42A. “Skinny” is a slang term for INFO, as in “What’s the skinny on that person?”
63A./64A. I liked the twin clues “‘Later!’” and “Later.” One is a verbalization (BYE) and the other is a comparative (TARDIER).
16D. When I think of the words slalom or sprint, I think about skiing and running. So it was news to me that these are Olympic CANOE competitions. (The clue is “Equipment for an Olympic slalom or sprint.”)
26D. I knew that “They can be epic or lyric” referred to poetry. I just wasn’t sure that the entry, POETRIES, was a real word, as “poetry” can be either singular or plural. Apparently, POETRIES can be used as a plural of poetry under specific conditions, such as appearing in Mr. Grillo’s crossword.
35D. The “Line-skipping assets” in this puzzle are INS, as in having an “in” with a V.I.P.
41D. The “Natural finish?” is -IST, which can be tacked on to the end of “natural” to make “naturalist.”
Constructor Notes
Yikes! This one goes in the category of “Don’t try this at home.”
This was the hardest puzzle I’ve ever built to completion. It took well over a year to come up with a grid I could fill in a way that I truly enjoyed.
I really liked the idea of a puzzle featuring a combination of grid art, quirkiness (with the interchanged parts), a nostalgic toy that underwent a modern and inclusive change and plenty of long fill. You would think that the flexibility to interchange the body parts in the grid and the many options for parts (e.g., smile/mouth/teeth for the same “part”) would have made this easy, but I must have gone through 100 different grid designs and sizes, and as many part placements, to arrive at the puzzle you see today. I was determined to ensure that no part ended up in its proper place in the POTATO HEAD, that they were all readable left-to-right or top-to-bottom, and that a part which normally belonged in each hole was represented somewhere else. Thankfully, The New York Times Crossword editors were kind enough to accept the puzzle, as it makes all the effort worth it.
I’m really hopeful that app solvers will be treated to a graphic image of the “parts” upon completion of the puzzle. And perhaps some of you will be inspired to find your old (probably branded Mr./Mrs.) Potato Head toys and play with them.
Enjoy!
Join Our Other Game Discussions
Want to be part of the conversation about New York Times Games, or maybe get some help with a particularly thorny puzzle? Here are the: