ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
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Moneygrid, baby! This one’s got a paltry 66 words, an eye-popping 6.03 mean word length, and most importantly zero three-letter words. Whew. The next (probably) impossible goal is to not have any three or four-letter words. Maybe for another attempt at the Anything Goes puzzle?
- Where’d the time go? We’re less than a week away from Ryan and Brian’s Lollapuzzoola, it’s this Saturday to be specific. For those not already in the know, this is quickly becoming the second-best crossword tournament behind the ACPT. As I’ve mentioned before I’ll be going; that’s because I have a puzzle in this tournament! I’ve test solved them all, and can vouch this a fun batch. Like Ryan and Brian themselves, there is an emphasis on humor and theatricality. Should be a blast.
From what I can gather, a lot of the puzzling world’s superstars (Northeast corridor division) will be in the house as well. If you’re thinking you probably can’t run with the big boys, have no fear: solving phenom Tyler “Usain Bolt” Hinman won’t be competing at the event, so that just opens the door for another champion. Click here for more details and to sign up.
- Other puzzlemakers have taken up the Rex/Gaffs/me challenge of making their very own HATCHET MAN puzzle. As of this posting there are two for your solving pleasure here. Especially worth mentioning is that Joon Pahk, one of my “behind the scenes” men for the blog, has contributed one.
And finally, here’s another installment of the on-going photo essay Fan of the Moment in BEQ T-shirt. That lovely lass to the right is Kelly Reidy of Kent, OH. Ms. Reidy is studying Physics at Kent State and performs in her own acoustic band Plug-In Reindeer. (Great band name, BTW.) From the photograph, I’m guessing this is not the campus of Kent State. If it wasn’t for that house in the background, my guess would be that she’s stranded on some sort of tropical island somewhere. It’s pretty damn important to look good when stranded on a tropical island, I think. My hope is if I’m stranded on an dessert island I ‘m wearing my “Carcetti For Mayor” t-shirt, which is why it’s the only shirt I wear to the airport.
Anyway, just for showing her brave/insane/proud fandom, Kelly will receive a copy of the “Diagramless Book.” (Interested shoppers can pre-order the book in the Store on your right.)
- Share the puzzle. New one on Wednesday.
If I was stranded on a dessert island I wouldn’t know where to start. Unless there was creme brulee nearby. Or frozen mocha torte.
I was going to go 3-stars on this one, as that central entry is just insane, but the Southeast corner was worth another star all by itself.
63-Across pretty much sealed the deal. Excellent clue for 56-Across as well. I’m amazed at your restraint in going with such a tame clue for 41-Down.
I’ve also test-solved the Lollapuzzoola 2 puzzles and can attest that they’re great fun! Ryan and Brian and their constructors are a creative bunch, and the puzzles depart from standard crosswords in surprising ways, going multimedia in ways that are impossible in newspaper crosswords.
Hmm… food.
Can’t have everything be naughty humor.
What Amy said.
Wasn’t hard until NE, where mystery golfer kept me from getting in easily. Also, had ROAD RAGE from a. not looking at clue and b. not knowing REVERSI.
SW corner kicked my ass — had CLIP OUT for 54A and went nowhere; realized it was wrong and STILL went nowhere. (Had no clue on 47D — I never stay tuned after Jeopardy.)
I had almost exactly the same solving experience as Eric. I got through the NW, NE, and SE pretty easily. Being a sports fan helped me get the tennis player and golf player right away (how long before YEYANG shows up in a BEQ puzzle?). Listening to the kids’ music made the “Poker Face” singer a snap. I’m a big Spinal Tap fan (“It goes to 11” is one of my favorite movie quotes ever), so that cracked the SE. But I came to a screeching, grinding halt in the SW before it finally fell (including going for CLIP OUT).
before I read all the comments (or finish the crossword, for that matter):
I’m really let down that 6D isn’t FLEXO. I wouldn’t consider [the answer] to be Bender’s foil.
Y.E. YANG is good. Personally, I’m looking forward the imminent appearance of DEATH PANELS.
Still waiting on UIGHURS.
rp
terrific puzzle. 63-A is fantastic! a surprisingly low %age of clunkers (ULEE, etc.) for a puzzle with no 3s–v. impressed.
Awesome grid – had the same problem as Rex in the NW – that corner killed me – never heard of Reversi and roid rage still seems like a mistake – on several levels, I guess.
The west half kicked my ass (who on earth puts PAPAYAS in salsa? LADYGAGA — really? and why the *hell* RSTLNE?), but I’m pleased to say I got everything from EVENS UP east with no help, even on four hours of sleep 🙂
Man, I suck at these, how you say?, “crossword puzzles.” I almost had this one, but it took me several advances from several directions, and I still had about four wrong squares (went from FOOT RACE to ROAD RACE but never made it to ROAD RAGE, much less ROID RAGE.)
Ellen, I don’t know Lady Gaga, either. I do know that the tooty-fruity folk at Central Market sell salsa made with papayas. None of the taco trucks I frequent do. (Nor with GABAYA, which was my first choice there.)
I’m the exact opposite. The east is barren on my grid.
Nice to see Art BRUT and I enjoyed BLEATED’s clue.
“Wheel of Fortune gimmes” was genius! Knew the context but couldn’t tell you what they were.
The clueing was sharp, the fill solid – What a feast!
Better clue for EDIFY this time (as opposed to 7/15/09); thanks.
(Lotsa UPs in this puzzle, tho.)
SVELTEST? SVELTEST!! [golf clap]. ROIDRAGE too. And TVTABLES. Kilt me again, I haven’t even finished the NE, got nuthin going on there.
yeah, that NE is still killing me.
(how long before YEYANG shows up in a BEQ puzzle?)
The smart money says Wednesday.
This was one of the toughest puzzles in the series. Also, one of the fairest.
Loved RSTLNE. Looking forward to Lollapuzzoola.
The first answer I entered was at 3-D, OTHELLO (same game, different name) and PHYS at 5-D which really slowed me down up there.
Also, had IV TABLES at 35-D until the puzzle wasn’t telling me I’d won.
I hope I can make it to Lollapuzzula on Saturday. But, what with train fare, subway fare and entry fee adding up to around $50, not sure if I can swing it and eat every day this week. Maybe some neighbors need their lawns mowed…
Slow but steady. I lost almost a full minute trying to get the first T in PETTISH. I stared at PESTISH, but couldn’t figure why SIRES would be “Inflation figures”. Then the aha moment.
It’s probably unavoidable sometimes, but was anybody else tripped up by having both RESTS UP and EVENS UP in the grid?
Awesome puzzle…I think all of these Monday themelesses have honed my puzzle skills…I have been steamrolling through the NYT Fri & Sat puzzles this summer!!! Thanks, BEQ!
Also, the restaurant I work in features papaya salsa all of the time…its more of a seafood topper than a Mexican chip-dipper…to those who hadn’t heard of it.
Oh…and OK BEQ…I see how it is…pretty young girl musician wears your shirt on a sand dune, and gets a free book…old sweaty guy musician wears your (R-rated!) shirt live onstage, and gets squat! I’ll just have to up the stakes, I guess… (exposure-wise, not being-pretty-wise) =)
Hmm… this is certainly not the first puzzle I’ve used REVERSI. I’m pretty sure I made one for the blog already. Clued something like {Game that comes with a lot of discs}.
YEYANG is coming … Sheesh! Give me some time to make the puzzle first, will ya?
Hmm… Well, that’s just an excuse to put FLEXO in a puzzle now.
At least one of these is in development.
Thanks bro.
That corner was dumbed down considerably. 15-A was originally {Arsenal opponent} and 17-A was just {Wanted}.
One man’s meat is another woman’s poison.
Just saying that papaya-flavored salsa seems like a waste of perfectly good salsa.
You’ll take a couple two three UPs for a relatively clean grid, right?
[golf clap] ?
Say “hi.”
I hear ya. Taking the Chinatown bus down Friday, which means, I’ll probably spend too much money that night. Yay!
Like I said earlier: you’ll take a couple two three UPs for a relatively clean grid, right?
Oversight will be rectified. I’ll send you a book today. Shoot me an e-mail.
finally got all but one letter on this. That NE corner is quite hairy… I don’t know if it was the cluing or my absentmindedness (probably the latter), but I was quite prone to wrong answers up there. Notably “AHEM” and “AH YES” which made perfectly sure I wouldn’t get anything in that corner filled in (except “PAD THAI”, of course… that was the gimme). Then, since I’m obstinate, I tried “DEAD MEN” for those blue ghosts, ’cause when I play they’re as good as eaten.
All in all, a nice puzzle.
A great grid! One of your ‘hard’ puzzles lived up to its name…putting PRESERTS and ERTURIA side-by-side in the NE caused my time to go through the proverbial roof.
Thanks to this chat I now know it’s REVERSI with an ‘I’.
Never too old to learn something…
I freaked when I saw all the white space in the grid. Answered just a few on the first pass and was sure I’d never finish it. Turned off the clock when I hit fourteen minutes. No need to keep time when it’s impossible anyway, right? Then it all started to come together. Wow! What a blast!
ROID RAGE was great! Loved EDIFIER, HOLY SEE and RLTLNE. Terrific Monday.
You’re super, BEQ, but I want to see you insert Y.E.YANG in the middle of a grid. No copping out with the bottom or right side. Hee hee.
LADYGAGA crossing ROADRAGE for the win!
And yes, I’ll take a couple two three UPs for a relatively clean grid.
Err..I meant ROIDRAGE.
My big problem in the SW was PEEVISH for PETTISH; it had to be right, but then it left V__ROUT for 54A. Suddenly TEAROUT came to mind, and all was well.
I also had SKELETAL for SVELTEST, but fairly quickly realized that 35D had to be TV, which fixed it. But TABLES for took too long to come: I was thinking about the tube thingy that holds the plasma, not the stand that holds the set.
I think this one was one of your best in awhile – it absolutely kicked my ass – and I loved it. There wasn’t really any portion of it that came easy for me. Each corner had a real toughie. I finally had an aha moment and it all fell together but I did have a couple of minutes of thinking that I wasn’t going to be able to finish. Thanks for the workout.
Aw, look at all the speed demons who I beat on this one. Lemme add another star to the rating!
So you killed people with the NW corner, the NE corner, the SW corner, and the SE corner. And without a three-letter work or Maleska-isms.
You got those five stars for a reason, man.