Does Merl Reagle visit this site? Did he read my comments about all the two- and three-letter words that appear so frequently in crosswords? Was it just coincidence that his puzzle in last Sunday's Los Angeles Times had no words shorter than five letters?
Today's Sunday puzzle is back to "normal"---Reagle used ABBA, AGE, ARC, DNA, EAU, EGO and ERA. He also used a word that I have never before seen in a puzzle: SNIED. Many times a puzzle maker will wind up with an unusual combination of letters for one answer. Instead of reworking that part of the grid, he'll try to find some way to compose a clue for the unusual word. One example from last week is ATAN. The clue was "____ angle." Today, rather than rework the puzzle to avoid having to use SNIED as an answer, Reagle clued the word by referencing a line from the Beatles' I Am The Walrus: "See how they run, see how they ____." If John Lennon had not made up that word, Reagle would have had no choice but to come up with a different word!
