Joe Marquez’s theme is about my favorite type of puzzle.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
THURSDAY PUZZLE — The following is simply my thoughts about today’s puzzle. As always, your mileage may vary.
After solving crosswords for many years, I’ve come to the realization that, even when I come across a puzzle that is perfectly enjoyable, there is probably a similar one I’ve already solved that was — I don’t want to say “better,” just closer to what I had hoped for in today’s theme.
That’s the problem with having a lot of grids under one’s belt. You start to compare them. And I try very hard not to do that. Sometimes I fail.
Joe Marquez’s theme is tight and impressive, but it’s just not the May 29, 2011, puzzle by Tony Orbach and Jeremy Newton (Here’s the Wordplay column if you’re interested.) It didn’t have exactly the same theme, but the mechanics of Mr. Orbach and Mr. Newton’s crossword were exemplary and turned the solve into something that felt alive. Of course, the 2011 puzzle was a 21×21 Sunday, so there was more room to play around with design. But something like that in Mr. Marquez’s similarly themed puzzle would have really elevated it.
Maybe this is just me, but if you’re going to make a puzzle about this topic, and it runs on a Thursday — the day that is more likely to contain a trick than others — I feel as if there should be some sort of interactive feature to solve it.
I liked Mr. Marquez’s puzzle, and if I were a new solver I would have been happy with it. But that’s the downside of experience: I have the solving skills, but I also know what’s possible.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
