Three unrelated things: first, I think it was just yesterday that Brendan Emmett Quigley posted what looked like a bizarre, inside joke on Facebook (“Too many cooks, indeed” or something like that). I didn’t even bother to look up what he meant. But then just as I picked my wife up from work yesterday evening, she immediately said, “Have you seen the ‘Too Many Cooks’ video?” Apparently the whole world was raving about it and I knew nothing, but then my friend Ron showed it to me. And It. Is. Glorious.





Second, one reason that this puzzle is coming in a bit late was that I excised the answer SURE TO WIN from the grid just last night and refilled maybe 25% of it. The phrase Googles reasonably well enough, and I even had a decent clue for it [Like a lock, say]. You could probably have gotten it on crosses. But after staring at it for a long while, it just sounded too arbitrary to my ear. I think I made the right call, though if anyone wants to defend it, feel free. I’ll probably be tempted to have answers like SURE TO GO or SURE TO PUNCH. You can’t stop me from using them in my puzzles. But hopefully I can.

Finally, will the Devil Cross solver named Chris Cain please e-mail me? Much thanks.

Enjoy this puzzle, a slightly expanded 16×15 grid for slightly expanded fun. There will be a new one on November 22.

Update, 11/8/14 @ 7:30 pm ET: There’s some new info about the Indie 500 Crossword Puzzle Tournament that may be of interest to you new, indie puzzle constructors out there. We’re looking for a 6th constructor, and that could be you. Go to the site here and click on “Submit” to get the details.