CROSSWORD SOLVER PUZZLE:
[ NEOLOGISMS COINED ON “THE SIMPSONS”]
PROGRAM: [Crossword Solver]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ NEOLOGISMS COINED ON “THE SIMPSONS”]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ NEOLOGISMS COINED ON “THE SIMPSONS”]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
How badass would it be to not only coin a word, but have it enter the lexicon? I’ll tell you right now, it would be awesome from a crossword construction standpoint. It’d be life-saving. Say you’re stuck in a corner, no letter will go in that one square that would allow you to pull off a mind-scrambling 6×8 corner. No currently existing word that is. Nothing left to do but coin a word. The letters “DENOSE” kind of sort of finishes that corner, so be it. Boom. Give it a defintion: “the fear one has about being called out as a charlatan, especially in the field wherein you’re supposed to be an expert in.” Works for me. Hit up Twitter and start the #denose hashtag. IM my buddy Ben Zimmer to have him write a couple essays about the word, then bribe him heavily so it gets at least honorable mention in “word of the year” discussions. Game, set, match. New word coined and 6×8 corner pulled off! If only life worked like this.
Share the puzzle. New one on Monday.
In a way you’ve already been responsible for a word entering the lexicon:
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natick,_Massachusetts)
“…To solvers of The New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle, the term “Natick” has a particular meaning. It refers to any square on the puzzle grid that a solver cannot fill in correctly except by a lucky guess, because the solver does not know the answer to either the ACROSS clue or to the DOWN clue..”
From what little I know, this is wrong on at least two counts.
First, it was Rex Parker, not BEQ, who coined the term “Natick.”
Second, the quotation from Wikipedia is not the exact meaning given by Rex. The original NATICK crossed N C Wyeth, which Rex said was not simply unknown to him, but the first initial could reasonably be almost anything. The exact statement is available in Rex’s FAQs.
What, no KWYJIBO? (Nice puzzle.)
I realize BEQ didn’t coin the word, but it was Brendan’s puzzle that caused Rex to do so.
Just to be clear, BEQ created the puzzle with NATICK in it, but he did not create the new meaning of the word. It was just a city in Massachusetts in the puzzle.
I thought I would hate this puzzle because my knowledge of The Simpsons extends to…what I’ve learned through crossword puzzles. Not really, but almost. I knew Lisa played the sax. I knew there WAS a Lisa. Anyway, it’s Thursday and dammit, I do a BEQ puzzle every Thursday. Kudos to you for creating a puzzle that even a non-fan could both solve and enjoy!
I was just relieved that all of the Simpsonese dated back to my days of actually TV, generally, and the Simpsons, specifically. 😀
I almost never watch THE SIMPSONS, but luckily, 2 weeks ago, I had just caught the episode where LISA was competing in the ACkPiT. I was wondering if the XWPs presented in that episode were ever featured in any book, magazine, site, newspaper,etc. + Next time do a LOVECRAFT-themed XWP. + 36A was the best cluing in this. Nice breezy stimulating uphill climb but 10 minutes it all seems to be ancient history. ‘ll be back for more!
Surprised your inclusion of a GWTDT reference (51D) did not cause outrage as the Tuesday NYT puzzle did. BEQ fans must be more forgiving. As I have watched maybe two full episodes of the Simpsons, this puzzle wasn’t terribly easy for me. But I do recognize that the Simpsons is a perfectly reasonable cultural theme to build a puzzle around. And if I’m not familiar with the references, it just makes for a more challenging solve. Thanks, as always for Monday/Thursday fun.
I didn’t realize OJ said all of these things.
What a literate and creative fellow!
This was my favorite puzzle ever.