CROSSWORD SOLVER PUZZLE:
[ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Crossword Solver]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
Gather round everybody. Our latest stop on this tour is Puzzle #380. I want you all to solve it first, before we get to the nitty gritty. I can wait. Take your time.
No surprises here: I started at the bottom (65-Across, thanks for the heads up, Ben Zimmer), and built my way up. All the way up through 8-Down (write what you know! Ha! Thank you, thank you! I’ll be here all week), and then moved onto 1-Across (write what you want to be talking about, but, dammit, that dumb lockout ruined everything and now I digress).
The fugly letter combo starting 23-Down forced exactly one answer, so from there I tried a couple entries at 35-Across, eventually settling on the one here as it wasn’t in any databases I have. From there, the starting point in the NE was, unsurprisingly, 12-Down. Now in the SW, I started with 36-Down, not only because it was a new entry, but because I had a winning clue for it. That’s right. I had the clue first, just looking for the grid to fit it in. Go figure.
Speaking of cluing: 1-Across was a bear, because I’d already used him as a marquee entry elsewhere. And because of that I had used the marquee clue for him too. Boo. Miraculously, he’s good so I can dip into other trivia. Shout out to Joon Pahk who proposed the winner at 62-Across. Overall, I felt this one was hard, but fair. I think.
Okay folks, share the puzzle. New one on Thursday.
I did really well until the egregious crossings in the SE. Ouch!
This one made me feel old!
Was steamrolling until I hit the SE. Lots of obscurity there. I’ve always associated 60A with making a lot of commotion – so I would never have thought of it. DNF
I think I tracked down the previous Steve Nash answer. It was in NYT Sunday March 20, 2011. Its clue was “Two time NBA MVP Steve___.” FWIW, I would not have minded if you used that clue again (but without the Steve).
There was some great cluing in this puzzle. The clue for ESNES was fun but must have been used before somewhere. The clue for 36D was great although it felt funny seeing IPAD spread out across four squares. If the answer to 22A had been ASIA instead of ASIF, the clue could have been “violinist features”.
You’re drinking the wrong zins. “Light” is not an adjective I’d apply to these great wines. Unless you’re talking about aberrant white zins, but they don’t apply here.
Southeast was a bear for me, too. Didn’t help that I had PENN and PALM?? for the longest time. Check showed me the mis-filled P, GOT (for WON) and ESMEReLDA, then the rest of the corner fell in a hurry. 38-Down clue gave me a chuckle.
Feel like he missed an opportunity here. Really wanted “torture chambers” for 35A. It fits too!
Lemme explain what Lxnyl was. L. was a Godzilla-style monster that looked like an oversized gingerbread man with only a mouth on its face. His mission was to see if earthlings were compatible to other e.t.s in the League of Planets. L. makes it so hard to get a point across when he (?)’s virtually running over New York City. Obviously, the Earthlings don’t make the cut. L.’s sole appearance is in one of the issues of THE THING (1952-1954). As for the XWP, this one took to some doing. 4th and 7th nonant were the last ones covered. As usual, the taps clue was unsolvable until I got most of the letters in.
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Tough but fair works. SE was challenging but doable. NICE hard Mon.!
Late to the party as usual. Great fill and clues in here. Good thing I just read about 65-A (a ‘meh’ review, but a great title).
The names in that lower-right were a beast and bordered on unfair, but after getting every other @(*#$@ letter in the puzzle (that’s 2 @ signs!), the final crossings were gettable with a little logic. Also, ‘faux crabmeat paste’? Dude. That clue seriously hurt. Now you’re throwing spiky little things in the road to slow us down. Anyway, it was a fun, twisted solve. It’s been a while, but glad to come back and take one of these on again.