The People Behind the Party

Though I am a lifelong lover of word games, my crossword obsession didn't start until my 30s. An ex-boyfriend shared his "New York Times Games" login with me and it only took a few months before I had my own subscription ;)

FAVOrite puzzles to write

Thursdays - I love gimmicks, though they are also some of my slowest days to solve. Those who cannot solve... construct?

Dream crossword collaborator

Least favorite fill

Anything relating to the NATO alphabet or roman numerals - once I realize a theme has anything to do with that I will stop solving the puzzle right then.

Sala Wanetick

Ken Jennings! I think we would have fun riffing with each other, and I know he is a crossword solver so I am sure he already has some good ideas simmering.

Emily Biegas

I started solving crosswords in 2022 as a way to pass time at my boring desk job, and I instantly fell in love. As a lifelong bookworm, I wondered how it could have taken me so long to get into crosswords.

Favorite day of week to solve

Friday NYTs, because I love a themeless but the Saturdays often stump me. But of course there are plenty of non-NYT themeless out there. I also enjoy a weekend Universal themeless :)

Dream crossword collaborator

St. Vincent, hit me up! Or any of my favorite musicians who are also great lyricists - I think that would transfer well to building a clever theme.

Least favorite fill

Weird names from the Bible and silent letters. Also PET SPA/ DOG SPA / CAT SPA. I'm sorry, but that's not really a thing. There's the groomer, but dogs pretty notoriously hate getting baths. An actual dog spa would probably consist of a field of mud to roll around in.

Memory Lane...