In the spirit of the day, thanks to the editors and constructors who actively create area for illustration — each when it comes to whose puzzles get printed and what folks, locations, and components of language get featured in these puzzles. Thank you to the bloggers, commenters, and solvers who actively encourage dialogue round how we, as a crossword neighborhood, can proceed supporting the voices of the marginalized.

First, I need to acknowledge that the two/10/22 NYT puzzle has an similar revealer to this one. My puzzle was submitted in 2020 and accepted in 2021, so I felt shaken up and disheartened to see such an identical puzzle printed, realizing mine was to comply with. Now, I can admire every puzzle’s distinctive taste and perceive the editors’ option to run each. I hope sufficient time has handed, and folk can nonetheless take pleasure in this one for what it’s.

This puzzle was difficult to make! The theme’s premise prevented me from utilizing the (very useful) letter “I” anyplace else within the grid outdoors the themed entries. Also, the editors and I needed each dot within the puzzle to signify the precise phrase “DOT,” so many different potential themers like DO THE RIGHT THING had been off-limits.

The most complex constraint to navigate was the way in which that every dot spelled the letters “D-O-T” going horizontally, however was basically a clean area going vertically. Long story brief: after fixing the three/18/21 NYT puzzle, I requested its constructor Tom McCoy for steerage because it had an identical use of “clean” squares. Without getting too nerdy, Tom was extremely supportive in serving to develop a Python script and customized phrase lists that made filling the grid loads much less not possible. Thank you, Tom.

Favorite clues that had been saved: CHAOS, IMAC, ELOPE, SYMBOLS, ALOE, PANGAEA, SUNS, TSO, BDAY, and EMO.