Philip Koski made his debut in the New York Times.

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Wednesday Jigsaw Puzzle-PSA from Crossword Maker: If you keep putting cute animals in your grid, I will continue to put their pictures in my column. I just need one of the most vulnerable excuses to spend hours searching the photo database for puppies and kittens and any other fluffy creatures you decide to use as a filler. So, for all of us, please continue to do so.

As shown in the picture above, today's builder Philip Koski has added some very cute animals to his grid, doing a great job. This boils down to the difficult choice between this creature and the 2D-named creature-really, maybe we all have this problem.

Mr. Koski also added some geographic content, which has always been my worst trivia category. In fact, I may have learned 95% of geography from the crossword puzzle. For example, the city of 24A? This is an absolute crossword classic, which has appeared up to 645 times in the New York Times crossword, so I really know a lot about it so far (including, now, it is the location of the Munch Museum).

Looking at the remaining clues and entries, you will notice that 1D, 67A, 21D, and 26A all contain references to places you can find "on the map" (see 10D). Ordinary solvers will know that geographic clues are very common, so if you still have difficulty distinguishing the Rhine and Rhone, or the difference between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, don’t be afraid-you will get a lot in the crossword practise.

14A. I can't believe this clue "Maybe it's weird hookup?" It made this crossword puzzle, but I'm glad it did. Although this sounds like a somewhat dangerous reference to Lady Gray, it is actually just a small hint about garden hoses.

28A. "Like the Tower of Babel, in two respects" is the clue to STORIED, because the Tower of Babel has a story both because it appears in the (Bible) story and because it is composed of many stories (floors).

43A. Geometry students may be asked to find the area of ​​a plot (such as in a parking lot), so the "plot calculation" may be the area.

53A. "The end of the dean's address" is not the end of the convening speech, but the end of the dean's email address, which is .EDU.

64A. The question mark indicates that this clue involves a word game, so this clue is not the usual "troubled" "piping hot", but the beginning of a bath in the literal sense.

65A. I only filled in this entry from the bottom, so I think the answer to "no job for ___" is AN ET, I want to know what it means to have no job for aliens. Of course, the actual entry is "Work without A NET", which makes more sense.

Two-dimensional. This is actually not a tricky clue, but the boy does have some good trivia! How did "marsupials with unique cubic feces" come about? Why is it a wombat? I checked, so you don’t have to.

10D. Although there is no question mark here, it is of course a clue to a word game. "It's on the map" seems to be about geographic location, but in fact it is about the correct direction on the map, which is east.

26D. More geography! Do you know where Arles is? If you do, then you know that "Yours, in Arles" requires you to translate "yours" into French, which is A TOI.

34D. "Recording speed" refers to the speed unit (RPM) on the record player, not the achievement celebrated by the Guinness Book of World Records.

56D. The clue "a line on the spine" refers to a line on the spine, which may be the author or title.

This is a package! The subject, that is, the letters of the word IT'S A wrap around the grid of three subject entries, starting from the end of each entry, and "wrap around" to the beginning.

For example, the first topic entry is A BATTLE OF WITS ("What is the intellectual opponent involved in"), where the first three letters of IT'S A fall at the end of the entry, and the last A wraps to the front (such as by the circle in the grid highlight). In the second subject entry, SARGENT PORTRAIT ("Theodore Roosevelt" or "Robert Louis Stevenson"), IT appears at the end and SA surrounds the front. The last topic entry uses the last iteration of this pattern, where only I falls at the end of the entry and TSA moves to the front.

This is a very stupid subject-it's a package ("66-Across, the director's cry...or implying 20-, 37- and 58-Across") is a funny and unexpected phrase, Used to build a theme-but it is set up upwards. In fact, the stupidity of the theme is too much, it will only enhance the charm of this puzzle. I certainly didn't know what happened to the subject, even the circle, until I filled in the revealer. So the surprise when the theme is clicked in place is very pleasant.

Congratulations to Mr. Koski for completing this debut puzzle. We hope to see more information from you soon!

I am very happy to make my debut in The New York Times.

There are only three ways to decompose IT'S A into "packages", and I am glad that the puzzle includes each method. Although I found that there are very few effective entry candidates. I think you only expect a few possibilities for entries starting from TSA, but other IT'S A combinations are also quite limited. For entries that start with A and end with ITS, my initial entry is a bit far-fetched. Joel Fagliano of the Times Crosswords team suggested improving it with A BATTLE OF WITS.

I'm very happy 14A ("May be perverted hookup?") promotion. Hope it will make a chuckle, or at least a moan. The editors wrote several clues, including the clever 28A and 33A.

Thank you very much to the editorial team for giving the green light to the puzzle and improving it.

About me: I am an attorney with the Boston Securities and Exchange Commission. My interest in crossword puzzles is attributed to my father. He always sends clues to our children to make Sunday’s puzzles a family affair. He passed away in 2008, but I believe he is still solving the problem.

I hope you like this puzzle-especially when you are looking for clues.

The New York Times Crossword has an open submission system where you can submit your puzzles online. For tips on how to get started, read our series "How to make a crossword puzzle".

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