The theme is fairly basic and I'm sure has been done in some version many times, but I think this a fun introduction to thematic quirks in puzzling. 27D is one of my all-time favorites, so I intentionally worked his name in there. - CD
20A came to me first, and I still like that answer, but now that the puzzle is complete I don't feel like the themed answers really hold up to scrutiny. This was an early puzzle for me and I'm not especially happy with it. I was glad to work in 40D…
I enjoy working sports themes and clues and would like to create more sports-centric puzzles. The thematic wordplay is a bit pedestrian, but I found it fun. I really hate 17A and 22D as answers but I got boxed in by the grid/theme. - CD
Though I enjoyed working in 9D and I like the concept of the baseball reference, I don't think this a very good puzzle overall. The thematic nature is a bit erratic. - CD
In this puzzle I'm picturing play-by-play broadcasters excitedly shouting the thematic answers, which is why I styled the clues as I did. Since it's already a sports puzzle, I also leaned into some sports references for the other clues. - CD
I started with the idea of doing actual Beatles songs but decided to alter them a bit when I realized the real song title referenced in 38A and the imagined title have the same number of letters. From there I scrolled through Spotify to find other…
This is my favorite puzzle that I have made so far. I am pleased with how I was able to work the various album titles into the grid -- it took a long time. I sketched this puzzle out in a notebook while sipping a beer at a neighborhood spot. There…