ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
Eleven months ago, I tried my hand at duplicating a grid that Matt Jones made for his weekly syndicate. It had an absurdly wide-open middle section, I felt the need to see if I could do it. It’s up for debate who made the better puzzle. I never really thought of it as a contest, even if I did title the puzzle “Take That, Matt.” Anyway, the reason I bring that up is that today’s puzzle’s grid was inspired by Matt J., again. The starting basis for my puzzle was Matt’s grid from last week. It’s not an exact duplicate, but the healthy 4×10 corners in the NE and SW inspired me to give it a go. Hope you like it.
If you think about it, this is really just five mini-puzzles clumped together: the four corners plus the middle bit. So, for those who like to care about these sorts of things, there were four distinct seed entries. I’ll leave that proof up to the reader as to where the starting points were for each quadrant.
Got a crazy busy week lined up. Going to see Thom Yorke with Liz on Thursday. Going to see Pissed Jeans on Saturday. My sister’s up for some yoga conference thigny so she’ll be bopping around. But you don’t care about that crap. Where’s the puzzle stuff? Right: The Boston Crossword Tournament is this Sunday. For those Bay-Staters, or those insane enough to make it a road trip, you have no excuse. Selling points: puzzles from me and Joon Pahk, appearances by Will Shortz and Ryan & Brian, stuffy dark Harvard auditorium. What are you waiting for? Go register now!
Also, thanks to all who were able to contribute last week. The randomly selected donor who receives a copy of “Diagramless” is Lee Sammons of Denver, CO. Congrats, Lee.
Share the puzzle. New one on Wednesday.
I loved this puzzle — what made it different from other puzzles? There were so many things that I didn’t know, but then they emerged!
Thank you.
thanks for continuing to plug the tournament. pre-registration numbers are a little lower than they were at this time last year. but there’s still time to sign up! eric maddy has told me he’s coming all the way from socal. can anybody top that?
it never occurred to me that this grid was based on last week’s jonesin’. some really good stuff in here, though. MEL KIPER JR! hey, i just noticed that MEL KIPER JR’S HAIR is fifteen letters. i’m not sure what kind of theme that would be a good answer for, but there’s gotta be one, right?
check out matt matera with the blazing early time!
You nailed me in the SW corner… figured DERMI- [lingual] was a thing, and that the Israeli guy was related to Moshe DAYAN.
I just switched to Windows 7 and hated all the glitz. 36A inspired a Google query “disable aero windows 7” and I went back to Classic. Thanks.
I have to agree with Denise…a great puzzle! Two 4×10’s that took their sweet time filling themselves in, especially in the SW corner.
@Dan F: SW was last holdout for me and DAYAN crossed my mind too. Would have had it sewed up a lot sooner if I’d had any idea how to spell that swiss cheese. But I suddenly saw ARABLEAGUE (53A) and it filled in pretty easily.
A fun solve. Lots of unfamiliar trivia (31A utterly off my particular cultural map, nor am I a Windows user) balanced by a couple of personal gimmes– 9D & 10D, 46A (good ol’ Snorri Sturluson), near misses (21A *had* to be BREYER… didn’t it?) and a nice Aha! or two (not NATURALIST, NEOREALIST!). Definitely felt like I’d earned it when it finally went down. Thanks BEQ!
Maybe next year joon.
Dude, I’m too accustomed to “Monday easy” because of that OTHER series of crosswords that people like to do. My brain doesn’t work that well this early in the week.
I’m slow, so I can make time on a Saturday for a toughie, but Mondays not so much. I got about 90% done and had to cut my losses due to other commitments. Figured I’d need a pile of time to get the south west; I had put in ____Islands for Comoros and Nintendo____ for the Wii kids, so I was screwed.
Never fear, I’ll be back; I’ll budget my time my time better and be ready to face your next challenge.
DAYAN fooled me for a long time too, you’re not alone.
We won’t get fooled again…
Ya got me–DNF. Just not quite enough Computer Savvy and NFL Draft experience. Geo Washington was a British officer before leading the Continental Army, so I tried LIEUT, the LT COL, thinking he had to work his way up. Tsk. DNF for me. I am liking Opus Two’s excuse!
Hand up for DAYAN, even though I was sure it was wrong–but it DID work with EMMENTALER and LEAGUE, darn it.
Feeling glad this was labeled HARD.