Twenty under Thirty

The “Twenty Under Thirty” contest was created because it had
to be. The number of young constructors making extraordinary,
groundbreaking puzzles is higher than ever. University puzzle
societies are fertile ground for communities of
cruciverbalists with fresh voices and immense talents. People
under thirty - and often under twenty - are now routinely
published in the best puzzle features in the world.
The time has come to recognize the best of these young voices
in a unique forum. “Twenty Under Thirty” is loosely modeled
after the New Yorker’s annual “40 Under 40” feature for young
writers. We placed a call for constructors to send in a
puzzle that spoke to their talents. Initially nervous that we
might receive just 20 total submissions (or not even that),
the final tally swelled to more than 45. Moreover, the
quality of the submissions was extremely high. The puzzles
were solved and ranked by a panel of crossword experts,
including blogger Michael Sharp (rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com),
constructor Patrick Blindauer (patrickblindauer.com), and
constructor/blogger Elizabeth Gorski (crosswordnation.com),
and the very best were picked from a deep pool.
The winning constructors were paid $250 for their work higher than the rate for any daily - as a show of recognition
for their excellence. Pat Scanlon provided beautiful
illustrations for a PDF version. An iPhone app is in the
works. The 2013 “Twenty Under Thirty” collection will, very
deservedly, be available to a wide audience.
Twenty Under Thirty • edited by Ben Tausig
Puzzle # 13/20 • Peter Wentz
PETER WENTZ
Peter has been a lifelong fan of puzzles,
solving the New York Times crossword every day
during lunch while at UNCAsheville. Eventually, he figured he would
give constructing a shot and has been addicted
to the craft every since. Peter currently
enjoys living and working as an architect in
Raleigh, occasionally making time for the
wonderful sport of ultimate, bounding around
town in various run clubs, and of course,
enjoying a good crossword.
Twenty Under Thirty • edited by Ben Tausig
Across
1. Global warming?
11. First name in kid lit
15. Malady often brought on by spicy
food
16. Big Sam’s former plantation
17. Completely new material
18. They run up and down in NYC
19. Back, in slang
20. Trick-taking game for three
21. Painted lady, for example
23. Test used for National Merit
Scholarship selections
24. T.S. Eliot contemporary
25. Juice
27. Stroke involved in many an upand-down
28. Tweet
29. “___ I miss?”
30. Miss like crazy, say
31. Infamous Super Bowl XXVII
fumbler
32. Merry refrain
33. Digs across the border
34. Drew Rosenhaus, notably: Abbr.
35. Bitch
36. Object of Petruchio’s affection
37. Furthest down
39. Butler who helps restore 16-Across
40. Deems apt
41. “Oh, come on!”
42. Swore
43. The ___ Spring
44. ___ stand
47. “Pleasepleaseplease?”
48. Poop on a celebrity, say
51. Colombian crowd?
52. Economic metaphor
53. Cheek
54. Seller of $1.99 Charles Shaw wine
THEMELESS
DIFFICULTY: ● ● ● ● ●
Puzzle # 13/20 • Peter Wentz
Down
1. Muted wail heard in clubs
26. Babes
2. “Love Me, I’m a Liberal”
27. Protest sound
singer
28. Stand-up types
3. Kia dealer’s options
29. It holds your hand
4. So-called “bad cholesterol”
32. Dostoevsky work with a love
5. Kid’s game
triangle
6. Eat fussily
33. Upmarket shopping word
7. C melodic minor scale note
35. Ellen DeGeneres, of Portia de
8. Scores
Rossi
9. Like many a gym rat
36. Den mother
10. Court centerpiece, often
38. Head rival
11. Bodily balances
39. File that may help with
12. “Please, kind sir?”
installation
13. “Boys Today, Men
41. Coffee maker button
Tomorrow” toy
43. Having no point of reference
14. Slight push over the edge, as it 44. Gorilla who lied about tearing
were
a sink from a wall
22. Org. in a “broken windows
45. Sport which now rarely
theory” case study
employs a stopping point
23. Sweet after-dinner option
46. Is on the same level as
24. Seal eater
49. TED Radio Hour producer
25. “Diary of a Combatant” writer 50. Former ABA and NBA MVP
by Peter Wentz
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
23
25
13
14
45
46
22
24
26
27
28
29
31
30
32
34
37
12
33
35
36
38
39
40
41
42
43
47
48
51
52
53
54
49
44
50
Solution: http://twentyunderthirty.com/solution/wentz
Purchase all 20 puzzles for $5: http://twentyunderthirty.com