S | O | N | B | I | S | O | N | |
| F | L | A | M | E | O | U | T | L | E | T | I | T | ||
| A | B | C | R | U | M | S | H | E | I | S | R | |||
| M | O | H | A | I | R | D | N | A | M | E | T | A | ||
| E | X | U | D | E | R | E | A | L | T | O | R | S | ||
| A | P | R | I | L | F | O | O | L | ||||||
| J | A | M | A | I | S | V | U | P | A | R | S | E | ||
| R | I | M | S | F | E | E | B | E | R | E | A | L | ||
| O | M | B | D | E | N | B | O | N | G | O | Y | |||
| O | B | A | M | A | W | O | O | D | C | U | T | S | ||
| M | E | N | I | N | B | L | A | C | K | A | L | O | E | |
| B | A | D | S | C | I | E | N | C | E | N | A | M | E | |
| A | M | S | T | E | L | B | E | E | R | T | R | E | S |
We're so excited to present our first collaboration! Hope solvers enjoy.
This grid went through many iterations; some clues left on the cutting room floor: [Spanish for "propaganda"], [First word of The Police's "Roxanne"], [Williams's opponent in the 2003 Wimbledon final] and [___ City, Iowa].
| Y | E | A | H | I | A | M | H | A | H | A | S | P | U | E | R | T | O | |||
| H | A | M | R | A | D | I | O | E | R | O | D | E | E | N | V | I | E | D | ||
| T | H | E | S | T | A | R | R | Y | F | I | G | H | T | T | R | I | P | L | E | |
| T | O | N | E | M | A | R | E | S | D | A | M | S | E | L | S | |||||
| P | O | D | C | L | A | S | S | R | E | P | T | O | P | E | N | S | A | |||
| W | A | I | L | S | R | E | O | B | A | L | L | O | O | N | ||||||
| I | T | S | A | B | E | T | N | O | L | E | A | D | S | E | R | I | N | |||
| T | H | E | R | O | N | A | L | I | S | A | U | S | C | E | X | T | R | A | ||
| C | R | A | B | S | E | N | S | U | E | E | S | T | E | E | L | |||||
| H | U | L | A | S | L | O | E | G | M | A | N | A | T | U | R | E | S | |||
| T | H | E | G | I | R | T | H | O | F | V | E | N | U | S | ||||||
| I | M | S | H | O | R | T | S | A | W | R | I | S | K | E | M | I | T | |||
| T | I | P | R | E | Q | B | I | S | O | N | D | R | A | P | E | |||||
| B | L | O | W | N | F | L | Y | T | H | E | E | O | N | O | F | M | A | N | ||
| U | L | N | A | L | O | A | T | H | E | D | H | U | G | E | A | S | K | |||
| R | I | G | H | T | H | A | W | K | S | B | I | N | G | E | ||||||
| S | E | E | S | I | G | N | A | F | R | A | I | D | S | O | A | M | Y | |||
| D | R | E | S | S | E | D | L | O | N | G | U | B | R | E | A | |||||
| C | R | O | A | T | S | C | R | E | A | T | I | O | N | O | F | A | D | A | Y | |
| U | N | W | I | S | E | K | A | T | I | E | O | N | E | O | N | O | N | E | ||
| B | A | N | N | E | D | S | T | A | L | L | F | O | R | G | E | R | Y |
This theme started with visually representing famous painting titles in the grid. After a few brainstorms, the concept of altering art into wacky knockoffs took over. One early version had us changing the letters F-O-R-G-E-R-Y across seven paintings into random letters to form silly phrases. For example, the "G" from FORGERY would map to the "G" a solver replaces in Leonardo's "THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI" to become "THE ADORATION OF THE MANI". This was fun, but the incorrect letters were oddly arbitrary — and having the solver mentally replace the wrong letters with F-O-R-G-E-R-Y to reveal the original titles was potentially unsatisfying.
What we decided felt most fun and impactful was including well-known original painting titles in the grid as guides, with F-O-R-G-E-R-Y squeezed into key squares alongside original letters — giving the sense that the solver is actually comparing the original to a fake, much like an art dealer. Our original Times submission included slashes in the rebus squares. The puzzle editors removed them in the final version, and we both agreed that the puzzle was better for it, since telegraphing all 7 of the either/or squares from the start would make a less tricky and satisfying solve.
Tracy and I were pleased that THE SON OF MAN snuck into our theme about forgery — since this painting appears in the 1999 film "The Thomas Crown Affair" which features a forgery scheme.
| A | C | M | E | L | I | M | A | P | E | P | P | A | ||
| B | R | A | Y | I | P | O | S | A | D | O | R | N | ||
| H | O | N | E | Y | S | A | C | S | D | I | G | I | N | |
| O | C | E | L | O | T | H | I | S | B | O | D | E | ||
| R | E | D | I | D | C | A | S | U | A | L | S | E | X | |
| D | A | S | H | I | N | L | E | T | ||||||
| T | O | Y | S | P | I | S | D | E | S | I | G | N | ||
| E | M | O | P | I | C | K | S | I | X | C | I | A | ||
| E | G | G | S | O | N | Y | E | A | D | K | N | Y | ||
| I | N | P | J | S | T | L | D | R | ||||||
| T | U | B | E | S | O | C | K | S | U | S | U | A | L | |
| A | S | E | A | B | O | A | S | I | E | N | N | A | ||
| P | A | R | K | S | T | H | A | T | S | U | C | K | S | |
| E | G | R | E | T | U | L | N | A | S | A | L | E | ||
| R | E | A | D | Y | S | O | A | R | S | P | E | D |
This theme type is often called a "vowel movement," where a series of words can be spelled with all five vowel sounds in rotation.
I'd been impressed with other constructors' vowel movements in the past, marveling at their satisfying simplicity. Creating a theme like this seemed easy enough… Yet after weeks of unsuccessfully trying, I wondered if I'd ever produce a solid vowel movement myself. All my initial attempts stunk and were, quite frankly, very sloppy.
So I pushed to achieve tightness in my vowel movement, settling on two word phrases with the rotation in the second word. Usually I make all my puzzles on a laptop, but when a strong vowel movement just wasn't emerging, I decided to work it out with a pencil. There was a point where I thought it shouldn't be this hard.
But then came that explosive moment! When I finally hit on the vowel movement you see today, I couldn't hold it in any longer. After it was fully out of my system, I did a quick check, pushed that fateful button, and—whoosh—it was sent off to the New York Times.
I often think about crossword themes like seats at a bar and hope that with my vowel movement, this stool wasn't already taken. Luckily, when the editors got a whiff of it, they were extremely pleased.
Now do I think this will be the absolute best puzzle you solve all week? Probably not… but I'd settle for number two!
| Z | O | O | D | A | W | N | S | D | E | C | O | R | ||
| E | M | U | E | M | A | I | L | I | V | O | R | Y | ||
| T | A | T | M | Y | S | T | I | C | P | I | Z | Z | A | |
| A | R | O | M | A | E | G | O | L | Y | O | N | |||
| F | I | N | A | L | H | E | F | T | ||||||
| B | R | O | A | D | C | A | S | T | N | E | W | S | ||
| O | A | R | S | H | I | A | W | I | N | G | S | |||
| R | I | D | S | E | R | U | P | T | N | O | L | O | ||
| E | L | E | C | T | N | O | T | E | W | I | N | |||
| R | O | S | E | M | A | R | Y | S | B | A | B | Y | ||
| R | A | R | E | E | L | T | O | N | ||||||
| A | S | A | P | I | T | D | E | G | G | O | S | |||
| D | E | L | I | V | E | R | A | N | C | E | E | R | E | |
| D | E | F | O | E | I | D | I | O | M | L | A | X | ||
| S | P | A | N | X | C | A | L | M | S | S | L | Y |
ACME: After Christina and I did a puzzle about going into labor and delivering a baby, I got to think about what else is delivered? Babies, the news, pizza, milk (in the Olden Days) mail/Amazon packages (in the Newen Days). We thought it'd be fun to think of films with those words in the titles, with the reveal being "Deliverance"… a pivotal film of my adolescence.
"Licorice Pizza" was out in the theaters, but we weren't sure it would stand the test of time.
The tricky part was a way to unite the films clue-wise. So we focused on the setting where the actors "deliver" their performances. I think it's pretty tough without at least one prominent actor's name attached (Julia Roberts, Holly Hunter, Burt Reynolds), but space limitations overruled.
As a serious movie buff, I love this puzzle. And I loved working on a "sequel" with Christina!
CHRISTINA: Andrea is a pleasure to work with, and I'm happy to share a byline with her again! When this puzzle comes out, we will have just seen each other in person at ACPT (The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament). Maybe one day we'll make a puzzle together that has nothing to do with delivering babies!
| B | R | B | I | R | A | S | G | A | S | B | A | G | ||
| A | E | R | M | A | R | C | A | V | I | A | T | E | ||
| M | A | E | F | I | L | E | T | M | I | G | N | O | N | |
| B | L | A | H | D | O | N | T | M | I | N | D | M | E | |
| I | M | S | O | R | E | E | V | E | L | |||||
| T | T | A | D | A | S | O | A | P | B | O | X | |||
| R | O | M | M | P | H | A | H | N | E | A | V | E | ||
| O | M | I | I | T | G | T | O | S | T | T | U | N | ||
| T | A | L | C | L | O | E | W | E | M | M | M | A | ||
| I | N | K | S | P | O | T | S | O | L | I | I | |||
| L | A | C | K | P | A | C | T | E | N | |||||
| F | E | L | T | A | T | H | O | M | E | E | Z | R | A | |
| O | V | E | R | S | H | A | R | I | N | G | V | I | P | |
| R | E | G | I | M | E | A | N | T | I | A | C | E | ||
| A | R | O | M | A | S | N | E | O | N | H | A | S |
I was a little worried that having the same letters "stretched" each time might get repetitive. But I figured that, with just three sets, the first could be discovery, the second confirmation, and the third a freebie reward.
I hope people enjoy!
For any interested constructors, I have a tutorial on my blog about using wordlist encoding to help fill grids like this. I'll even upload an incredibly dull video walkthrough for this puzzle after it prints (for any true sickos). I also post puzzles, at least monthly.
| B | I | L | L | S | H | I | A | H | A | R | D | Y | ||
| A | C | A | I | P | E | N | N | A | F | O | R | E | ||
| T | O | M | S | R | I | F | T | T | R | A | Y | S | ||
| O | N | I | T | E | G | O | M | E | A | D | ||||
| N | I | N | E | V | E | H | D | E | S | I | R | E | D | |
| S | C | A | R | E | T | O | E | D | D | A | L | E | ||
| I | N | S | R | E | D | G | I | G | ||||||
| T | R | A | D | I | N | G | P | L | A | C | E | S | ||
| S | E | E | M | O | A | E | L | L | ||||||
| I | S | N | T | I | N | N | S | T | I | L | E | S | ||
| S | T | E | E | P | L | E | P | R | O | P | A | N | E | |
| G | L | E | E | W | O | O | P | U | T | T | ||||
| T | R | A | L | A | C | H | I | P | I | R | I | S | ||
| E | I | D | E | R | P | O | L | E | N | E | R | O | ||
| D | O | E | R | S | U | S | S | R | G | L | E | N |
My wife and I have always enjoyed the goofy 1983 movie "Trading Places," and the idea of answers trading places in the grid seemed as if it might be fun. Originally I thought of characters from the movie — Louis and Billy Ray — doing the trading, but they're obscure, and when I thought of Laurel and Hardy and realized that their names are both regular words I figured I might be on to something. Of course, in a puzzle like this the theme entries don't have to be placed symmetrically, so this gave me a lot of latitude in the choice of grid and where, exactly, to put the themers.
I have now recently crossed (ha!) two items off my bucket list: in addition to getting this puzzle published, I was able to appear on the "Jeopardy!" TV show, first in the inaugural Professors Tournament, and then in the Tournament of Champions, where I finished as "second runner-up," which feels better than "third."
| H | A | M | I | T | U | P | H | A | J | |||||
| D | E | L | I | G | H | T | S | M | A | S | A | |||
| T | O | P | B | A | N | A | N | A | O | V | A | L | ||
| I | O | N | S | M | I | T | E | P | L | A | N | O | ||
| P | R | O | M | I | T | S | C | A | T | N | A | P | ||
| O | P | T | I | N | E | A | S | Y | P | E | A | S | Y | |
| S | I | G | N | E | D | T | U | R | I | N | ||||
| D | O | D | G | E | D | A | B | U | L | L | E | T | ||
| B | A | B | E | L | S | L | A | M | O | N | ||||
| S | W | E | E | T | T | A | L | K | A | V | E | R | Y | |
| T | O | N | N | E | S | O | R | B | A | R | T | S | ||
| R | O | A | D | S | G | R | O | I | N | G | E | E | ||
| A | H | M | E | K | I | D | G | L | O | V | E | S | ||
| D | O | E | R | F | R | E | E | B | I | E | S | |||
| A | O | L | C | O | R | R | O | D | E |
I think the seed entry for this puzzle didn't make it into my final grid, but I was pretty enamored with the grid structure and the central down answer, so I stuck with it. The editors upped the toughness of some of the clues — and the amount of Simpsons content — but I hope the puzzle DELIGHTS in any case.
On a side note, congrats to all the ACPT champs this year. I watched the finals from home, and as always, was fully floored by the skills on display, not to mention the nail-biting finish!
| D | A | Z | E | S | S | M | E | L | T | |||||
| S | E | V | E | N | U | P | T | E | N | O | R | S | ||
| A | P | O | S | T | L | E | S | E | A | T | S | I | T | |
| D | O | N | T | R | U | S | H | M | E | W | I | K | I | |
| I | S | L | E | Y | C | O | A | L | M | I | N | E | R | |
| S | E | E | D | B | E | E | R | B | O | N | G | S | ||
| T | S | A | A | R | T | S | C | E | N | E | S | |||
| P | L | E | A | H | A | T | S | |||||||
| S | O | L | A | R | T | I | M | E | P | E | A | |||
| C | A | N | A | D | I | A | N | S | W | I | L | L | ||
| C | A | N | D | Y | B | A | R | S | S | H | E | E | P | |
| O | P | T | S | O | N | E | T | O | W | A | T | C | H | |
| S | P | A | C | E | X | S | E | N | O | R | I | T | A | |
| T | E | N | U | R | E | P | I | L | F | E | R | S | ||
| D | A | M | E | S | T | E | S | S | A |
This grid dates back to mid-2020, when I first started toying with ultra-low word count themeless puzzles (as I unexpectedly had a lot of free time). Despite many attempts at 60-word puzzles since then, I've yet to assemble a grid center as clean and colorful as this one. I consider myself pretty lucky to have found it.
The technique I used to fill this puzzle is one I call "spot seeding." (I'm almost certainly not the first person to use this technique, but I haven't seen it described before, so I figured I'd give it a name.) Typically, themeless puzzles are built around one or more preselected "seed" answers. It can be risky not to do this, since crossword solvers and editors look for at least a few outstanding marquee answers in a themeless. Eschewing this wisdom, a grid can be "spot seeded" by building a grid around strategically placed letters, not full phrases.
Here, I spot seeded with the R of COAL MINER, the Y of CANDY BARS, and the first S of ART SCENES — all favorable terminal letters for the intersecting Downs. The remaining fill soon followed with computer assistance. Voila! Oh, and I also wrote some clues.
Lastly, a plug for my first crossword book — a collection of hard 10x10 themelesses in the "Sip and Solve" series! This book has some of my favorite puzzles I've ever made, and it's available for preorder right now.
| F | R | E | T | S | A | W | M | A | R | I | A | A | R | D | E | N | T | |||
| R | O | M | A | I | N | E | S | E | C | O | N | D | Q | U | A | S | A | R | ||
| A | B | I | R | D | I | N | T | H | E | H | A | N | D | U | N | L | I | K | E | |
| N | E | R | D | T | W | I | T | D | E | L | T | A | A | G | E | E | ||||
| I | S | A | D | O | R | A | G | R | E | A | T | M | I | N | D | S | ||||
| P | E | S | T | L | E | E | T | N | A | B | I | E | L | |||||||
| I | A | N | A | L | A | S | O | M | E | N | C | H | A | S | M | S | ||||
| S | P | E | A | K | O | F | T | H | E | D | E | V | I | L | M | E | A | L | ||
| H | A | R | L | E | Y | A | U | X | E | L | O | N | A | C | N | E | ||||
| G | T | O | S | I | R | I | U | S | F | A | B | R | I | P | ||||||
| I | F | Y | O | U | C | A | N | T | S | T | A | N | D | T | H | E | H | E | A | T |
| P | E | C | T | O | M | T | A | M | E | R | S | L | O | T | ||||||
| A | D | Z | E | B | O | B | S | B | A | E | C | L | O | M | P | S | ||||
| S | T | A | X | A | L | L | T | H | A | T | G | L | I | T | T | E | R | S | ||
| S | O | R | T | E | D | T | R | O | U | S | A | V | E | N | O | N | ||||
| E | L | I | A | B | R | I | M | S | E | N | D | U | P | |||||||
| W | H | E | N | I | N | R | O | M | E | W | Y | N | E | T | T | E | ||||
| H | E | L | D | E | T | H | O | S | A | G | E | R | F | L | U | E | ||||
| E | N | L | I | S | T | Y | O | U | K | N | O | W | T | H | E | R | E | S | T | |
| A | R | E | N | O | T | E | R | R | A | N | D | A | E | R | A | T | E | S | ||
| T | I | N | G | L | E | S | E | E | Y | A | G | R | E | G | O | R | Y |
The technical term for these kinds of phrases is "anapodoton," defined as when the main clause of a phrase ("Do as the Romans do") is not stated but implied by a sub-clause ("When in Rome…."). It can also be used in threats ("If you do that one more time…) or statements ("If you think I'm going to stand for your insults…).
Wikipedia tells me that it's common in classical Chinese; for example, "A frog in a well…" is short for "A frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean," a saying by philosopher Zhuangzi which essentially means that you should get out more. Every day's a school day, even Sunday—end lecture.
This was my first attempt at a Sunday puzzle — it was frankly terrifying, and at times I despaired of finding a fill. But where there's a will…
| A | P | P | S | S | C | A | N | U | R | B | A | N | ||
| S | O | A | P | U | H | N | O | N | E | R | V | E | ||
| A | R | Y | A | F | A | I | R | I | S | F | A | I | R | |
| D | E | E | M | S | F | I | T | B | E | I | T | S | O | |
| A | D | E | A | L | I | S | A | D | E | A | L | |||
| L | O | X | A | T | L | E | A | S | T | |||||
| S | W | O | O | P | E | D | I | N | M | A | R | |||
| W | H | A | T | S | D | O | N | E | I | S | D | O | N | E |
| A | O | K | M | A | S | T | E | R | K | E | Y | |||
| B | A | S | S | A | L | E | S | A | Y | |||||
| I | T | I | S | W | H | A | T | I | T | I | S | |||
| B | R | O | N | T | E | R | A | T | S | N | E | S | T | |
| L | O | V | E | I | S | L | O | V | E | G | A | L | A | |
| O | N | E | A | L | U | T | E | S | U | S | E | R | ||
| W | A | N | D | A | G | E | N | T | P | E | S | T |
The only thing more exciting than having my debut puzzle earlier this year is being able to say I was not a "one-hit wonder." This puzzle's theme was inspired, in part, by my husband, who wagered me that I would not be able to fit five tautologies into a weekday-sized puzzle. A BET IS A BET, so I had to try! With a great deal of work and persistence, I was able to do it — FACTS ARE FACTS! But ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I just hope folks will find this straightforward Monday theme to be fun.
P.S. Hello to all my friends and family who are UTES! This one's for you!
| L | A | M | A | L | A | M | F | L | I | C | K | ||
| A | L | O | T | I | R | E | R | O | N | A | N | ||
| W | A | N | T | A | P | I | E | C | E | O | F | M | E |
| D | I | V | A | T | H | E | P | O | P | E | |||
| B | E | L | A | S | U | E | D | ||||||
| O | R | G | A | N | I | C | P | R | O | D | U | C | T |
| P | A | R | T | O | O | M | O | N | A | E | |||
| T | H | E | M | S | T | A | N | G | I | N | S | ||
| I | M | E | A | N | B | O | T | T | I | L | |||
| C | A | N | D | Y | C | R | U | S | H | S | A | G | A |
| G | O | A | T | E | U | R | O | ||||||
| A | M | A | Z | I | N | G | J | O | D | I | |||
| G | O | C | O | A | S | T | T | O | C | O | A | S | T |
| U | P | E | N | N | A | O | L | K | N | O | B | ||
| A | S | S | E | T | G | E | T | U | S | P | S |
TAYLOR: This is one of the first puzzles I ever wrote, dating back to June 2021. I don't recall what inspired the idea, but I am grateful to Jeff for taking it on and providing me with my first bits of mentorship as I was very new to construction. Most of what I remember from this time in my life was the eight weeks of paternity leave I was on, as my daughter had just been born that spring. I remember many family walks, early mornings fueled by coffee, and my newfound love for making crosswords. It was a turning point in my life, and this puzzle serves as a welcome reminder of that.
Quick plug for my indie crosswords project: "lemonade disco". I'm still taking submissions of puzzles and queries for the current prompt: "game night." Visit www.taylormadecrosswords.com for more info. Thanks!!
| P | L | U | S | C | R | A | B | N | I | N | J | A | ||
| T | O | N | I | H | E | R | R | B | T | E | A | M | ||
| A | I | D | E | S | I | D | E | A | S | A | S | I | D | E |
| S | N | O | R | T | B | A | K | E | A | L | E | X | ||
| R | A | G | A | E | X | I | T | |||||||
| S | T | R | A | Y | A | R | T | S | Y | T | R | A | Y | S |
| L | I | U | L | O | O | T | A | R | O | T | ||||
| I | A | M | B | A | N | N | O | Y | P | R | U | E | ||
| C | R | O | O | N | A | N | O | A | V | E | ||||
| E | A | R | L | Y | R | E | L | A | Y | L | A | Y | E | R |
| S | T | A | G | N | O | I | R | |||||||
| S | T | A | T | G | R | I | D | D | E | C | O | R | ||
| N | O | T | E | S | S | E | T | O | N | S | T | O | N | E |
| O | U | T | R | O | T | O | F | U | H | E | E | D | ||
| B | R | A | S | S | S | O | F | T | A | L | S | O |
BROOKE: I'm so thrilled for Olivia and my collab debut! We barely knew each other when we started collaborating, but now we've been working together at Lil AVC X for about half a year. Olivia is such a thoughtful editor and mentor and has really amazing, creative ideas; it's a privilege to work with her! Her thoughtfulness and creativeness came through in this puzzle — the idea is all hers!
OLIVIA: I'm so grateful that Brooke contacted me about collaborating back in 2021! It was a pleasure to work with her then and an absolute dream to work with her now. This is the first Wednesday puzzle for both of us, and I'm really happy with how it turned out!
This theme started as an idea to create clues made up of anagrams ... the two entries I had at the start were [Notes set on stone] for ENGRAVINGS and [Least stale tales] for PAGE TURNERS. Luckily Brooke had the idea of switching up the execution by putting the anagrams in the grid. From there, we went back and forth with some fun options. Here are some others that were left on the cutting room floor:
| P | A | G | E | P | E | D | E | A | S | M | A | R | A | ||
| A | T | E | A | N | D | R | A | N | R | I | O | T | E | R | |
| C | L | O | S | E | F | O | R | C | O | M | F | O | R | T | T |
| M | E | N | S | K | I | T | T | R | I | A | D | ||||
| O | N | E | S | E | C | S | N | O | B | A | P | E | |||
| R | A | T | H | O | T | T | O | H | A | N | D | L | E | T | |
| E | R | R | S | M | A | A | C | E | O | ||||||
| C | O | O | L | F | O | R | S | C | H | O | O | L | T | ||
| L | E | I | T | S | A | M | E | T | A | ||||||
| L | E | G | I | T | T | O | Q | U | I | T | T | M | I | D | |
| A | X | E | S | O | U | R | A | L | M | O | N | D | |||
| O | T | T | E | R | R | A | G | E | B | A | N | ||||
| T | O | O | L | I | T | T | L | E | T | O | O | L | A | T | E |
| S | L | U | I | C | E | M | O | N | O | X | I | D | E | S | |
| E | S | T | E | E | M | S | N | A | P | K | E | E | P |
Hello Crossworld! I'm a Chinese-Filipino software engineer currently living in Singapore. Absolutely ecstatic to be making my print debut here, and on my favorite day no less! (Okay, second-favorite. I'm a sucker for Saturdays.)
I caught the crossword bug about three years ago and fell deep into the rabbit hole of crossword construction, reading everything I could get my hands on. I'm pretty sure I've read every single one of Jeff's write-ups here, along with another couple thousand or so of Rex's blog reviews and hundreds of Wordplay, Cruciverb, Fiend, etc. posts and articles. These resources and more have been invaluable in making me a better constructor: this was only my second submission to the Times.
As a "foreigner," it always feels a bit weird making crosswords for an American audience. A large mass of my American cultural knowledge comes from crosswords themselves, so it can sometimes be hard for me to tell what's crosswordese and what's genuinely well-known. It's like being a chef with no palate! It probably won't be that surprising to hear that this was sent back for a few rounds of fill revision. Many thanks to Sam and the team for the help!
Thankfully, the language of wordplay is universal, and many of my punny clues made the cut. 14D is by far my favorite, but 15A, 45A, 70A and 13D were fun to write, too. The team had a few of their own great additions: my favorite is 61D.
| T | W | I | T | R | P | G | A | D | A | M | S | |||
| O | H | M | E | M | U | S | I | C | V | I | D | E | O | |
| P | I | E | R | O | N | A | G | O | O | D | D | A | Y | |
| S | T | A | N | D | P | A | T | N | C | I | S | L | A | |
| Y | E | N | O | U | T | G | N | A | T | |||||
| S | T | E | E | P | C | R | E | D | T | M | I | |||
| P | O | T | S | Y | O | U | D | O | T | H | A | T | ||
| J | A | S | O | N | E | L | M | T | U | R | K | S | ||
| I | C | A | N | T | S | T | O | P | O | B | O | E | ||
| F | E | Y | M | A | I | N | P | A | I | N | S | |||
| P | A | D | S | S | I | S | E | S | P | |||||
| S | H | T | E | T | L | M | I | N | T | O | R | E | O | |
| L | O | V | E | T | O | H | A | T | E | H | O | N | K | |
| A | P | P | L | E | T | I | N | I | S | H | O | S | E | |
| T | I | G | E | R | T | E | N | I | M | E | D |
BILLY (he/him): The two of us met at Carleton during winter term 2022 (Billy's freshman year, Clay's sophomore year). By May, I had started introducing Clay to the magical world of crosswords. We sent the NYT two puzzles. Incidentally, this is the one we thought was less good, but we had fun building around LOVE TO HATE nonetheless. Clay, time to hit 'em with a bio.
CLAY (he/him): I am on an accelerated track at Carleton College, graduating next year, where I'm a member of CUT (Carleton Ultimate Team). I am from Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, working as an advisory intern this summer at KPMG. I am currently in India on the Ganges River. Last month I learned to fly fish on the Golden Dorado Cruiser on the Panara and Las Pitras Lodge in Patagonia, Argentina — thank you to Fabian and David. Fabian was also nice enough to teach me how to drive stick. Also, thank you Fishing With Larry for making everything so easy to plan!
BILLY: My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over (103 days without a Billy Bratton NYT crossword).
| A | D | D | R | E | S | S | B | A | R | V | I | D | S | |
| C | A | R | I | C | A | T | U | R | E | I | C | O | N | |
| U | F | O | L | O | G | I | S | T | S | M | A | Y | O | |
| T | O | O | L | T | H | I | E | F | N | O | W | |||
| E | E | L | T | E | C | H | S | T | A | R | T | U | P | |
| R | E | D | H | O | T | T | H | E | M | E | ||||
| S | L | A | N | G | G | E | T | A | V | I | A | |||
| S | C | A | T | T | E | R | S | I | E | M | E | N | S | |
| T | A | U | S | S | I | B | A | M | E | N | D | |||
| E | R | R | O | R | N | O | R | R | I | S | ||||
| M | E | A | N | I | N | G | W | H | A | T | V | A | N | |
| C | A | D | M | O | T | T | O | L | I | D | O | |||
| E | W | E | S | G | O | I | N | G | R | A | T | E | S | |
| L | A | R | A | O | N | E | D | A | Y | S | A | L | E | |
| L | Y | N | X | S | E | S | A | M | E | S | E | E | D |
| S | P | A | M | S | A | S | O | F | B | O | A | R | L | A | P | S | E | |||
| A | L | L | A | H | D | E | C | O | L | O | R | E | I | N | L | A | Y | |||
| P | U | L | S | E | A | W | A | R | D | O | F | T | H | E | S | T | A | T | E | |
| S | M | O | K | E | E | L | T | O | N | S | A | L | T | I | N | E | S | |||
| B | R | U | S | H | E | D | A | S | I | D | E | B | L | E | H | |||||
| P | H | O | T | O | T | S | P | S | A | N | E | M | I | C | ||||||
| W | O | K | S | A | N | T | A | O | I | L | T | R | I | P | E | |||||
| E | M | A | N | U | E | L | A | B | R | I | D | G | E | T | O | O | F | A | R | |
| L | A | B | E | L | S | O | B | E | D | I | E | N | C | E | F | D | A | |||
| C | H | U | R | N | B | A | L | S | A | S | T | E | S | S | ||||||
| H | A | L | F | A | W | A | K | E | A | T | O | N | E | P | O | E | M | |||
| S | E | E | K | H | O | T | F | O | R | X | A | N | D | O | ||||||
| S | A | T | P | E | R | F | O | R | A | T | E | L | E | T | T | E | R | |||
| A | C | U | T | E | T | R | I | A | N | G | L | E | W | I | S | E | O | N | E | |
| S | T | R | U | M | S | T | U | C | R | E | A | M | P | S | Y | |||||
| S | I | N | G | E | R | A | N | T | S | G | I | B | E | S | ||||||
| O | R | A | L | A | H | E | A | D | O | F | S | T | E | A | M | |||||
| S | A | D | F | A | C | E | D | A | G | L | E | T | H | A | S | A | T | |||
| S | L | O | W | L | Y | G | R | E | W | A | P | A | R | T | I | C | O | N | S | |
| N | O | M | A | D | A | N | T | E | E | R | I | E | C | O | N | G | A | |||
| S | U | E | R | S | L | O | A | D | N | Y | P | D | S | W | E | A | R |
| L | E | M | O | N | D | I | A | L | S | A | P | |||
| A | D | I | D | A | S | A | C | M | E | P | R | O | ||
| S | I | L | E | N | T | T | R | E | A | T | M | E | N | T |
| S | T | E | T | R | O | T | C | S | E | E | I | T | ||
| O | M | I | T | U | P | S | I | D | E | S | ||||
| E | M | O | J | I | K | E | Y | B | O | A | R | D | ||
| D | E | N | O | T | E | E | E | L | Y | A | T | O | ||
| A | R | T | Y | G | A | S | S | T | O | P | ||||
| M | E | H | G | O | O | S | I | M | H | E | R | E | ||
| E | L | E | V | A | T | O | R | M | U | S | I | C | ||
| C | A | S | I | T | A | S | M | O | A | T | ||||
| O | S | C | A | R | T | H | E | N | S | O | I | L | ||
| T | H | E | R | E | A | R | E | N | O | W | O | R | D | S |
| T | E | N | A | L | A | N | N | A | U | S | E | A | ||
| A | N | T | L | A | Y | S | S | T | O | A | T |
KATE: Woo hoo! I took up constructing during the pandemic and am eternally grateful to the welcoming, generous crossworld community for helping out a clueless newbie. I'm ecstatic to have my NYT debut with Scott, whose skill is matched only by his kindness. This was my 22nd submission — I finally wore them down!
This theme was Scott's idea, and we had fun going back and forth on themers (Can you read body language over Zoom? Does a silent movie have words? What's your favorite obscene gesture?). I'm so grateful to inimitable, hilarious mentor Ross Trudeau. I reached out cold to constructors I admired who were foolish enough to list contact information — thank you to collaborators Ross, Scott, Jeff, Adam, Matt, and Laura. In conclusion, woo hoo!
SCOTT: Kate has been a fantastic collaborator. I tend to construct freestyle [i.e., themeless] puzzles, so noodling on theme ideas with a creative partner like her has been a delight. This puzzle went through several revisions to make it more Monday-friendly — including a last one by the editors, thereby losing the fantastic CORI Bush — and being able to debate the merits of many, many fill options with Kate made the process much more enjoyable!
| C | H | A | O | S | P | A | N | S | T | R | A | P | ||
| H | I | N | D | U | S | L | O | W | H | O | M | E | ||
| A | L | I | E | N | V | S | P | R | E | D | A | T | O | R |
| I | L | L | D | I | T | A | U | T | I | S | M | |||
| E | R | A | F | E | R | N | S | |||||||
| G | O | D | Z | I | L | L | A | V | S | K | O | N | G | |
| A | Z | U | R | E | U | N | I | T | G | R | R | |||
| P | A | R | A | D | O | X | C | O | T | E | R | I | E | |
| E | R | E | P | U | T | T | O | B | A | M | A | |||
| K | R | A | M | E | R | V | S | K | R | A | M | E | R | |
| V | A | N | Y | A | A | N | Y | |||||||
| A | F | F | I | R | M | S | T | D | S | O | B | |||
| B | R | E | A | K | I | T | U | P | Y | O | U | T | W | O |
| E | A | S | T | N | O | S | E | W | I | E | L | D | ||
| L | U | T | E | D | M | E | D | N | E | W | S | Y |
I'm thrilled to make my New York Times debut! I am endlessly thankful for the support and for the test-solving of friends and family along the way. Special thanks are owed to my mom, the first person to solve this puzzle, and to my sister Naya, with whom I spent many a pandemic evening agonizing over a Saturday grid.
This puzzle started as many do — by noticing a fun pattern and wondering how one might construct a grid around it. The pool of "versus" movies is small and strange, split between legal drama and sci-fi/horror camp (see also: "Freddy vs. Jason"). The latter genre comes highly recommended if you're looking for some B-movie fun, but only after you've seen the original "King Kong" and "Alien."
Thanks for solving!
| P | O | P | E | C | O | P | A | Y | R | I | C | H | ||
| O | W | E | N | I | N | D | I | E | A | L | L | A | ||
| U | N | P | C | T | E | T | R | A | T | O | U | R | ||
| N | E | P | A | L | I | S | C | R | U | I | S | E | D | |
| D | R | A | M | A | I | P | A | A | N | T | S | Y | ||
| P | O | W | D | E | R | K | E | G | ||||||
| I | N | K | S | H | E | L | G | A | S | O | U | P | ||
| R | O | E | H | A | D | S | O | M | E | P | S | I | ||
| A | R | E | N | O | T | P | O | K | E | A | T | |||
| P | O | E | T | S | C | O | R | N | E | R | ||||
| B | C | C | S | H | O | O | H | A | Y | A | M | S | ||
| U | R | L | H | E | Y | M | R | D | J | S | A | W | ||
| R | O | O | M | Y | D | E | A | E | C | O | L | I | ||
| N | A | S | I | M | O | U | T | F | C | L | E | F | ||
| S | T | E | I | N | G | P | S | F | R | O | S | T |
| S | L | A | T | A | C | E | D | P | A | W | A | T | ||
| C | A | S | H | T | R | A | D | E | A | R | E | N | A | |
| U | P | P | E | R | C | A | S | E | R | E | O | I | L | |
| D | U | E | B | Y | N | E | M | E | A | U | S | E | ||
| S | P | R | I | T | Z | L | I | O | N | I | Z | E | S | |
| G | O | O | F | T | O | O | T | H | ||||||
| N | E | W | S | U | A | E | N | I | T | W | I | T | ||
| T | A | U | S | U | D | A | F | E | D | Z | O | O | ||
| H | U | Z | Z | A | H | R | I | O | W | O | N | T | ||
| W | I | D | E | N | G | O | B | I | ||||||
| C | A | U | T | I | O | U | S | N | U | D | I | S | T | |
| I | D | O | R | U | N | I | N | N | O | S | I | R | ||
| R | I | Z | Z | O | C | L | O | C | K | W | I | S | E | |
| C | O | Z | E | N | I | T | S | S | O | E | A | S | Y | |
| A | S | H | E | S | O | S | H | A | R | H | Y | S |
I was curious about developing a theme which plays on quirks of handwriting. I knew it might put app solvers at a slight disadvantage, but I hope it was still fun. (I abandoned a theme which only works if it's solved in lowercase, for which all solvers can be thankful.)
I tested the gimmick on different handwriting syles and limited the usable letters to those which worked most reliably (a capital /H/ will rotate to a capital /I/ without fail, but not vice-versa, for example, depending on handwriting style). A rotated capital /E/ or /U/ is unmistakably /M/-like or /C/-like in almost any font, but app solvers might still want to squint a bit.
I asked the editors if the NYT app or published answer key could use a "handwriting" font. As of this writing I don't know about the answer key, but I got a definite "no" on changing the app font!
| N | C | A | A | O | C | E | A | N | S | P | R | A | Y | |
| Y | U | C | K | C | A | R | N | E | A | S | A | D | A | |
| S | T | A | B | T | R | A | N | S | L | A | T | O | R | |
| E | S | P | A | N | O | L | A | T | E | I | B | N | ||
| A | P | R | O | P | O | S | M | O | O | S | ||||
| A | D | E | D | I | S | P | E | R | S | E | ||||
| B | E | L | A | I | G | U | E | S | S | S | O | |||
| C | A | L | C | U | L | A | T | O | R | W | A | T | C | H |
| S | L | A | M | P | O | E | T | S | A | R | I | |||
| E | S | P | R | E | S | S | O | T | I | O | ||||
| H | I | T | S | D | A | T | E | D | U | P | ||||
| A | D | A | I | L | K | F | O | R | E | S | T | S | ||
| D | A | T | A | C | E | N | T | E | R | A | Q | U | I | |
| I | H | A | V | E | T | O | A | S | K | T | U | R | N | |
| T | O | R | E | T | O | B | I | T | S | H | O | E | S |
Hope folks enjoyed solving our puzzle! Here's an alternate clue for 37A: Time machine that can solve your problems?
| I | O | W | A | S | J | A | C | K | A | S | S | E | S | |
| S | H | A | V | E | U | P | A | N | D | Q | U | I | T | |
| T | H | R | E | W | J | U | N | E | A | U | I | T | E | |
| H | E | B | R | E | W | U | T | A | B | I | T | H | A | |
| I | L | L | R | I | B | A | L | D | D | E | E | M | ||
| S | L | O | P | Z | E | R | O | E | S | D | R | Y | ||
| I | N | G | O | D | O | S | R | I | C | |||||
| T | O | S | S | U | P | Q | U | E | S | T | I | O | N | S |
| T | O | R | U | S | S | T | R | A | W | |||||
| T | S | K | S | O | E | A | S | Y | Y | A | D | A | ||
| B | E | E | R | V | E | L | L | U | M | L | E | N | ||
| O | N | R | A | D | A | R | I | M | A | J | E | R | K | |
| N | O | N | P | U | B | L | I | C | N | I | X | I | E | |
| D | R | E | A | M | L | I | K | E | G | N | A | T | S | |
| S | A | L | T | P | E | T | E | R | E | X | M | E | T |
There had been some talk recently about Saturday being the new Friday. I suspect that last week's puzzle by KAC and this week's will tamp down such talk for a while.
One standard way of making a puzzle harder is making the clues vague, so they lead you in multiple directions. But it's easy to overdo it, and no one wants to do a puzzle with clues like [Noun] and [Verb]. I like clues that appear vague at first, but then become surprisingly specific as you figure them out. A good example is [They have everyone buzzing] at 35-Across. Initially you might be thinking in several directions, but once you think of buzzing in as in College Bowl, "everyone" becomes a critical part of the definition.
| O | F | T | S | P | A | T | B | A | R | O | N | H | A | B | L | A | ||||
| P | L | E | A | R | A | G | U | A | L | O | H | A | A | P | L | U | S | |||
| A | I | R | G | U | I | T | A | R | P | L | A | Y | S | A | T | R | I | C | K | |
| H | R | R | E | P | T | I | N | T | O | R | A | R | E | I | N | K | S | |||
| S | T | A | N | D | S | I | N | T | H | E | W | A | Y | C | O | L | D | |||
| T | O | O | I | N | S | T | L | E | N | S | C | A | P | |||||||
| J | E | R | K | S | A | R | O | U | N | D | M | I | D | U | S | E | ||||
| A | B | U | K | E | R | R | S | C | A | M | A | O | R | T | A | |||||
| D | O | S | E | D | F | A | L | L | S | O | U | T | O | F | F | A | V | O | R | |
| E | Y | E | L | E | V | E | L | A | W | A | R | E | L | I | T | E | R | |||
| A | C | E | R | L | W | O | R | D | L | O | E | B | ||||||||
| C | S | P | A | N | D | A | F | O | E | G | O | P | L | A | C | E | S | |||
| B | A | T | S | F | I | V | E | H | U | N | D | R | E | D | D | R | A | W | L | |
| F | R | E | E | S | E | A | R | L | N | A | E | S | M | A | E | |||||
| F | O | R | H | E | N | B | E | A | R | S | I | N | M | I | N | D | ||||
| S | N | I | F | T | E | R | G | L | A | M | R | O | E | |||||||
| L | O | C | S | P | L | A | N | T | S | E | V | I | D | E | N | C | E | |||
| S | M | I | Z | E | S | H | O | T | S | O | M | E | U | T | A | H | N | |||
| P | U | Z | Z | L | E | S | O | V | E | R | D | A | R | K | H | U | M | O | R | |
| O | N | E | I | L | S | T | E | N | O | A | I | D | A | P | E | S | O | |||
| T | I | D | E | S | N | O | D | T | O | S | L | I | T | D | E | N |
KATIE: I know I say this about all my puzzles, but this one really is my favorite. I love when a theme falls into place like this while you work through other ideas and end up on a tangent that becomes a great set. Scott is really fun to work with since we have a similar sense of humor. He is so good at exhausting the possibilities of a theme, and he doesn't hold back, on the theory that even crazy ideas can spark something that could end up working. We tend to communicate on our shared docs through comments on each other's entry ideas, and quite often, I just leave a "lol" or an "omg, Scott!"
He took the lead on writing the clues here because I kept letting the word "is" slip in, which we really needed to avoid for it to work. He made them all quotes which gave them a nice consistency, and I think it enhanced the humor significantly.
SCOTT: I'm so excited to have joined forces with Katie Hale on this puzzle! Our mutual mentor (and crossword rockstar) Christina Iverson introduced us by email at some point during her meteoric rise to the NYT editing staff. Having our acceptance email penned by Christina was undeniably cool.
Katie is hilarious to work with. I found the inclusion of DARK HUMOR as one of the longer non-theme entries particularly appropriate because we share a twisted sense of humor — sometimes to our detriment, I think. Our first ever NYT (REJECTED!) submission used funny "bad behavior" phrases like LIFT A FINGERPAINTING [Steal artwork from a kindergarten classroom?]. Another (REJECTED!) submission followed a heckling wine snob at a tasting party and ended with a glass of wine tossed in his face by the up-until-that-moment tolerant host.
Today's theme is largely Katie's brainchild and started with dropping an "S" from words ending in "SS" to make possessives — DRESS CODE became DRE'S CODE [Hip-hop Dr.'s ethos?]. Then, Katie suggested using verb phrases with S-ending verbs in which "apostrophes matter," which I thought was a brilliant parallel to the famous "Let's eat, grandma" example of how commas matter.
You see? Even this puzzle has its roots in a bit of DARK HUMOR.
| C | H | O | O | N | E | U | P | T | H | U | M | P | ||
| L | A | P | N | E | A | T | O | H | O | S | E | A | ||
| A | N | I | C | O | R | N | K | E | R | N | E | L | S | |
| S | O | U | S | A | L | E | E | R | E | D | ||||
| P | I | M | P | L | E | S | R | E | A | D | E | R | ||
| A | L | L | R | A | S | P | O | X | O | |||||
| A | S | P | S | B | A | U | M | I | S | L | A | M | ||
| C | H | A | M | P | A | G | N | E | B | O | T | T | L | E |
| M | E | N | S | A | R | O | S | A | A | S | T | O | ||
| E | R | E | R | Y | A | N | S | T | Y | |||||
| S | A | L | O | M | E | W | H | E | E | L | I | E | ||
| P | E | L | O | S | I | E | D | E | N | S | ||||
| W | H | A | T | S | P | O | P | P | I | N | M | A | T | |
| A | O | R | T | A | P | I | E | R | S | O | W | E | ||
| D | E | M | O | N | S | T | R | A | Y | N | E | E |
I don't think I've ever said, or will ever say, the phrase "What's poppin?" out loud. Feels a little too. "How do you do, fellow kids?". But, still, a fun concept to build a theme around, and hopefully, it provides a bit of Monday entertainment on par with a pimple-popping video.
| T | A | M | P | A | N | O | K | I | A | C | M | S | ||
| O | C | E | A | N | E | X | E | C | S | A | O | L | ||
| Q | U | A | R | T | E | R | L | I | E | S | M | U | Y | |
| U | R | N | S | N | O | I | R | E | P | P | S | |||
| E | A | T | E | R | Y | P | A | N | T | R | I | E | S | |
| C | O | A | L | I | S | O | N | T | O | |||||
| C | R | E | S | T | O | I | N | K | S | E | R | A | ||
| H | E | N | C | A | D | D | I | E | S | S | A | P | ||
| O | P | T | S | M | E | A | T | W | I | S | P | Y | ||
| M | O | R | E | S | O | S | C | A | N | |||||
| P | R | E | P | P | I | E | S | O | N | E | H | O | P | |
| T | A | T | A | N | O | R | M | R | E | P | O | |||
| Y | E | T | S | P | E | C | I | A | L | T | I | E | S | |
| O | R | E | M | A | M | A | S | A | I | S | L | E | ||
| U | S | D | S | T | Y | L | E | P | A | T | S | Y |
One night back in high school, I was at a concert, and I went to the concession stand to get a Dr Pepper. Looking at the hand-lettered menu on the wall, I confusedly asked what "special ties" were. In my defense, the gap between the "L" and the "T" was quite excessive. And that very minor embarrassment survived in my memory long enough to become the basis for a crossword puzzle theme 20 years later.
I would have preferred to use some longer theme answers, but the pool of words that fit the formula was somewhat limited. I think short theme answers are more constraining on the grid structure than long ones, because all the fill is supposed to be shorter than the shortest theme entry in that same direction, which limits block placement options in the rest of the grid. But I liked having CAMPINESS and MOUSETRAP together, TAMPA on the OCEAN, and PARSECS and INERTIA representing the science category in symmetrical spots. Special thanks to my mom Metah Boroughs for being my test solver!
One of my other hobbies is making music. If you're interested, you can find my albums "Under the Farthest Skies" and "An Incandescent Christmas" on Spotify and most other music streaming services. Thanks!
| C | R | I | S | P | R | R | E | A | P | I | L | K | ||
| H | O | T | T | E | A | I | S | T | O | D | O | E | ||
| A | B | S | E | N | T | A | P | O | P | L | E | X | Y | |
| T | O | S | D | O | L | L | Y | Z | O | O | M | |||
| U | T | A | H | N | O | T | W | A | S | P | ||||
| P | O | D | I | A | T | O | W | E | R | N | T | H | ||
| T | A | N | S | A | V | O | I | D | E | D | ||||
| P | A | N | C | H | O | F | R | E | T | S | A | W | ||
| U | H | O | H | V | O | I | D | H | I | R | A | M | ||
| M | E | R | C | A | N | G | T | E | R | I | ||||
| A | M | M | O | K | A | M | A | F | A | C | T | S | ||
| A | C | L | V | E | R | T | I | G | O | |||||
| M | O | N | K | E | Y | I | N | G | A | R | O | U | N | D |
| A | I | D | D | U | S | T | U | P | S | N | Y | E | ||
| P | L | Y | S | K | A | S | E | T | T | U | B |
Back in 2020, Kevin Christian and Brad Wilber gave us a "Psycho"-themed puzzle, and it inspired me to create this tribute to another—and in my opinion, better—Hitchcock classic. In 3-D, no less!
If you haven't seen "Vertigo," today's crossword was probably more baffling than thrilling (though hopefully, you've looked up a clip of the scene that the layout of the grid pays homage to). It also bends a lot of crossword conventions that might rub some folks the wrong way: diagonal symmetry, long themeless entries, and a lot of short fill, all in service of a film released 65 years ago. And yet I'd be lying if I said I didn't love this weird little puzzle just the way it is. I hope some of you did too.
If you have a suggestion for the next film that should enter the Hitchcock Cinematic Crosswordiverse, feel free to DM me on Twitter.
| A | S | M | I | D | G | E | B | E | L | L | O | W | S | |
| D | O | C | T | O | R | S | I | N | S | I | G | H | T | |
| D | R | A | S | T | I | C | D | O | U | B | L | E | A | |
| S | E | T | S | H | R | E | K | E | N | G | ||||
| A | T | T | E | N | T | I | O | N | ||||||
| A | S | I | D | E | W | A | S | L | O | F | A | T | ||
| F | O | C | U | S | E | N | O | L | A | |||||
| T | A | K | E | S | T | H | E | E | D | G | E | O | F | F |
| S | P | F | H | I | P | T | O | T | A | T | ||||
| A | C | C | U | S | A | T | I | O | N | S | ||||
| I | D | C | A | R | D | S | U | N | D | O | C | K | S | |
| D | I | T | T | O | E | G | R | E | T | |||||
| A | N | O | W | H | A | T | F | U | N | U | N | O | ||
| H | E | R | D | A | N | C | E | R | S | B | Y | U | ||
| O | R | S | S | H | A | M | B | L | E | S | A | T |
I got the idea for this puzzle after seeing DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS in a news article. I thought, hot dog, that phrase has all kinds of crossword potential! Turns out, it's been done once or twice before. Then I remembered that The Times sometimes runs puzzles with unusual formatting, like this fun one by Joe Deeney. I thought that a set of literalisms deconstructing the grid would be an interesting gimmick.
The top right entry had the most possibilities — ENDLESS SUMMER, WORLD WITHOUT END, OLIVE GARDEN NEVER ENDING PASTA PASS® — but the seven letters representing NO END IN SIGHT balanced out its neighbor to the left. At 41 themed letters I thought I had enough material to work with, but I still felt that the puzzle was missing that, god I hate myself for saying this, je ne sais quoi that could really level up the solving experience. Ultimately, I thought the phrase TAKES THE EDGE OFF really tied the room together.
The editors accepted this for an "extra-crunchy Wednesday," but here it is on a Thursday, those sly dogs. I hope you enjoyed solving today's puzzle!
| C | U | T | A | W | A | Y | G | A | G | L | A | I | R | |
| O | N | E | T | I | M | E | U | S | E | O | N | T | O | |
| L | I | M | O | N | C | E | L | L | O | L | O | S | T | |
| E | X | A | L | T | P | A | D | T | S | O | ||||
| L | E | S | T | N | E | I | T | H | E | R | ||||
| L | I | T | R | H | E | A | S | N | E | E | R | S | ||
| A | C | H | M | A | N | G | A | S | A | R | I | |||
| W | H | I | T | E | Y | O | N | T | H | E | M | O | O | N |
| O | R | A | L | R | E | L | I | C | N | U | B | |||
| M | O | S | C | O | W | S | A | L | T | E | S | C | ||
| E | S | T | O | N | I | A | S | L | I | T | ||||
| T | E | T | N | E | A | V | O | I | C | E | ||||
| E | Y | R | E | O | S | L | O | N | O | R | W | A | Y | |
| R | O | A | R | N | O | T | F | O | R | S | A | L | E | |
| S | U | P | S | A | P | O | T | H | E | O | S | I | S |
some stats:
other things:
| A | B | B | A | C | R | A | B | C | L | A | W | |||
| C | L | A | P | S | H | A | V | E | D | I | C | E | ||
| R | U | D | E | W | H | A | T | A | T | R | E | A | T | |
| E | R | R | F | A | R | M | S | O | A | S | I | S | ||
| T | O | N | E | D | U | P | A | N | T | |||||
| L | E | M | O | N | B | A | W | L | E | S | P | |||
| A | D | A | P | T | G | O | T | P | I | E | ||||
| M | O | N | E | Y | I | S | N | O | O | B | J | E | C | T |
| B | U | C | F | E | E | L | E | E | K | S | ||||
| T | E | N | S | A | S | H | O | D | D | L | Y | |||
| U | S | O | H | O | W | N | I | C | E | |||||
| S | H | A | D | E | M | O | P | E | D | H | B | O | ||
| W | O | W | I | E | Z | O | W | I | E | B | E | A | R | |
| A | L | L | S | M | I | L | E | S | I | S | L | E | ||
| G | A | S | M | E | T | E | R | O | S | L | O |
When I noticed CHAMPAGNE SHOWER was 15 letters long, I knew I had to work it into a themeless! MONEY IS NO OBJECT seemed like just the right crossing answer. I originally had BRONY in place of BLOND, but the editing team was concerned that BRONY felt too dated. I suppose I'm getting old!
| P | R | U | N | E | S | S | S | N | R | E | D | C | O | D | ||||||
| D | E | T | O | X | E | S | S | C | O | O | B | H | E | R | O | I | Z | E | ||
| A | V | E | N | U | E | Q | H | E | L | L | O | E | A | R | G | A | S | M | ||
| S | D | S | U | E | N | D | O | W | A | M | O | S | ||||||||
| A | C | T | E | A | C | R | E | S | A | D | D | R | I | F | F | |||||
| A | T | H | O | S | R | I | M | S | S | N | O | T | S | T | I | L | E | |||
| T | R | A | P | B | E | T | A | D | I | R | T | S | N | O | W | |||||
| O | A | R | G | R | O | I | N | S | S | A | T | I | R | E | E | R | E | |||
| M | I | D | I | R | O | N | T | A | T | E | R | P | I | N | A | T | A | S | ||
| N | O | J | O | K | E | A | R | O | A | R | S | C | Y | T | H | E | ||||
| N | U | K | E | S | N | A | P | S | O | N | K | A | M | A | ||||||
| B | A | N | S | T | R | E | K | W | I | S | E | C | N | B | C | |||||
| T | H | A | T | H | E | N | U | P | S | P | I | N | A | K | I | N | ||||
| W | A | Y | A | H | E | A | D | B | O | O | A | N | D | E | R | S | O | N | ||
| T | A | L | C | S | E | L | F | T | B | I | R | D | ||||||||
| F | L | E | W | A | T | F | R | O | T | H | I | N | A | S | E | C | ||||
| S | R | A | S | W | E | L | L | S | G | O | I | N | G | S | L | O | W | |||
| T | A | D | A | D | I | Y | T | P | S | G | I | S | H | |||||||
| I | C | Y | H | O | T | E | F | F | A | C | E | S | K | O | O | Z | I | E | ||
| R | A | M | O | N | A | D | I | A | B | O | L | O | U | R | B | A | N | E | ||
| S | A | Y | O | K | S | N | E | E | R | B | R | I | B | E |
LEWIS: I came to Jeff with a seed idea for this theme, and when he countered that it needed something more to make it stand out, I replied, "Care to brainstorm?" This is not a small ask, as Jeff, the wearer of a seemingly impossible number of hats, is SO busy, and the brainstorming for our collaborations rarely runs less than 100 emails.
"Sure!" he replied.
I hope our solvers will find appealing what our thinkstorm wrought!
I'm so pleased to have ETHEL in the grid. My grandma Ethel filled my world with love, glorious food, and humor. She would have kvelled over this puzzle.
