THEMELESS MONDAY: [ ACROSS LITE][ PDF]
PROGRAMS: [Across Lite] [Adobe Reader]
PROGRAM: [Java]
The 600th puzzle on BEQ.com, two days after the 100th birthday of the crossword and two days before Christmas. Don’tcha just love it when all those things line up like that? You’d think I almost planned it that way. Since we’re all in the spirit of the holidays, remember to tip yr. constructor ($10 suggested donation) and I’ll hook you up with two brand new Sunday puzzles (one themed and one themeless) for you to enjoy in between glasses of celebratory eggnog.
So this one’s a straight up themeless, but if you’re curious, the seeds for the crossword came from an unrealized theme. (ROT13’d): Vs lbh unqa’g abgvprq ol abj, nyy bs gur gurzrq chmmyrf guvf zbagu jrer ng yrnfg fbzrjung gvrq va jvgu Puevfgznf. Jryy, bar bs gur erwrpgrq gurzrf sbe guvf zbagu jnf tbvat gb or pnyyrq “Tvsg Jenccrq,” jurerva pregnva pynffvp tvsgf jrer “uvqqra” va bgurejvfr abaqrfpevcg gurzr nafjref. Gur “jenccrq” cneg bs gur gurzr zrnag gung gur “tvsg” jbhyq fgneg ng gur raq bs gur ragel naq jenc nebhaq gb gur sebag. Sbe rknzcyr: ZRFUHTTN unf TNZR fgnegvat ng gur onpx naq jenccvat nebhaq gb gur sebag. RY ZVFGV unf n GVR fgnegvat ng gur onpx naq jenccvat nebhaq gb gur sebag. V riraghnyyl qrpvqrq guvf gurzr jnf fb inthr gung rira jvgu gur gvgyr vg jbhyqa’g znxr zhpu frafr. Fb, V fpenccrq vg. Ubjrire, V qvq yvxr gur vqrn bs n uvqqra jbeq jenccvat nebhaq gb gur fgneg bs gur ragel. Fb, jvgu gung va zvaq, lbh’yy abgvpr gung GUNG’F N OVT VS unf gur jbeq TVSG fgnegvat va gur onpx naq jenccvat nebhaq gb gur sebag. Naq junqqln xabj, TVSG JENCCRQ vf va gur flzzrgevpny fcbg va gur tevq.
My brain is a scary place, sometimes.
Share the puzzle. New one on Thursday.
Thanks and Happy 600!
Your brain is super!
BTW — solving the puzzle on the GOOGLE home page was a dream — why are the solving apps so complicated?
Happy 600th. You’re a freaking genius the way you turn out these gems as fast as you do. Your name should be Wolfgang Amadeus Quigley.
Personal fastest for a Monday ever, so thought this one was pretty easy.
Happy 600! And happy holidays to you and yours! I loved 1A; I collect 1A buttons, so for me it was a neat word to see in a puzzle.
Very nice. And quite a fun layout… 5 mini puzzles that overlap just the right amount.
Could 3D be reclued to avoid the duplicate IT?
Congratulations of the 600th, worthy puzzle. Curious though: both 3D and 22D have a word in the clue that is repeated in the answer. I thought that was “not done” in puzzledom.
Yes, I did 100 crossword puzzles on the Centennial of Arthur Wynne’s blessed innovation: Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013. Sources are Dell’s Crossword Crossword and the Sunday Puzzler, USA Today, LA Times, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, and NY Times. 35% Online and 65% Paper. Re-solving any past XWPs was avoided as much as possible. I will never do this again.