Grid: 15×15, Difficulty: Easy
[solve online] [.puz version] [pdf version][solution]
Constructor commentary (contains puzzle spoilers)
I’ve recently been trying to make some easy puzzles, which turns out to be a very difficult task, at least for me anyway. Hopefully this one was pretty accessible for new solvers though.
Theme: Three Square Meals. Each set of circles is arranged in a square and spells out the word MEAL. The three meals are also alluded to in the title “Breakfast, lunch, and dinner”. While this theme isn’t super exciting, I like the simple wordplay. When I first thought of this theme I counted out THREESQUAREMEALS to be 15 letters so I thought it would make a good revealer, but it turns out I counted wrong and it’s 16 letters! I tried making an irregular shaped puzzle (16×15 or 15×16), but that proved very difficult for me. Regardless, I am continuously becoming more of fan of easy puzzles where the theme isn’t in your face (the USA Today crossword often does this really well). In terms of theme answers, the ML was the main limitation (obviously tons of words have EA) and once I found MARXISMLENINISM there was no way of getting me away from including that.
Grid: Laying out the black squares on a grid continues to be the most difficult part of creating puzzles for me. Currently, I keep ending up with puzzles with two diagonal streaks across the middle like this one. I don’t think it’s a bad design but I also don’t want to always end up with the same shape. In a recent Rexword blog post, Malaika Handa give the useful tip for practicing creating grids. So I might have to try that out. If I start making way better grids, know that it is thanks to Malaika.
BASSET (26-Across: Floppy-eared hound) Basset hounds are my favorite dogs. I love their short legs and big ears. I had a basset hound growing up and he was so sweet.
BIG (34-Across: “__ Hero 6” (2014 animated film)) The TV show Baymax!, which is a spin-off of this movie features a scene with a transmasc character buying tampons, which makes me very happy.
DOGLEASHES (52-Across: Professional walker’s tools) I’ve heard trans people joke that all trans men are dogwalkers or journalist and all trans women are programmers. I really like the image of a bunch of trans men happily walking their dogs. Also, my partner is a transmasc journalist so that checks out.
MASCOT (5-Down: Sammy the Slug or Speedy the Geoduck) Sammy the Slug is the banana slug mascot of UC Santa Cruz and Speedy the Geoduck is the mascot of Evergreen State College. A geoduck, pronounced like “gooey duck”, is a large burrowing clam that looks like a penis.
ATOLL (12-Down: Coral reef formation) Interestingly, Charles Darwin came up with one of the main theories of how atolls develop. This achievement has been largely overshadowed by another scientific theory of his though.
GMOS (36-Down: Crops with altered DNA, briefly) Genetic Modified Organisms, or GMOs, are a complicated issue and my thoughts about them have changed a lot over the years. Like many people with a degree in biology, I was taught about gold rice, a genetically engineered version of rice designed to help communities with shortages of vitamin A. This story was taught to me as a message about the benefits of genetic engineered crops and how they can make the world a better place. The topic is a lot more complicated though. Strains of GMO crops are generally controlled by large corporations or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Global North. I’m critical of these organizations’ increasingly stronger intervention in Global South agriculture and also don’t believe that large scale agriculture of GMO crops is the solution to problems in global food distribution. Personally, I still do not believe GMOs are definitely problematic. Open-source GMOs can help small-scale farmers deal with issues like climate change and new pests, and the blanket boycott of any GMO food discourages farmers from trying these methods. There’s tons more to say about this and I am certainly not an expert, but overall I think we need to focus on the autonomy of local communities’ food systems rather than letting large corporations and NGOs decide what is best for people.
FOSSIL (44-Down: Lasting impression?) I am continuously bothered by the fact that there is not a well known (or any?) word for someone who studies dinosaurs. People usually just say paleontologist, but that is just a general term for someone who studies fossils. So many kids want to study dinosaurs when they grow up and I think they deserve a word of it. I guess you could say paleo-herpetologists or something like that, but that is boring. I propose dinologist!
The LilyPad 