July 31: "What the ...?" (Ryan Judge, AVCX Classic)
August 24: Sinking Sensation (Adam Aaronson and Alina Abidi, Lollapuzzoola)
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"What the ...?" (Ryan Judge)
A response that crossword critics sometimes have to a puzzle is "Cool observation, but why did it have to be a crossword?" I've heard this in particular on the dearly departed Crossnerds podcast. And it's a fair point! As a crossword constructor, my first impulse when I think of, well, anything is to turn it into a puzzle, because that's what I do. But sometimes a piece of wordplay doesn't really lend itself to the genre of the crossword, and is better off dashed off as a tweet or something (Adam Aaronson's Twitter feed is full of brilliant examples).
The observation that's the basis for this puzzle's theme, on the other hand, is one that lends itself perfectly to the format. The first two themers are RUE D(E RIVOL)I and SA(VILE RO)W, which are cities in Paris and London, respectively. Then we have A TALE OF/TWO CITIES, described as a "work set in Paris and London," as a sort of quasi-revealer. The true revealer is OLIVER TWIST, clued as [Titular street child in a famous novel ... and a hint to finding that child in the streets of 17- and 27-Across]. This is a truly remarkable set of correspondences - the first Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities, provides the pair of cities that connects the two streets; the second Dickens novel, provides the justification for the fact that they're streets (because Oliver's a street child), and it provides the justification for the wordplay, hiding anagrams of OLIVER in the themers. Not only that, both streets are genuinely well known, neither of them being plucked from obscurity simply to make the theme work.
You could try to package that set of correspondences in a tweet: "There are famous streets called Rue de Rivoli and Savile Row that contain anagrams of OLIVER (Oliver twists, if you will), and those streets are in Paris and London, the titular cities of A Tale of Two Cities." But that's so wordy that the impact is dulled. Instead, Ryan took advantage of the familiar conventions of the crossword to get the observation across more pithily - "twist" is a classic anagram indicator, so it needs no explanation, and the clue for A TALE OF/TWO CITIES can simply name-drop Paris and London and let the solvers make the connection themselves. It all unfolds beautifully over the course of the solve, and it feels like an organic whole.
Sinking Sensation (Adam Aaronson and Alina Abidi)
Perhaps a surprising choice, since when I highlight tournament puzzles, I tend to go for flashy, deviously difficult themes (of the sort that typically take the Puzzle 4 slot at Lollapuzzoola). And this year's edition of Lolla has not one, but two such themed puzzles: Hoang-Kim Vu's Puzzle 4, and Neville Fogarty's finals puzzle, which departed from tradition by having a theme (but which certainly didn't depart from the tradition of having fiendishly difficult clues). Both of these had tricky themes that separated the wheat from the chaff, and extremely clever cluing that made them an excellent challenge even after you figured out the theme. Both would be eminently worthy subjects for this post - but I don't want to risk giving the impression that tournament puzzles have to be knottily complex to be worth lauding.
Adam and Alina's puzzle, "Sinking Sensation," has a fairly straightforward (but very elegantly executed) theme, but one that's perfect for a relatively easy tournament slot. The theme entries are Across answers that take a vertical turn at the letter A, turn into a string of A's heading down the grid (representing a scream let loose by someone riding a drop tower), and then take a horizontal turn so they finish in a lower Across spot. For example, CHICAGO is split up into CHICA, AAAAAA, and AGO - notice that both of the Across entries are legitimate words. Once you figure out the theme, you get a whole bunch of free squares, most strikingly at 9-Down, which consists of a whopping 17 A's spanning the entire height of the grid, and connecting LIBRA and ARIES to form LIBRARIES. Particularly in a timed setting, being able to plop down all those A's in a row is a thrilling feeling, and a perfectly apt one for the amusement park theme that united all of this year's Lolla puzzles. It can be hard to properly enjoy a puzzle at a tournament (at least if you're a competitive type, like me) because of the intensity of the competition; this puzzle is perfectly designed so that even the most laser-focused solver will get a real kick out of it. It's also not lost on me that the constructors leaned into their initials with this theme (they both have the monogram A.A.) - another fun little touch.
