THEMELESS MONDAY: [ ACROSS LITE][ PDF]
PROGRAMS: [Across Lite] [Adobe Reader]
Oh the trials and tribulations of a crossword puzzle constructor. This grid started off unsurprisingly enough with the upper left corner, middle long answer first and then the other answers forcing the pattern of the grid. When it came time to do the northeast and southwest corners of the grid, I realized I’d set myself up for a doozy. 3×10 corners with 7 and 6 letter down entries flanking that, and an 8 and a 9 letter entry coming into the corner. I mean, that’s ridiculous. That’s some Kevin Der no-cheaters-ever/Harry Houdini-esque escape artistry stuff there. Not to say I didn’t try. I mean, I had to, right? But alas, it was not to be, and therefore, the one lone black square along the side of the grid (and much later, the cheater coming off the long finger along the top and bottom of the grid).
So yeah, this not-wanting-to-use-an-additional-black-square-(or more) feeling is the stuff only crossword constructors worry about. I kept thinking about that huge swath of white that could have been. Ridiculous stuff, for sure, when really the only thing that we need to worry about is “does the puzzle entertain?” And that, I can safely say, is the case with today’s puzzle. Enjoy.
Share the puzzle. New one on Thursday.
Good stuff. One thing: 42A was the previous ManU sponsor. This year the name on their jersey is Chevrolet.
Yeah, that 42A/36D square was an absolute Natick for me…
Even with the ‘rocky crag’ hint? C’mon Steve! 🙂
D’oh!