Natick

“The NATICK Principle. And here it is: If you include a proper noun in your grid that you cannot reasonably expect more than 1/4 of the solving public to have heard of, you must cross that noun with reasonably common words and phrases or very common names.”

“A crossword blogger by the name of Rex Parker critiqued one of my puzzles in The New York Times, where the illustrator 'N.C. Wyeth' crossed the Boston town 'Natick,'” Quigley explains. “[Parker] said, 'Who in their right mind is going to understand what's going to fit in that one square? It's totally unfair. From now on, this shall be known as the Natick Principle.'”

“There were some tough proper nouns today (including a personal natick, included below) — BAYLOR, KRIS, RILKE, ILYA and DANA, among others. And I loved the clues for ESCAPEE, ONO, MYSELF, PANTS and FAT LADY.”