MADness—the Blog

Constructing a crossword puzzle always is an experiment.  I don’t mean to sound like Forrest Gump, but you never know what you’re gonna get.  Sometime about a year ago I was working on a themeless puzzle. I had the bottom half of the grid done and was sailing along, but then never could find good fill for the top of the puzzle.  In desperation, I even ripped out a 15-letter answer, one of my seeds, and after a while I found another 15 that allowed me to fill the grid.  But just barely.  I had letters for all the squares, but overall it wasn’t especially pretty.  There was one answer, however, that I liked a lot.  It was that substitute 15 that I had found for the top of the grid.

That 15 had greater potential than just another pretty entry in a themeless, however, and long story short, that’s how I stumbled into the theme for the puzzle that’s running in today’s* New York Times.  If you’re a NYT crossword subscriber, you can get the puzzle here (Across Lite).  I won’t spoil it here, but if you want to read comments about the puzzle, you can check the usual places (the blog links are always on the sidebar):  Wordplay, Amy, Rex, R&B, an Englishman.

Meanwhile, I had an old, abandoned themeless grid, filled but never clued (just one of many in the collection).  I took another look at it this week, and last night I decided to take another crack at it.  As an experiment.  The experiment was (a) to see if I could find better fill for the grid (I liked that it had no 3-letter words), and (b) to see if I could finish the job quickly (I’m not normally a speed demon, but time is short this week).

The final result:  I changed a few things, opening the grid even more (it’s now 64 words).  I didn’t time myself but I felt like I was going 90 down narrow roads and around twisty bends, and there may be a few scrapes and dents when I look at the body but I’m glad to report I didn’t go over the side.

You can enjoy the ride, or judge the damages yourself.  It’s MAD Puzzle #4, and you can find it at the Puzzles page. 

One other note:  MAD Puzzle #5 will soon be on its way.  Look for it this weekend, likely Sunday morning (if not before).

* Last point:  what do I mean by ”today”?  Today means tomorrow—that is, Thursday, the 11th.  In the puzzle world, the next day doesn’t start when you wake up in the morning, or at midnight, but at 7:00 p.m. PT.  Right now, tomorrow is today and today is tomorrow.  It’s puzzling, but that’s the way it works.  They don’t call them puzzles for nothing.

UPDATE:  Interview with the constructor, with spoilers on today’s NYT, after the jump:

People in general found your puzzle today incredibly easy for a Thursday.  Are you losing your touch?

Hold on a second!  The biggest complaint of the day was several crossings that were too hard and unfair.  I’d say there’s still hope for me yet.

How many times have you seen the answer ZETAS in a puzzle this week?

Three or four, now.

Doesn’t that speak to a certain lack of originality on your part?

I made the puzzle a year ago.  It was my idea first!

How much did EMA Savahl pay you to get her name in the New York Times?

It was a noncash deal.  I get free use of her dresses anytime I want.

Do you really think you have the…um, right build…for Ema Savahl?

Perhaps not, but I find her Kimikal Cayenne mini-dress with assorted jewel chest belts simply irresistable.

SAY THE MAGIC WORD.  Is that a phrase you often use with your four-year-old son?

All the time.

How’s that working out?

Very well.  Last night at dinner he said, “Daddy, can I have some more Jell-O, abracadabra?”

Your puzzle had the word PLEASE scrambled.  The circled letters were out of order.  Isn’t that rather sloppy for a crossword in the New York Times?

Isn’t it rather lazy on your part to need everything spelled out for you?

Your puzzle today was all about magic.  If you’re so magical, what’s your next trick?

To make you and your silly questions disappear.

Ha!  Just go ahead and tr….