OK! Today's New York Times Crossword is mine...

[Puzzler]

9. About the Washington Post puzzles...

(warning: possible TMI ahead!)

The 15x15 crosswords including the themeless 15x 15 "Sunday Challenge" are all geared to be easy to medium by most NYT standards. (FYI I'm part of a team of 16 rotating constuctors that construct and co-edit the WP 15x15 puzzles) So if anyone is used to my Friday/Saturday NYTs, the WPs are far easier. This is because the WP has found that around the NYT Tuesday level suits their demographic the best. Our Sunday 15x15s are harder, but not super-tough.

As for a Sunday NYT, I don't have any in the works. But I hope to submit one or two within the next few months. But submitting a puzzle to Will Shortz and having him accept it can be pretty tough, even for experienced constructors. Sometimes the theme might not interest Will enough. So it can be a lot of work down the drain! That's not to say it's unfair, but Will can only except so many per month/year. My specialty, if you know my NYT puzzles, tend to be open-looking themeless puzzles.

I gotta say that it's nice to have people recognize my name. However, I usually hesitate to go on about my crosswords too much, because it's such an offbeat job, that you can easily give people the impression implying that you're somehow smarter. And I hate that. Which is ridiculous of course, especially around a site like DU.

-Martin Ashwood-Smith

PS: sorry for any typos etc, I'm out and squinting at my phone.