CROSSWORD SOLVER PUZZLE:
[ THE CHINA SYNDROME]
PROGRAM: [Crossword Solver]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THE CHINA SYNDROME]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THE CHINA SYNDROME]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
Merl Reagle once told me that he tries to make pun-themed puzzles for one-off clients. And in the process of making these puzzles, he attempts to thoroughly exhaust each and every possible answer in whatever theme he’s doing. That way, when you’re going to try to create a puns puzzle, say, involving all the members of the Supreme Court, you can’t do an original version of it because Merl’s already thought of all the best puns.
That said, I doubt he’s done today’s theme before.
Share the puzzle. New one tomorrow.
Choi-oi, dude!
This grid ate all the way through my groan containment facility, all the way down to rock bottom.
Har.
Fave fill: CRECHE.
Fave clue: 15-A one. Good Moody Blues tune, too.
Burning Q: You really like them omelets, huh?
27-a made me go through that “oh no he didn’t … NO, HE DID!” feeling. i don’t often laugh out loud when solving puzzles but this one hit the spot.
48-a didn’t quite work for me because of the pronunciation: http://tinyurl.com/6mmzu68 (i tinyurl’ed it to avoid spoiling it for others)
Here’s a theme idea that Merl Reagle hasn’t done (maybe with good reason).
All the acrosses are words that might be Chinese CAPTCHAs, e.g., MINGFA. The CAPTCHAS mimic the pattern of English transliterations of Chinese words in their arrangement of vowels and consonents. The downs are clued compassionately. The clue for 1A is CAPTCHA. All other across clues are see 1A.