Not on Time, but That’s OK - The New York Times

FRIDAY PUZZLE — Well, this puzzle by Caitlin Reid and Erik Agard was very satisfying.

It might feel frustrating to get stuck on a crossword puzzle, but I like when that happens, because I know what’s ahead. A good puzzle will ratchet up the tension, clue by clue, until you run out of “gimmes” and find yourself completely, utterly stuck. The tension becomes almost unbearable as you search around the clue list desperately for some way to build on what you already have.

And then, suddenly, the proverbial dam breaks and you find yourself filling in a lot at once, entries that just minutes ago seemed terribly opaque. A great feeling of relief envelops you as the puzzle fills, and then, if Hollywood is anything to go by, you both smoke cigarettes. I’m sure there is something comparable in life, but I just can’t think of what that might be.

Seriously, though, that breakthrough is a great feeling. When I started solving Ms. Reid and Mr. Agard’s puzzle, the only gimmes for me were RED (6D), AC/DC (65A) and TARSAL (45D), which I originally wanted to be TARSUS.

I started with three entries and then got stuck. Fortunately, the dam broke for me in the southwest.Credit...Deb Amlen/The New York Times

And look at what you get for persisting: BLACK MAGIC, CASH ON HAND and FASHIONABLY LATE, in that section alone. Those are fabulous long entries. The triple stacks in the northwest and southeast are also terrific: PALM FRONDS, SQUARE FEET and SUCKED FACE are all debuts. ESCAPE ROOM, MANGO LASSI and SLEEPYHEAD make up an amazing stack.

This is the work of constructors who are admirably choosy about their fill, and I love to see it. A puzzle can fill, but it doesn’t necessarily fill well. That takes work and time.

Which leads me to …

A Note to Constructors, Both Aspiring and Published

I generally address solvers in Wordplay, but here is some admittedly unsolicited advice for puzzle makers: Be willing to rip back sections that feel mundane, because if they feel that way to you, they will probably feel mundane to the solver.

You and I both know that’s not why you are making puzzles. You are making them to entertain, and boring fill does not entertain. You know when your fill is less than stellar. It’s when you say to yourself: “Oh well. This is the best I can come up with in this section, so I guess I’ll just move on.” Aim higher, like Ms. Reid and Mr. Agard do.

Second — and I can say this because I have a very small window into what gets submitted to the New York Times Crossword — being a good constructor is not about how prolific you are, or how many puzzles you submit. I can’t say this enough: Submitting fewer puzzles of higher quality is a much better place to be. It won’t lower your odds of getting published if you don’t cram the pipeline with dozens of so-so puzzles in the hope that one might stick. It will most likely increase your odds of getting published, because your puzzle will stand head and shoulders above the others.

Polish your word lists. Remove the junk and add the fun, sparkly stuff. Some constructors keep a list of words and phrases they hear or read about for later addition into their lists. I can always tell who works on their lists and who doesn’t from their fill.

Finally, and this is an ongoing learning experience for most constructors, practice clue writing. Study the clues in your favorite puzzles and figure out why they made it in there. Many aspiring constructors have read that the puzzle editors change a majority of the clues that are submitted, but that shouldn’t make you feel as if you can slug in some dummy clues because they’re just going to be changed anyway. Show the editors what you can do! It’s definitely an art and not a science, and some of your clues might get changed anyway to equalize them for a certain difficulty level, but the better they are, the more likely they are to stay.

Tricky Clues

1A. “Fans of the Bible?” are not the human fans, but the PALM FRONDS that were used to fan the Pharaoh.

22A. “Bobs and weaves” can be a boxing term, but in this puzzle, they are hairDOS.

27A. Here’s one for our solvers in Britain. “‘Auntie’ on the telly” is a reference to the BBC, which was known for its staid and somewhat prudish standards in the 1940s and ’50s. This suggested a prim and proper “auntie” to some, and the station was henceforth known as “Auntie Beeb.”

36A. This “Solution for a chef” is not an answer to a problem, but a liquid BRINE.

45A. How did it take the Television Academy Hall of Fame until 2020 to induct the actress Cicely TYSON?

47A. “Seventh of 24” refers to the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, which has 24 letters. The answer is ETA.

50A. “Right column?” made me think of a right-hand page and so the word “recto” got stuck in my head. But this “right” is a verb, and to right a column is to EDIT it.

66A. This type of “going out” is not about being out on the town (and please wear a mask if you do). It’s about being out like a light, and the answer is SLEEPYHEAD.

12D. I so wanted this to be something like SINGLEHOOD, which fits and would be funny. “Something that might be sacrificed at the altar?” sounds ominous, but the answer here is MAIDEN NAME.

29D. The clue “Liquid paper?” made me think of correction fluid (Hi, kids!), but the answer in the puzzle is the much more clever CASH ON HAND.

Constructor Notes

Erik Agard: Grateful to Caitlin, one of the greats, for the opportunity to collaborate! She’s responsible for most of this grid, including that bottom-left corner where I just could not find a good fill, and also many of the standout clues (e.g. 1-Across, 61-Across, 12-Down, 29-Down). I’m also thankful to The New York Times editing team for adding a Rihanna reference at 11-Down — love to see it!

Caitlin Reid: You’d have to be a fool to pass up an opportunity to work with Erik, and I ain’t no fool! It is always my great pleasure to work with and learn from him. Erik is such a master at writing clues, turning even the most usual fill like 50-Across into something fresh and clever. A lot of his other clues were softened up for this Friday offering, but rest assured they were likewise brilliant. I also loved the editing team’s sneaky misdirection at 39-Down. I hope the fun we had in making this puzzle together translates into an enjoyable solve!

The Tipping Point

Almost finished solving but need a bit more help? We’ve got you covered.

Warning: There be spoilers ahead, but subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.

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