Scott Hogan
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For anyone wondering if my Constructor Notes were omitted, here they are (yes, I’m vain enough to care, sadly): I am so stoked to be sharing a byline with Ilana on her NYT debut! We met in the "Cruciverb" Facebook group, which is where I met my mentor (now NYT rockstar) Christina several years ago in the same fashion: as a new constructor looking for feedback on a few early construction attempts. I have to say, it was a bit awkward for this 50-something man to dole out constructive criticism to a younger woman whose puzzle included the theme entry MANSPLAINING—it's like I was asking for trouble! Nonetheless, I persevered because I wanted to pay Christina's kindness forward. Who knew it would ultimately result in today's puzzle? For aspiring constructors, the editing staff's wise advice Ilana referenced: they wished all of our theme entries had more transformative clues. While STAY AT HOME DAD [Going shopping without you, Pop!] and STUDY BUDDY [Hit the books, slacker!] were cute, they were too literal; STAY AT HOME and STUDY change parts of speech, but the general meaning is unchanged. This made them less clever than, say, TWISTED SISTER or BLOCKBUSTER. Wordplay is key. To Ilana: thanks for the "mentor" props. It's an honor, even if I don't consider myself anyone's mentor. This was a true collaboration. How awesome is it that the very first idea we worked on together is running in today's New York Times?? Or, perhaps more appropriately: Can you believe it's RUNNING, MATE?!
@sotto voce Thanks for your comments, Sotto. I’m replying because you’re exactly right about the way constructors think. It really is a continuous thing, for me at least. Everything is a potential theme idea…it’s so true. Glad you enjoyed it!
@Jack McCullough Usually the constructors come up with the title, but sometimes the editing staff might tweak it. I actually didn’t think they’d go for “Weather, Man!”, but they did. For me it conjures some old George Carlin audio when he did one of his characters: “This is the Hippie Dippy weatherman, with the hippie dippy weather, man!” Thanks for your comments!
@Remi Nice catch…that wasn’t our original clue, so ya know. :-)
@Jazzy Hi Jazzy…I was inspired at the last moment when I was writing the Constructor Notes to give you a shout-out because I knew you’d totally get a kick out of it and appreciate it! I’m not sure whether to encourage or discourage you from allowing the constructor bug to guide you! Great meeting you at ACPT…one of my and my wife’s most memorable moments was seeing you show up on stage during the finals. We just looked at each other and were like, “was there ever any doubt that girl was gonna somehow end up in the spotlight??” :-)
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen Never saw that commercial, but it’s perfect!!
@Remi Wikipedia, I guess.
@ad absurdum Thanks for the props!
@Lewis Aww…thanks, Lewis!
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