by Lucy Howard & Ross Trudeau
Lucy and I have never met in person, but I already count her among my good friends, owing to the amount of time we’ve spent making grids together in recent weeks. It’s hard to call this week’s puzzle a tribute per se, though it feels timely given all the reflecting I’ve been doing on how much I lean on the women in my life for support these days.
Chief among these are Jessie and Ruby, my partner and murder cat, without whom quarantine would be an even more acute challenge.
But puzzle collaborators like Lucy have been a daily presence in my life, and though I don’t leave the house much, they’ve helped me build what feels like a pretty robust social life. I honestly don’t know what life’s emotional contours would be like today without them. Let’s not dwell, shall we?
A few thoughts from Lucy and me on “Her Story” after the jump.
Lucy: Hip hip HER-ray! Three cheers for this here puzzle: one for Ross for coming up with this rad theme idea, another for the beautiful, fortuitous interlock we uncovered, and one more for me for *finally* managing to fill her in…. Loved getting WOMAN, METOO, BRA, and TITS in here 🙂 Also, MENA, MISSM, ETHEL, RHEA, etc. I’m a yoga teacher so ASANA and GURU made me smile, and Ross and I are both rock climbers so BELAY was double the fun.One more final cheer for Ross for sharing our puzzle with the rest of the crosswording world, and for being such a gem of a human. Happy solving!
Ross: I’ll never not look for interlocking theme answers. Also, it should be noted that the SayHerName movement didn’t begin with BREONNA TAYLOR.
Have a lovely Sunday, everyone.
BE-YOO-TI-FUL! I had a great time solving this — thanks, btw, for clarifying the ETHEL clue 🙂 — and the fill, too, is sparkly and fun. I’m totally in love with BAJILLION, for example. Thank you both for a terrific time!
Thanks, Kelly. Though WHAT IF our Lucy also had an Ethel? Meta….
Well…the OTHER Lucy would be an ETHELRED? No, that can’t be right…I have no idea if our Lucy is also a redhead 🙂 Go one, give!
P.S. Nice “High Waters” puz, Ross…loved it.