PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ MARCHING BANDS]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
Before we get to the puzzle, a quick sports detour. What an awesome series that Celts/Cavs one was. They spoil us. It’s a damn shame that we’ve got a couple days off before that Celts/Magic series, but I guess it’ll have to do. In the meantime, how about that cover story on this week’s SI (see above)? That one was rendered moot, oh, about an hour upon hitting newsstands. And we wonder why print sales are kind of hurting?
Since variety is the spice of life, why not run a variety puzzle? Though this form comes from a Italian puzzle magazine La Settimana Enigmistica, it was popularized by the Original Crossword Jesus (henceforth “OCJ”) Mike Shenk during Games magazines couldn’t-lose-streak. I love these puzzles, both to solve and to construct. Anytime you have to think in off-beat directions like backwards, up, and around a corner is fine with me. If you’re new to Marching Bands, I’ve included instructions. And if you need more of these, why not try one from the OCJ, or these two by Trip Payne.
No Across Lite file or Java app this time. Just a PDF. That’s all.
Share the puzzle. New one on Monday.
La Settimana Enigmistica sounds Italian to me.
Whoops, misread that. Thanks for that.
Very fun. When spelling CINNAMON, it’s good to have so many cross words to assist.
I enjoyed it. Keep up with the variety. I didn’t know Ms. Rasgotra, but could get it from the crosses.
Ah, this takes me WAY back to when I was a regular GAMES reader. Nothing about it feels especially BEQ-y, but it’s a solid, pleasurable experience throughouth.
C’mon! CARMEN SANDIEGO? USA PATRIOT ACT? Those are BEQ-y enough for you?
I could give a flying fig about Pro Ball, stick to crosswords
I love that USA PATRIOT ACT is considered three words in the BEQ book. I loved this puzzle–just my speed, and I really loved Db, especially since you didn’t spoil it with a question mark. Never knew that about MENSA, either; Ikea should marketing a Mensa. Oh, and 8a was more than a little unfair for a puzzle of this type–what goes in an apple pie that’s got:
_ _ _ _ L R I _? At least I knew the second part had to be HUGO or NEBULA, which helped fix that error right quick.
I’ve never done this kind of puzzle before, and I had a BLAST! My head is spinning a bit, but it is worth it! I can’t figure out how to get the solution so I can make sure that I got it. Can you help?
When I don’t see black squares, I’m typically scared off. No more. That was big fun. Thanks.
I thought it was CARTMAN SANDIEGO. 🙂
Scared shitless when I first saw it. To my surprise, I was actually able to get through it with only a little googling. Having no downs felt like working without a net. Weird.
DRACONIAN was a gimme, unfortunately. Took quite a while to fix that one. In other news, Ida LUPINO defeated the ETA after a fierce battle.
Scared shitless when I first saw it, but actually got through it with only a little googling. Having no Downs felt like working without a net. Weird. Fun.
DRACONIAN was a gimme, unfortunately. Took quite a while to fix that one. In other news, Ida LUPINO defeated the ETA after a fierce battle.
Fun puzzle. Medium seems right but it took me a while to get the all the turns/bands figured out. Lotsa back and forth.
Fun!
Confession: I was stuck early and had to Google 2b, then got going.
Good points. I guess I was looking for the flagrant use of the five most uncommon letters, the up-to-the-minute stuff like ELENAKAGAN, and snark.
–T
somehow i missed this last week! loves me some marching bands. y’all should make a weekly visit to the wsj puzzles blog, where this style has popped up once or twice since shenk got it going. this mostly hit the spot for me. one thing’s sure, though, and that’s that p.g. is a BOND GIRL. a bondwoman is a slave.