MONDAY PUZZLE — Janet R. Bender has been contributing puzzles to The New York Times since 1992, and if you look at her track record, she seems to have a real thing for themes where the beginning letters of multiple-word phrases are the same.
Today, for example, we have a theme where the two-word phrases all start with CO. I thought that sounded familiar, so I looked it up, and it turns out that Ms. Bender did a similar puzzle in 2010 (same theme, different entries). That can happen, especially if the puzzles are made by two different constructors. But after reviewing her puzzle history, it seems as though this is merely an efficient way for this constructor to crank out puzzles.
I don’t say this to be mean, but what other conclusions can one draw when so many of her themes are the same? I just wish that there had been some sort of reveal in today’s puzzle to make it sparkle a little more, perhaps tying in designer Coco Chanel, because I frankly expect more of New York Times constructors.
If we just look at this puzzle on its own merit, however, it’s not at all a bad crossword. I’m not entirely sure I get how DEBAR is “Prevent,” except perhaps in legal terms. Did I miss that? And I had to work out YOICKS, which I believe might be from the cartoon “Scooby Doo.” But it had DON’T ASK, OH YEAH and COLOR COPYING, which are nice. Hands up if you Kipled a bit when you wrote in the answer to 6 Down, our friend, the “one-L” LAMA.
And the Clue of the Day for me was the clever “Did sum work?” which is not misspelled; the answer is ADDED.
Will Shortz’s Notes:
Janet Bender, of Somerset, Pa., is one of the old guard of crossword constructors, starting at the Times during the end of the Maleska era (1992), and, if memory serves, appearing in Games magazine before that. I assume she constructs without computer assistance, because her submissions come with hand-printed grids. Until relatively recently, our correspondence was done entirely by U.S. mail; I don’t think she had an email address. Her puzzles have a quiet, unflashy solidness that’s comforting, especially on a Monday.
Let’s move on to the Tuesday puzzle with this brief bio of the fashion legend Coco Chanel:
Your thoughts?