MONDAY’S PUZZLE – I was frankly too busy to acknowledge my last milestone birthday, but luckily for us, we have Dan Schoenholz to remind us about THE BIG FIVE-OH.
We’ve got some really nice fill here today, and in addition, we’ve got three theme entries that contain — wait for it — FIVE OHs. I’ve seen this written as THE BIG FIVE-O, but I’d like to think that if you’re writing it out as THE BIG FIVE-OH, it comes as somewhat of a surprise, maybe in a “How did I get here?” kind of a way.
It’s great to see the Broadway smash hit “BOOK OF MORMON” make its crossword debut in The New York Times, along with THE BIG FIVE-OH revealer and WHITE RICE. In addition, I really liked AREA CODES, DOOR-TO-DOOR, VOODOO DOLLS, HOOLIGAN and the OOO connector between two of the theme entries.
I also liked the way this one fell: nice and smooth, just the way I like my Mondays. Straightforward cluing, and enough fun to make a beginning solver want to do another puzzle, which, as far as I’m concerned, is pretty much the whole point.
Let’s hear from Mr. Schoenholz:
Constructor’s Notes:
For some reason, the theme for this puzzle didn’t jump out at me when I was actually getting the cards and gag gifts that accompanied hitting the big five-oh: it wasn’t until a few months later that the light bulb came on. My first version of the puzzle had FOOT LONG HOTDOGS as a central entry, but try as I might, I couldn’t come up with a decent grid/fill with five theme answers included, so I had to settle for four. I was pleased, however, to hit on an alignment that allowed me to include what Matt Ginsberg has described as an Easter Egg (or maybe more appropriately for this puzzle, five Easter Eggs?): a hidden theme-related bonus that not all solvers would notice. If you are reading this, you probably are the type of solver that found the Easter Egg yourself, but if you didn’t see it the first time through, take another look and see if you can spot it.
I was also glad that the end-product was smooth enough for a Monday–a first for me in The New York Times.
So thanks for opening our solving week so smoothly, Mr. Schoenholz. And if you were trying to tell us something, happy birthday.
Your thoughts?