Uncommon - The New York Times

WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Well. I’ve solved a lot of crossword puzzles, but I can honestly say that I have never solved one that made me tear up when I got the theme.

On the surface, this is puzzle by Amanda Yesnowitz and Joon Pahk has a very simple theme, but like some cakes — wedding cakes, say — this one has multiple layers.

This puzzle was constructed by Ms. Yesnowitz and Mr. Pahk to be solved at her wedding to the actor Brendan McGrady. The crosswords editor Will Shortz was in attendance.

Since Mr. Shortz was “on the ground,” so to speak and can give a firsthand account, I’m going to turn things over to him. Ms. Yesnowitz’s notes follow and essentially tell the same story, but I thought you would enjoy both perspectives.

Will Shortz on Today’s Puzzle

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a wedding reception for Amanda Yesnowitz and Brendan McGrady, the couple who got engaged with a little help from the Sept. 26 New York Times Crossword.

If you’ll remember, that was the puzzle constructed by Doug Peterson that had a theme of RINGs. Amanda’s name appeared at 47-Down. Deb’s write-up on Wordplay, with a link to a video showing Brendan popping the question, can be found here.

Amanda and Brendan got married on Dec. 16 at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Their reception was in the afternoon at Locanda Verde, an upscale Italian restaurant in Tribeca. About 60 guests attended. I think Brian Cimmet, a longtime musical collaborator of Amanda’s, and I were the only puzzle people in attendance.

Each place setting in the room contained a printed crossword co-constructed by Amanda and Joon Pahk — the puzzle that appears in today’s Times. Brian and I set to work. When we were finished, we commented on how nicely done it was — the AB POSITIVE theme, the three familiar phrases with the initials A-B (for Amanda and Brendan) and the fill. In addition, in the version we solved, the clues for 16-, 36-, 65- and 68-Across were asterisked. Their answers, in order, spelled A MAN / DAB / REN / DAN.

Just before food was served, Amanda came over and told Brian and me that the puzzle had a bonus, hidden message. “Really?,” we wondered. “How was that possible?” We hadn’t noticed anything else while solving. We searched again, and there it was: The initial letters of the 76 clues in order spelled:

LET US REMEMBER GILBERT YESNOWITZ, WHO GIFTED ME HIS LOVE OF CROSSWORDS. HERE’S ONE FOR YOU, DAD.

Gilbert Yesnowitz was Amanda’s father, a lover of words and puzzles, passed away on July 25 before he could see his daughter get married. He and Brendan, I’m told, had a close relationship, and Brendan had told Gilbert that he wanted to marry Amanda. Even though Gilbert couldn’t be at the ceremony in person, Amanda found this touching way to include him.

Amanda’s and Joon’s crossword — and story — were so good, I wanted to share it with you.

Constructor Notes

Not to be outdone by my now husband who proposed to me via a New York Times crossword, this cruciverbalist bride wanted to make her own special puzzle for the wedding. I immediately came up with the AB POSITIVE theme based on our first initials.

I made a list of about 20 possible theme entries of varying lengths. In addition, I was determined to hide our names somewhere in the grid, as well as somehow create an attribution to my father who passed away over the summer. More on that last part in a bit.

Given the constraints (not to mention the time sensitivity), I enlisted my friend and genius constructor Joon Pahk, who agreed to help me actualize my lofty idea. He would make the grid and I would do the cluing.

His first grid contained theme answers I wasn’t wild about (ARMY BRAT, ALL BETTER) so I had the nerve to ask him to redo it, as I had my heart set on more sparkly fill like AURORA BOREALIS and AWESOME BLOSSOM. Joon generously obliged and then showed me where he had hidden our names, which leads me to how the published puzzle is a little different than the one we had at the wedding.

At the reception, guests were all given a copy of the puzzle at their seats, but Will Shortz also let me borrow one of the big whiteboards he uses at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for the event. As guests completed their grids, I invited them to come up and fill something in, because doesn’t every recreational solver want to feel like a finalist at a crossword tournament, even if just for a moment?

As for the puzzle itself, I gave it a title on the page: “Marriage is as easy as … see?” and a hint:

“When read in order, the answers to the starred clues will reveal the ultimate 60 Across.” (Those starred clues are 16-across, 36-across, 65-across, and 68-across.) During the party, I cryptically told Will (Yes, Will Shortz was at my wedding!) that I was counting on him for something but he’d have to figure out what it was. He nodded, grinned, and accepted my challenge. (None of my five test solvers had grokked this last layer, so I deemed it best to offer the prompt, even to the puzzle master himself).

When the big board was completed, I talked about the puzzle, the theme, the title, and our names, much to everyone’s delight. And then I asked if anyone found anything else worth noting. Will raised his hand and addressed the crowd, explaining that what he found was the difference between a good puzzle and an amazing puzzle. He rightly discovered that I had coded the clues acrostic style, meaning that reading the first letter of each clue in order it would reveal a message.

I won’t spoil that bit here but now you know where to find it. It was my stealthy way of making sure my dad was at my wedding after all.

I’m not crying, you’re crying.

The Tipping Point

Almost finished solving but need a bit more help? We’ve got you covered.

Warning: There be spoilers ahead, but subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.

Trying to get back to the puzzle page? Right here.

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