"Santa's Little Helpers," by Alex Eaton-Salners

Constructor's Comments

I don't often remember where I was when I came up with a particular puzzle idea.  In this case, I have clear recollection.  I was in the Mickey & Friends parking structure at Disneyland.  Realizing that ELF ON THE SHELF was amenable to a symmetric layout with both ELFs placeable on "shelves" was the key insight driving the puzzle's creation.  It was a bit challenging to find a block layout that worked without creating any pseudoshelves, but I'm pleased with how everything came together in the end.  Happy Holidays!

"Two Plus Two," by Alex Eaton-Salners

Constructor's Comments

Some of the other theme entries that got left on the cutting room floor:  GOTHAM CITY, AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, and GOLDSMITH.  There were also many possibilities with GOOD as the GO (IN GOOD SPIRITS, GOOD SAMARITAN, GOOD PUBLICITY, etc.).  Unfortunately, there was only room for one due to duplication concerns.  I was really lucky to get GOT A BITE and GO WITH IT to symmetrically interlock with ALGORITHM and GOOGLE HIT.  The latter pairing is also aesthetically pleasing, since complex algorithms underlie Google's search function.

"Four of a Kind," by Alex Eaton-Salners

"A Star Is Born," by Alex Eaton-Salners

Constructor's Comments

This puzzle has a unique vibe.  Themes like this usually involve something preceding/following single words in multiword theme entries.  Here, however, the targeted lexical units are prefixes:  [TELE]SCOPE, [HOLO]DECK, [PRO]LOGUE, [DIA]TRIBE, and [MONO]RAIL.  Despite being single words, I think they're pretty interesting and evocative (especially HOLODECK and MONORAIL).  Fortunately, I was also able to include some multiword phrases elsewhere in the fill, which makes the grid a bit more balanced.

Editor's Comments

I agree with Alex that the prefixes make for an interesting twist on the "words that can precede X" theme.  I also like how the reveal, PENTAGRAM, justifies that there are five theme entries.  Speaking of which, this puzzle's smooth and lively fill blew me away, since working around six theme-related entries is exceptionally hard to do!  THE EAGLES, OVERRATED, ADD TO CART, and DERRING-DO are all great, and I'm not seeing any clunkers in the short fill.  My favorite part about this puzzle, though, is Alex's super-clever "A Star Is Born" title!  Titling a puzzle that already has a reveal can be tricky, but he nailed it.

"J.Crew," by Alex Eaton-Salners

Constructor's Comments

The originally submitted version of this puzzle included two more theme entries:  LONG JOHNS and DIRTY JOBS, which were placed at 27/28-Across and 43/44-Across, respectively.  Unfortunately, there aren't many famous people named JOB, so those entries had to go.  Even without those two, however, there are still five themers, which I think is plenty for a CREW.

Editor's Comments

Using five theme entries is plenty impressive.  Getting three of them to interlock makes the puzzle a wow in my book—Alex is truly a grid wizard!  In the fill, he included plenty of midlength fill to spice things up.  My favorite bonus entries are COCCYX, INDY CAR, MALTESE, BEJEWEL, and SPACEX.  That's a lot of fun stuff, especially for a puzzle that's already so theme dense.  The short fill is also smooth and Tuesday-easy all around.  And finally, if you're wondering who came up with the brilliant title "J.Crew," that was all Alex.

"Opening Acts," by Alex Eaton-Salners

Constructor's Comments

After coming up with the puzzle's theme, I brainstormed a list of bands with one-word names.  Next, I looked for multiword phrases that started with those names.  Some of them (like OASIS) didn't pan out, while others (like KANSAS) were kind of boring (since KANSAS CITY and KANSAS STATE aren't particularly scintillating).

After compiling the list of phrases, I grouped them by length.  I wanted at least one themer of 9 letters to go with HEADBANDS.  Beyond that, I was looking for pairs between 8 and 11 letters long, as those lengths allow for flexible grid design.

Editor's Comments

Alex chose such a lively set of theme entries that start with bands—my favorites are QUEEN MOTHER and KISS GOODBYE!  Disguising the musical meaning of bands in the reveal, HEADBANDS, is an elegant touch to round out the theme.  I was also very impressed with Alex's gridwork here.  I don't expect to see lively long downs in grids with six theme entries, but he stuck in not one but two (!) pairs.  And finally, here's a picture of a BUSH BABY, because it's just too cute not to include in this post:

"Mix-Ups," by Alex Eaton-Salners

Constructor's Comments

This puzzle's journey started with the realization that LEMON could be "TWISTed" into MELON.  Fortuitously, while collecting other phrases with the same structure, I came across JUMBLE OF WORDS, which does double duty and also serves as a revealer.  Along the way, I considered using shorter anagrams but decided that keeping them at 5 letters or longer made for more interesting wordplay.

Using paired theme entries of lengths 12 and 13 forces the placement of the 10 black squares on the left and right edges of the grid and also limits the vertical options ([because there are] no theme entries in rows 3 or 13).  Nevertheless, I think the puzzle turned out pretty well.

Editor's Comments

I'm a big fan of cryptic crosswords, which are known for their anagram clues, so this theme hits close to home for me.  Having JUMBLE OF WORDS as both a theme entry and the reveal sealed the deal.  That to me is more ingenious than fortuitous—Alex is much too modest!

He also brings up an interesting point about grid design in his last paragraph.  Because he used two 12-letter theme entries and two 13s, the highest he could place one of them was row 4.  Placing a theme entry in row 3—usually the highest position for a theme entry—would have required either words that are less than 3 letters long or big clumps of black squares.  Having the first theme entry in row 4 constrained the grid design more than usual, but I nonetheless feel that Alex maximized the long down slots he was able to use with ROT IN JAIL and BUSTS A RIB, both fun phrases that don't show up much in crosswords.

"Two by Three," by Alex Eaton-Salners

Constructor's Comments

I was lucky to find three answers that fit the theme and each have 15 letters.  There aren't too many in-the-language options—especially if you exclude examples with repeated words (such as DREAM DREAM DREAM).

This grid is unusual for me since I don't often construct puzzles with only three theme entries.  It's always fun to do something a little bit different, though.  And because the theme entries span the grid, they don't force the placement of any black squares.  Using only three themers (plus a revealer) also provides the flexibility to incorporate some longer bonus fill while maintaining a relatively low word count (in this case, 70 words).

Editor's Comments

I love the quirkiness of this theme!  For those of you who are still confused, the sequence RE appears three times in each theme entry.  When you say the reveal RETRY out loud, it sounds like "re-tri."  (Don't worry, I had to stare at this for a little while, too.)  I also like how Alex brought the word count down to 70 (!), which is low even for a themeless grid.  That allowed him to work in bonuses like LEITMOTIF, GREAT LAKE, CHEESE DIP, SHARKSKIN, TOE RINGS, and DOODAD.  Even long entries like PARAMETER and OVERDONE are more interesting than short crosswordese.  Finally, you might've noticed something unusual about the SUA clue:  I added an anagram.  SUA has appeared in other crosswords, but I feel it's tough and not particularly inferable.  Your thoughts about the use of anagrams in clues?