Let’s see what he has on faucet for these days’s puzzle, “I’m Touched!” There’s a Q&A with Paolo on the finish of the post, as neatly.
Ten acquainted words have had one letter modified to the bigram AU to create wacky words.
- 23A: [Early-in-the-workweek vibes, in France?] is MARDI AURAS, in line with Mardi Gras.
- 25A: [Excerpt from a legal document subsection?] is CLAUSE QUOTE, in line with close quote.
- 38A: [Pope Sixtus IV’s fancy hat?] is SISTINE CHAPEAU, in line with Sistine Chapel.
- 55A: [Perfume that smells like former NFL QB Jim?] is EAU MCMAHON, in line with Ed McMahon.
- 65A: [Half-man/half-horse leading a church service?] is CENTAUR OF MASS, in line with center of mass.
- 82A: [French composer Jean-Philippe does some musical jamming?] is RAMEAU NOODLES, in line with ramen noodles.
- 92A: [Tool for tightening the nuts on a pig roaster?] is LUAU WRENCH, in line with lug wrench.
- 108A: [Hoped-for reaction to using fuel gas in a comedy act?] is BUTANE LAUGHTER, in line with butane lighter.
- 125A: [Person taking a quick look over a Hawaiian island?] is MAUI SCANNER, in line with MRI scanner.
- 128A: [Queen Esther, appearance-wise, e.g.?] is BIBLE BEAUT, in line with Bible Belt.
The puzzle hides a meta part with a revealer that explains the single-letter-to-AU adjustments at 105D: [Man who changed 10 letters in this puzzle by touching them (the original letters describe his daughter, to his dismay)] which is MIDAS. Take the unique 10 letters that had been modified, and also you spell out GOLDEN GIRL. In some variations of the parable, King Midas hugged his daughter and unintentionally grew to become her into gold, absolutely demonstrating simply how a lot of a curse used to be his energy. Paolo, then again, makes use of this energy for just right to create a a laugh, available meta, with some theme solutions that I particularly cherished — I believe CENTAUR OF MASS is, neatly, gold.
He surrounded the theme with an array of humorous clues somewhere else within the puzzle, too. My favourite ones had been 33A: [Crow saying “SOON” in a human voice, probably] which is OMEN, 117A: [Offense in the locker room, maybe?] which is ODOR, 118A: [Water for elefantes?] which is AGUA, and 16D: [Play store?] which is SPORTS SHOP. I additionally liked the informative, profound video link that he equipped within the clue for URL at 10D: [youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ, e.g.]
Let’s listen from Paolo about this puzzle and different crossword issues.
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Evan: How did you at the beginning get enthusiastic about fixing and setting up crosswords?
Paolo: I’ve been fixing puzzles since I used to be a child (beginning with the puzzles in Dell Magazine), however I most effective were given into crossword-solving when I used to be in 8th grade. I had have shyed away from them for some time since I used to be below the impact that I didn’t know issues. I wasn’t just right at them in the beginning, because of me now not realizing issues, however I used to be hooked. After finding out the New York Times had an open submission coverage, I determined to check out my hand at setting up puzzles. Ten years and a few 1000’s of grids later, I’m happy I did!
Evan: How did you bring to mind this puzzle’s theme? Did you get started from the theory of King Midas turning issues to gold and search for letters to transfer to AU, or did you get started with a theme solution that you simply truly favored after which in finding the meta idea from there?
Paolo: The theme began with the Midas contact idea, and the “one letter changes in every theme answer, and those letters spell an apt phrase” construction got here beautiful quickly after. I affiliate that construction so much together with your puzzles — you probably have particular person letters doing one thing, would possibly as neatly get them to spell out an advantage solution. The greatest restriction for this theme used to be discovering a pleasing meta word that didn’t include the letters A or U (since turning “A” into “AU” in a theme solution would simply seem like including a U). In the top, we landed on GOLDEN GIRL, which I truly favored! So a lot in order that I used to be in a position to omit how a lot of a ache it used to be to have compatibility ten theme entries that wanted to be in a selected order.
Evan: Do you could have a specific genre of poser that you simply experience growing essentially the most (themed, themeless, meta, cryptic, selection, and so forth.)? And if that is so, what do you prefer absolute best about it?
Paolo: I’ve an actual liking for multilayered-style metas, like my Barbenheimer puzzle (revealed within the AVCX), or the Remedial Chaos Suite I ran on my weblog previous final 12 months. I love doing bits normally, and I think like doing bits in crosswords is a truly unexplored area.
Evan: When you write a puzzle, do you could have a specific set of pursuits that you simply particularly purpose to come with within the solutions or the subjects or the clues? And if that is so, what are they?
Paolo: I’m a large popular culture man, so numerous that seeps into how I write clues. In phrases of items I check out to come with in my puzzles, I think like they in most cases simply come from issues that enchantment to my Gen Z Asian viewpoint, since they’re two views that aren’t essentially the most represented within the stereotypical crossword reference base. Other than that, it’s most commonly references to @dril tweets and no matter film I simply watched.
Evan: You’ve been a finalist at more than a few crossword tournaments just like the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Lollapuzzoola and Boswords. For the remainder of us fixing mortals, how is the revel in of fixing up on level other from how you may generally remedy a crossword?
Paolo: The drive of getting to remedy a grid completely on an enormous board (and sooner than the 2 ultrafast folks subsequent to you) is ready as unnerving as you’ll be able to believe. One factor I discovered after a couple of ACPT finals that is going under-discussed, even though: Since the finals are commentated, and also you’re fixing with headphones, you’re fixing in one of the crucial few situations in lifestyles when you’re 100% certain persons are speaking about you in that very second, and you’ll be able to’t listen the rest.
Evan: Are there different puzzle actions or tasks that you simply’d like to advertise?
Paolo: Nothing a lot out of doors of the common stuff; one a laugh factor bobbing up is that the ’90s-themed crossword e book “New Grids on the Block” comes out quickly, and I’ve a couple of puzzles in it! Otherwise, practice me on X @gpaolopasco, the place I love to bring to mind each tweet as a “project” in spreading pleasure and smiles.
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Thanks for the responses and your puzzle, Paolo!
What did you suppose, readers?