"International Cuisine," by Bruce Haight

Constructor's Comments

David was instrumental in tuning up this gastronomic conundrum, and he was nice enough to publish it exactly on my 65th birthday—thanks, David!

"Sunday Freestyle XX," by Bruce Haight and David Steinberg

Constructors' Comments

Bruce Haight:  David and I played around with various lightning bolt grids and finally landed on this one.  How he came up with four theme-related entries in a 68-word grid I don't know!

David Steinberg:  See below.

Editor's Comments

Bruce and I constructed this puzzle early last year.  He came up with the lightning bolt grid art, and I found three theme entries to go with it.  Coincidentally, HAILED A TAXI was the only option I had for 16-Down, and we both thought it was a neat theme-related bonus (although not a theme entry per se, since it's structurally different from the other three).

Bruce also did the majority of the nonthematic fill.  Having four long entries locked into place along with the constraint of a 68-word grid—which we chose so we wouldn't have too many 3s around the edges—really limited our fill options.  Bruce nonetheless managed to add zing through entries like HIT JOB, FB POSTS, and TRADE GAP.

This certainly isn't a traditional Sunday Freestyle, but we hope you enjoy the variety!