puzzle #97: letters of employment (themed)

no-skips november day 7

In 2021, I attempted to post a new crossword everyday in an event I dubbed “NaCroWriMo.” Unfortunately, I was not able to complete this event and, as a result, I have carried that shame ever since. That is until this month.

For every day in November this year, I’m posting a new crossword puzzle in an endeavour I’m now calling “No-Skips November.” Some of these puzzles are themeless, some are themed, some were even constructed before November, but it doesn’t matter: I’m not skipping a single day on this blog. I’m posting a new crossword. Every day. For a month.

This is also an effort to drive subscriptions to my Patreon, which is the best way to support me directly! My Patreon ensures that I’m able to sustain myself financially during months with less puzzle work, so I can spend more time making the puzzles you enjoy. Subscribers get a new themeless puzzle every week, and Inner Circle members typically get an extra 3-4 puzzles per month.

I’ve been trying to tap into “theme brain” recently. “Theme brain” is what I call the state of mind that allows a constructor to come up with good themed puzzle ideas. Theme brain allows you to look at words and phrases, know which ones have theme potential, and execute them. For example, Ross Trudeau is always in theme brain.

I, on the other hand, find myself in “themeless brain” most of the time. I love finding words, phrases, and cluing angles that have never found themselves in crossword puzzles. I love expanding the corpus of crossword entries! I revel at the high vowel percentage of a conversational phrase, or the discovery of an interesting fifteen-letter phrase. If you’re like me, you probably noticed this paragraph started with one: I, ON THE OTHER HAND (15).

I don’t compare these two states of mind to rank them; I think they work best in tandem, after all. What fun is language if you never allow yourself the opportunity to explore the wordplay in it, and who’s to say a theme-worthy phrase can’t stand on its own in a grid? I need to work on my theme brain more, and this puzzle is a step in the right direction. Thank you to Will Nediger for arguably the best theme entry here (32-Across).

Also, in personal news, I took Stan to the vet today to see if he has any chip, and he doesn’t! Stan doesn’t have anyone taking care of him, so that means I am now the proud owner of a beautiful cat. The Cat Distribution System has worked its magic once again. Expect to see a lot more of him on the blog from now on :3