"Color Spectrum," by Zhouqin Burnikel

Constructor's Comments

When I first proposed this theme to David back in February, I had ONE LIFE TO LIVE for OLIVE, which fully contains OLIVE in the end.  He noticed immediately, of course.  And the title is his again.

Thank you, David, for patiently guiding me through all the Puzzle Society puzzles this year.

"Layering," by Paul Coulter

Constructor's Comments

I like the idea of themes that show a logical progression—BREAKFAST ___, LUNCH ___, TEA ___, DINNER ___, and that sort of thing.  Add onto them a spacial element top to bottom, like ___ ONIONS, ___ CHEESE, ___ SAUCE, ____ CRUST, and that's a pretty good set.  This one shows peeling off the clothes when you dress in layers.  I like that David ran it as the cold weather sets in, so that the COAT in COAT OF ARMS is appropriate.

"Digital Communications," by Jim Peredo

Constructor's Comments

When I SNAP my fingers, my dog Penny comes running, probably because I've dropped some food on the floor or I'm going to take her for a walk.  That idea was the impetus for this puzzle.  But I was only going to build it if I could find enough in-the-language verbal equivalents of snapping one's fingers.  I think I've done that, and the grid feels pretty lively to me.  As a bonus, I was also able to pull off those stacked long Downs in two of the corners with only a little bit of gunk (ARTE, e.g.).  The finishing touch was the title, which felt like a gift from the crossword gods.  Thank you, crossword gods!

"Almighty Dollar," by Pancho Harrison

Constructor's Comments

This grid was essentially David's idea.  The two previous grids I'd come up with did not have the 11-letter entries at 3- and 25-Down, and we were both having problems finding acceptable fill for a Monday-level puzzle.  My original construction also had 23 three-letter words instead of David's 16, and only 11 five-letter entries as opposed to David's 24.  His was a much better balance of four- and five-letter words, at 24 and 24.

So when he sent me his idea for the new construction, with the O-shape of black squares in the middle and the two long Down entries, it resolved most of the inherent fill difficulties.  The title was also David's—best I could come up with was "Pinching Pennies," which doesn't actually make much sense!  I've found that titles can be a bit problematic when one of the theme entries is a revealer.

My strong suit has never been 15x15s, so David's help was invaluable in this one, my debut puzzle for The Puzzle Society!

"Interwoven," by Val Melius

Constructor's Comments

This theme idea actually came about whilst I was working on another theme idea, and then the thought came to me, "How about adding basketmaking materials within phrases?"  Thus I began my quest in search of various basket types and materials.

It was really fascinating, the different types and techniques used to create baskets—also, how various cultures applied these techniques to other necessities, such as fish pots, table mats, etc.  The intricacies of the design, too, take someone really special to create these everyday masterpieces.

Natural basketmaking materials resonated with me, so I focused on those and incorporated them into everyday phrases.  My initial theme set had a couple of issues, so David and I worked on them till we found something we both liked.  For instance, BASKET CASE was the initial title of this puzzle; David suggested using it as the reveal.  I spent the next couple of days getting the grid design and fill right—think I created, like, three or more grid designs till I came up with this one.

Was an interesting couple of days—this was a really fun project.  Hope you had fun solving it—I've got a couple others in store. :)

"What's Buried?" by Evan Kalish

Constructor's Comments

When you construct crosswords, you might begin to develop some interesting mental "background processes."  They might involve subconsciously parsing conversations and TV shows for crossword-friendly phrases, tallying the number of letters in said phrases, and jotting them down on paper or in your phone's Notes app.  Some of these phrases just scream "Crossword theme!"  Such was the case with RUBS THE WRONG WAY, which probably came to mind as I was petting my cat.  The letter string -SBUR- is just common enough that there were a few theme entry options available, yet uncommon enough so as not to be trivial.  The opportunity to give BOB'S BURGERS its cruciverbal debut sealed the deal!

I didn't want to include any two-word phrases wherein the -SBUR- did not span both words (like SALISBURY STEAK or SAINT PETERSBURG), which I considered a bit arbitrary for this context; this left me with no 15-letter counterpart to the revealer.  After testing some options I decided that the -SBUR- answers needed room to breathe—featuring just three entries led to a more satisfying puzzle in terms of fill.  I'm glad David was willing to let me change up the normal layout!

"Thoroughly Themeless VII," by Erik Agard

Constructor's Comments

Thanks to David for, for a time, making a space for themelesses, my favorite type of crossword to create but the hardest to sell.  His editing is as kind as it is wise (exceptionally), and the collaboration is always a joy.

Also, consider this your formal invitation to go on a listening/watching binge of 2-Down, if you haven't lately.

"Sunday Freestyle XXXVII," by Sam Ezersky and Neville Fogarty

Constructors' Comments

Sam Ezersky:  Neville has a knack for whipping up a mean themeless, and I'd wanted to make a puzzle with him for quite some time.  The one you see now was born over a brunch we met up for in Charlottesville, while I was still attending UVA.  I can't remember my exact thought progression, but it was probably something like me begging Neville for a collaboration, Neville generously accepting, and us actually getting serious later on when we realized through our other nerdy, mathy conversations that ABSTRACT ALGEBRA was 15 letters.

Our real starting point for the gridwork was that gorgeous SW stack:  Neville had BLOG????/LIFEHACK/ENTRY FEE written down in a notebook, which he showed me that same day, and I was able to cobble together a black square pattern around it that preserved our central seed.  That NW corner is all Neville's as well—CLOUD CITY might not resonate with every last solver, but it's one of my favorites in the puzzle nonetheless.

Meanwhile, my main contribution was one that Neville had no control over:  procrastinating for months and months instead of SITTING DOWN TO WRITE HALF THE CLUES UGH C'MON SAM SRSLY GET IT TOGETHER.  Since our brunch, I've 1) graduated from college, 2) become the New York Times's assistant puzzles editor, and 3) dabbled in other puzzles along the way.  That's all to say . . . I'm so thrilled this is finally seeing publication, with a great home under David's top-notch editorship to boot.

Huge thanks to Neville for the joy of stitching this one together. Hope you enjoy the puzzle!

Neville Fogarty:  Most of what Sam said is accurate, but there's a point of contention here.  Sam's the themeless expert between the two of us.  Dude's had over a dozen killer themeless puzzles in The New York Times, and I remember an excellent Puzzle Society themeless of his from just a couple of months ago.  I was definitely the one doing the begging!  He is far and away the real MVP here, and it was a pleasure to get to collaborate with him.  My favorite clues in this puzzle are Ezersky originals, and they were certainly worth the wait.

Big thanks to David for running this puzzle, and I hope every solver enjoys an AHA moment or two while solving.

"Sunday Freestyle XXXVI," by Brian Thomas

"Sunday Freestyle XXXV," by Brian E. Paquin

"Sunday Freestyle XXXIV," by Erik Agard and Neville Fogarty

Constructors' Comments

We worked very hard to make this puzzle and are proud to have it published in The Puzzle Society Crossword.  (In particular, Neville is excited to be making his PSC debut.)  We are grateful to David for finding room in the schedule for this crossword and his keen eye in editing it.  We hope you enjoy solving it.

"Sunday Freestyle XXXIII," by Mark Diehl

Constructor's Comments

Since I am fortunate to have two consecutive Sundays in a row, it seems a perfect time to touch on two contrasting freestyle approaches.  This week's effort is on the opposite end of the freestyle spectrum from last week.  Today's puzzle has 70 entries (max allowable is usually 72), while last week's count was a terse 62.  Working in the 70 range allows for more flexibility in selecting fill.  Using all the letters of the alphabet (a pangram) is much easier to attain in a 70-entry creation because you can pack in Scrabbly stuff like FEDEX FIELD, BBQ JOINTS, LOVITZ, and AQUAZUMBA.  The 62er was a J, Q, and Z short of being a pangram, and the predominance of common letters feels higher.  I enjoy using new (yet familiar) entries when freestyling and, according to Matt Ginsberg's clue database, today's puzzle debuts 7 new entries, while last week's puzzle had only 4.  I leave it up to you to decide if you have a solving preference.

"Sunday Freestyle XXXII," by Mark Diehl

Constructor's Comments

Went all the way down to 62 words for this one.  As you may have guessed, I started with the seed entry, UP ARROW KEY, at 1-Across.  Pepper in a few other nice phrases like NATHAN HALE, FIRE DRILLS, OVEN GLOVE, HOT TAMALE, DIRTY LIARS, GREEN ALGA, SOAP BOXES, CARTER ERA, ALPINE SKI—and hopefully it was an enjoyable solve.

"Sunday Freestyle XXXI," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

31-Across was my seed, and I was tickled when I found a stairstep stack that was a lovely mixed-up combination of jovial, nerdy, and sophisticated.  Hope you enjoy!

"Sunday Freestyle XXX," by Evan Mahnken

Constructor's Comments

Hello again, solvers!  Glad to be back in the Puzzle Society.  This puzzle began with the seed entries of BAD BREATH and HALITOSIS, which I noticed had the same number of letters.  Efforts to stack them on top of one another proved fruitless, so I put them in opposite corners and set to work filling in the rest of the themeless.  I'm pretty proud of the fill in this puzzle (IN A PICKLE, TIMES SQUARE BALL, SHRIVEL UP), although I wish there was something I could've done about ULT.  Happy solving!

"Sunday Freestyle XXIX," by Mark Diehl

Constructor's Comments

This feels like such a free-flowing and evenhanded fill that it doesn't seem possible that it is just 68 words and a pangram to boot.  By my count, of the 23 entries that are 7 or more letters, 16 of them are multiple-word phrases.  I consider that a big plus when constructing freestyle puzzles.  Also, HENRY LUCE, PEAK USE, and GO FUND ME (which I'm counting as multiword) are all entries I have never seen before in a crossword.

"Sunday Freestyle XXVIII," by Brad Wilber and Matthew Sewell

Constructors' Comments

Matt Sewell:  It's a great pleasure to collaborate with Brad—we both like the back-and-forth of experimenting with lots of variants in hopes of finding the best possible choice.  Brad always brings a rigorous eye and a deep well of fun entries—I mean, get a load of this grid's lovely middle, which is all Brad (as for me, I brought, uh, SAD KEANU to the party).  I think this was a spin-off from another puzzle we made together, but after many revisions it took on a life of its own.  I hope solvers enjoy the final product.

Brad Wilber:  I think Matt's right, and we had tried to wedge SAD KEANU into the final corner of another themeless, but it didn't work.  We started with it here, and the stack we built, including PAY TOILET, seemed snappy to me.  I remember TEN LONELY GUYS among my mother's 45s.  Its highest chart position must have been very close to my personal cutoff for inclusion in my word list, because research revealed it wasn't quite the megahit I assumed it was based on the number of childhood hearings.  If you can't sing it, I think the clue is well-crafted and gettable!  Yeah, Matt's been producing eminently publishable puzzles from his earliest attempts several years back.  It's probably natural that he would direct some my way at The Chronicle of Higher Education and that we would hit it off as cowriters.  We have many parallels in our work life, our interests, and our puzzle aesthetic.  In between all of our tinkering with grids and preparing submissions, we often laugh together about the foibles of college humanities departments.

"Sunday Freestyle XXVII," by Evan Mahnken

Constructor's Comments

Hello, solvers!  I'm Evan Mahnken, a student at Brandeis University, and I'm excited to be making my Puzzle Society debut!

My seed entry for this themeless was MRS ROBINSON.  I thought of the clue [Character whose lover was shot through the leg?] and just had to build a puzzle around it.  (As of the time of my writing this, I don't know if that clue survived, but I really hope it did.)  If you've never seen The Graduate, I highly recommend it.

This was also my first foray into the themeless grid type with stairstep patterns on either side of the middle three rows.  I'm quite happy with the quality of the fill, just not with the amount of black squares it took to get that quality of fill.

Big thanks to David for his help in perfecting the fill around the edges and for telling me I ought to send some puzzles his way at this year's ACPT.  Happy solving!

"Sunday Freestyle XXVI," by Christopher Adams

Constructor's Comments

A previous puzzle of mine (see bottom grid below) that appeared very early on in The Puzzle Society Crossword had a corner that David and I both liked but that testers found difficult.  So that corner got scrapped for that puzzle, but I figured I'd salvage it by building around it and making sure there were fair crossings.  That's now the upper left of this puzzle, and I was pleased to work in a smattering of other answers (GENE RODDENBERRY, MELODRAMA, MANCALA, CAPRESE, RHIANNON, GRIMES, etc.) that I really like and that reflect my VIBE.

Previous puzzle:

"Sunday Freestyle XXV," by David Phillips

Constructor's Comments

Looking back at this puzzle, I can think of two particularly noteworthy mentionables, both of which revolve around the entry JANE SIX-PACK, the starting entry for this puzzle.

First, the puzzle's history. . . .  I originally submitted this puzzle to Mr. Shortz at The New York Times, who responded with a polite "no, thanks," saying that JANE was a "puzzle killer."  He added that it wasn't common enough for such a marquee entry and mentioned that the term, in quotes, only got 10,000 Google hits.  That's perfectly good reasoning . . . JANE certainly isn’t used that frequently in our modern parlance, but I still think the entry is saved because of its similarity to the more common JOE SIX-PACK.  Solvers would likely have trouble solving the clue for JANE outright, but I reasoned that they could piece it together via her association with JOE.

All of this practically begs the question:  Why would you even include JANE in a puzzle if it's not that in-the-language?  My main reason for starting with JANE was to promote inclusiveness, something that has historically been absent in most crosswords.  (However, that trend has been changing as of late.)  Okay, Dave, so you want to be gender inclusive . . . but why JANE SIX-PACK?  What kind of inclusivity image are you promoting here?  Well, voice that I've created for narrative convenience, I'll tell you:  I want to promote a balanced sense of inclusivity.  I feel it's important to represent all aspects of any culture/subculture/realm—good, bad, neutral, highbrow, lowbrow, etc.  For every Oscars ceremony, there is an MTV Movie & TV Awards.  For every Mona Lisa, there is a Fountain (by Duchamp).  For every Oprah or Constance Wu or Meryl Streep, there should be a Jane (statistically, more than one).  IMO, this contrast of ideas, not some rose-tinted or otherwise lopsided representation, epitomizes inclusivity.

Anyhoo, I think I'm done with my treatise on equality within crosswords.  I hope the puzzle was enjoyable!  As always, David was great during the editing process.  He was a tremendous help in polishing the NW and NE corners; truly, the final version of the NE would not have existed in its current, awesome glory without him.  Always a joy to collaborate with David.

If you solved the puzzle and read through this entire blurb, email David and he'll give you a rebate voucher for time spent solving/reading.  (But, seriously, don't email David asking for your time back; you're never getting that back.  Mwahahaha . . . ?)