ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ HORSING AROUND]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ HORSING AROUND]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
Sort of having a mini-animal theme at BEQ.com headquarters lately. Exhibit A: today’s puzzle. Exhibit B: I just recently made a puzzle for the jam band Phish. (Wait, are fish even “animals?”) There’s no Exhibit C, as far as I know. So when I said “mini-,” I meant really mini.
And today’s post will continue along that “mini-” line. As in it’s going to be insanely abbreviated. Thanks to all who were able to donate during last week’s drive. The recipient of the free BEQ t-shirt is Bruce Sutphin of Clifton Park, NY.
Share the puzzle. New one on Wednesday.
Great, original idea. Knew only about half the horses, but crosses were fair. Nice work.
The Rosinante spelling gets a lot of Google hits, but I’m not sure it’s legit. The name is a pun on the Spanish word rocin, which means a nag, and it’s spelled Rocinante in my copy. But either way, this was a fun puzzle.
My source is “Schott’s Original Miscellany.” So I guess if we have any beef with the spelling, send it c/o Ben Schott.
I filled in ROSINANTE without hesitation. It must’ve been spelled that way in the edition I read in high school.
this was one of those themes i just couldn’t bring myself to care about. (so far though i’m in the minority.) the rest of the puzzle was fine, but when you don’t care about a theme it just gets in the way, and that’s how this one felt. saving grace: BUCEPHALUS.
what are phish doing with the puzzle you made them?
They handed it out yesterday at one of their concerts. Not sure how many of the festival goers did it.
i’ve seen it spelled both ways. of course, i don’t know spanish, so i can’t really speak to the pun in the name, but ROSINANTE is certainly common enough.
Being the uncultured swine that I am, I didn’t know any of the horses. Still enjoyed the puzzle and got most of the crosses to help me out and only had to look up 2. Thanks Brendan.
Yay me! I’ve spent the last several days catching up on all the Medium-rated BEQ puzzles (I know, I need to get a life). This was the first one I got without any help! Maybe that means it was “Easium”?
Thanks Brendan. I had to work for this, but it was worth it!
The only thing I knew about any of those horses was that Shadowfax got me into the Windham Hill stuff.
Nice horsey.
Being a horse lover, I loved it. Kept hoping to see Traveller, Robert E Lee’s horse, in there. I may even have to pass this one around at the barn – although they already think this whole puzzle thing is a little weird.
That’s what I’m talking about, nanpilla!
Thought I was totally hosed the moment I saw the theme. Pretty new at the xword jones, so the fact that I got through it in half an hour (go ahead and laugh) speaks highly of the fill. And a gold star for the best RRN clue I’ve yet come across (42D).
I got through most of it had a couple of crosses by the horses I was not sure of. I liked the theme but it didn’t reasonate with me once I saw the names. STRYMON and KANTOKA just don’t hit the spot.
wow, that’s kinda awesome. did you make it phish-centric? was there a theme? i wonder if somebody scanned it in and uploaded it somewheres….
now if only autechre or sunnO))) would do this. maybe an asymmetrical grid with three blocky parens floating in it?
found it:
http://tinyurl.com/ylepc2p
i’ve always wanted to see a bunch of autechre song titles in a crossword! “dael” could totally help in some fill.
Never heard TO A TURN before, and half the horses were unknown. I take the BEQ crossword to lunch with me – ever since the SURF N TURD puzzle some time back, they are eagerly anticipated in the teachers’ lounge thrice weekly – and the Spanish teacher knew ROSINANTE without missing a beat. Everything else I got.
Now on the Phish puzzle which, as my user ID might indicate, is on a subject dear to my heart. Is there a .puz file or PDF anywhere? Printing it off the Relix site is in a crappy format?
I didn’t know any of those horses except Rosencrantz or whoever, and that wasn’t because of Quixote but because that was what Steinbeck named his camper in “Travels with Charley.” I couldn’t get a couple of them (Strymon and Katonka) from the crosses either. I’m much warier of your mediums and easies than your hard ones, I’m finding.
They probably smoked it.
I just turned to this one this morning, and found it quick and fun. I was hope, hope, hoping to find Bucephalus, had no problem with spelling it RoSinante, and got most of the rest on crosses. My non-puzzler hubby knew SHADOWFAX, but as I asked him: Did they have Faxes back in those days?
“To a turn” might refer to roasting a fowl on a spit–which had to be turned continuously while basting juices were applied. It has to be the hard way to get your chicken “done to a turn.” I prefer Reynolds Oven Bags.