Kelly Clark author page

Thank you for solving my first NYT themeless. Here's the thing: it was the most leisurely, relaxing puzzle I've ever made. Why? Because there's no THEME entries to get boxed in on! The hardest part o' this puzzle was cluing it. (Which, alas, to my shame, only 24 out o' 72 clues made the cut. And I really did try hard! Maybe too hard. Which brings me to my point.)

If you can make a themed puzzle — especially a Monday-Tuesday level one — you can do this standing on your head.

(I'm looking at YOU, ACME!!!) :-)

Besides the normal outlets, I make Monday-level puzzles twice a month for a mobile app called Deverai. Every week I make a Monday-level puzzle for a subscription group o' solvers who aren't experts at all. These are difficult to make, compared to this one.

I wrote this puzzle's first draft — back in April, 2015 — because of some strange kerfuffle about Why Women Don't Make More NYT Themeless Puzzles. This seemed odd to me, having enjoyed the work of, for example, my friends Sherry Blackard (34 NYT themeless puzzles to date), Liz Gorski (27 themeless puzzles to date)…and a host of others.

So I set to work. I realized I needed some anchor, so, given the fact that, due to my stupid turned-up nose, I was dubbed "pig-face" as a kid — I chose PETUNIA PIG for 1A. (Her gorgeous vowels did not hurt her chances.) I paired her with POST-IT NOTE since I was staring at one. (Did you know that it was discovered by accident by a 3M guy? That clue didn't make the cut, but there you are.)

My first draft — admittedly filled accompanied by a glass o' Chardonnay — was returned with the comments: (paraphrasing here) "Cut out the @$#@#%%# glue!" So I did, which forced me to substitute NAVEL ORANGE at 11 D with AGENT ORANGE…not a really pleasant entry, is it? Still the rewrite didn't take all that long.

I regret 55A. As an advertising copywriter, let me assure you that I've never used that abbr. in an ad. Other than that, it was great fun, and many thanks to Will and Joel — and especially you guys for solving it. And hey! Welcome Jake David Denny Chen, born 7/28/2016! :-)

I love crossword puzzles! Unfortunately, I'm a lousy solver. (Case in point: when Jeff sent me this puzzle — and keep in mind that I Made It Myself! — I thought I'd give myself an ego boost and solve it ... managing to screw up at 25 Across. I wrote in TOP THAT, sheesh.) Ironically, my first puzzles were later-in-the-week jobs and I really wanted to make a puzzle for people like me. The inspiration? My husband's TOOL BOX. My favorite clue is [Skill needed when being asked "Does this dress make me look fat?] for TACT.

I hope people enjoy this puzzle. 'Course, as good ol' Qoheleth says? "Nothing new under the sun!"

Will wrote me on August 2, 2012, accepting this puzzle. I was thrilled! A cool Monday puzzle! Several months later (January 28, as a matter o' fact) I was pleased with myself for breezing through Jaime Hutchison and Vic Fleming's puzzle ... until I realized (gulp) it was the same theme! Or, at least, pretty darn close!

So for those o' you who think this theme is familiar? It is! :-)

Thanks for solving it ... and I hope those who attended had a great time at the ACPT! It was an honor for me to have made the tournament opener.