…about turnaround time. Today marks two contrasting crossword records for me: the longest and shortest waits between submission and publication.
Wednesday’s New York Times crossword was carefully aged for 3 years (3 years, 1 month, 2 days to be exact) while a March Madness crossword I created for Sports Illustrated is appearing only 3 days after being handed in (5 if you count from when it was assigned).
For all you solvers who can’t get enough sports clues in your crosswords, the Sports Illustrated puzzle is in the April 7th Final Four issue. It should be on newsstands today or tomorrow.
Pat Tricks 
Wait … 3 days from submission to newsstand? Really? Yipes.
Neat puzzle! My friend Xerxes Falstaff has a birthday coming up, and I was trying to find a good card for him, and…oh wait :-P
No, but seriously, nice puz. :)
Joe — Sports Illustrated‘s turnaround time is kind of mind-boggling. They asked me late Friday afternoon if I could do a puzzle (and put aside a page when I said I could), I submitted it early Sunday afternoon, they ran a few last questions by me Monday evening before putting it to bed, and there were copies of the magazine on newsstands this morning, Wednesday (at least there were in Manhattan when I was in the city today)!
Jangler — Thanks. Perhaps you can staple two copies of the puzzle together for your friend, Xerxes. I knew a Xerxes Falstaff back in grade school. I wonder if it’s the same one. Nah, couldn’t be….
May I be bold enough to say that the 3 year wait is what you get for re-gifting a (double?) pangram as a greeting card? ;-)
I thought the puzzle was tongue-in-cheek, perfect for the April first week spirit ..
Ashish
• Ashish, just one Q and X in the grid, but enough doubles and triples of the others to make most any name (JoJo, Kirk, Vivian, Bobby, etc.). BTW, I’m re-re-gifting it to myself for my birthday this Saturday. Reduce Reuse Recycle! — Patrick