ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ CHARADES]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ CHARADES]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
I’ve just found out through some lovely Twitter messages that my “Diagramless” book is out, finally, and in the hands of the people who’ve been asking for it the most: My parents. The fans who’ve been asking for it for months! So, what the hell are you waiting for? Go to the store to the right and buy yourself a copy, will ya?
Or, you can enter my contest. I’m giving away copies of “Diagramless” to three lucky winners.
But before we get to that, I gotta share this bullshit with you. I was perusing around the web, as I am wont to do, and I stumbled upon this garbage list from Esquire’s website: 19 Things a Man Should Never Say. The list is insultingly awful. I mean, come on! “I do” isn’t even on the list! Sheesh. But anyway, since I’ve got this mental illness wherein I try and make puzzles out of things that shouldn’t be made into puzles, I tried to make a puzzle out of that bullshit list. I decided to can the idea for reasons we won’t get into, however, I did notice one egregious error in it. I won’t tell you what it is. I’ll just say it doesn’t have anything to do with the contest, but I’ll tell you the answer at the end of the post.
What’s that about the contest? Right, so the answers to the long entries in the above puzzle when read top to bottom is a riddle. I’ve been told it was quite tough for those who aren’t “in the know,” so I’ll throw out this really big hint (if you want it): the answer can be found on this page. While I’m here, hat tip to reader Jason Breslau who proposed the riddle to me. Anyway E-mail, tweet, Facebook, or whatever other way you want to send the answer to me no later than 8:00 A.M. October 26 EST. Any sorts of clever cross-promotional ways to pimp this blog will not go un-noticed (unless you don’t tell me, so bring them to my attention). Those shameless souls who get the word out will have their names entered into the drawing an as-yet-to-be-determined greater number of times (entirely dependent on how I feel, how clever the pimping is, etc.) The names of the three winners will be pulled out of some box, bowl, hat, TARDIS, or whatever’s lying around the offices of BEQ.com this upcoming Monday morning. All decisions will be final as my attorney Don Bixtler will be there certifying the results. Best of luck to all.
Astute readers of the blog probably remember on Monday I said “I seem to be into a quote puzzle phase” adding: “look for a crazy one this week.” This puzzle is not it. The one in question is this coming Sunday’s New York Times crossword. I’ll post it when it goes live tomorrow. UPDATE:it’s here.
Now, as for that error in the Esquire magazine article, there are 29 entries in the list when the headline promises 19. That, and most girls love guys who use the C-word. Well, most girls I know.
Share the puzzle! New one (with results of the contest) on Monday.
Frank Tarkenton? Really?
You know, the legendary QB for the Vikinks?
Didn’t he replace Y.A. Title for the Giants?
He’s probably better known as the author of “Murder at the Super Bowl” (William Morrow 1986) or for his groundbreaking work on “That’s Incredible!”
Nice puzzle. I didn’t finish the bit around Renee/Endor, because I don’t do that Star Wars crap. I don’t know the answer to the riddle unless it’s Catfish Hunter. He was a catcher, right? That’s the only catcher I can name.
Well, I just looked up Catfish Hunter and it turns out he was a pitcher. I lied earlier in saying that he’s the only catcher I can name. He’s actually the only baseball player I can name. Oh, wait! Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige!
You meant the riddle was hard not the puzzle, right? The puzzle was pretty easy on the BEQ scale.
A case study in the effect of not attending sufficiently to The Code Of Clues. Southeast was the last to fall, because–ignoring said Code–I started with “Arafat” for 79A instead of the now-obvious demand for a first name. Round two, went with “Carter”. Doh. Also wasted lots-o-time on “Boobsie” for 50D, thus reminding myself of the utility of actually thinking about the definition of words. Like “scatalogical”. Doh.
Great puzzle, Brendan. Thanks for the shout out to Las Cruces at 1-D! I haven’t been entering my times, because I freaking LOVE the printable versions, so I print them and sit out back with the dogs and the parrots, worrying less about time than about leisurely solves interrupted by the occasional command-performance ear scritchings. How cool to be out back gazing at the Organ Mountains on a clear New Mexico day and find my hometown — whose dirt was under my very feet! — featured in the puzzle. You rock! — jesser in LAS CRUCES, nm