CROSSWORD #367: Ad Block

CROSSWORD SOLVER PUZZLE: [ AD BLOCK] 
PROGRAM: [Crossword Solver]

PROGRAM: [Java]

PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ AD BLOCK]

PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]

ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ AD BLOCK] 
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]

Further proof that a theme can strike at any time: I came up with this one whilst searching for a suitable ad blocker for my android. While I couldn’t find a good program, I did find a good theme. (If any of you are android folks who could recommend a good ad blocker, let me know in the comments section.)

But enough about that smartphone stuff …

I get a lot of emails from people asking about how to get into puzzle construction. I usually point them to Patrick Berry’s book. It goes into great detail of pretty much everything you could possibly care about in terms of puzzle making. Plus, it has 70 puzzles from the Crossword Jesus. So how can you go wrong? Anyway, I think I’ll start to supplement that response with the above video from my pal Mike Selinker. He gave this talk at the PAXDev conference last month in Seattle. Mike’s main thesis is worth repeating: that if a puzzle is fairly constructed, even though the puzzlemaker appears to have the upper hand, the solver is always expected to win. He goes into detail of wordgames, as well as how to make others such as logic and metapuzzles. All done with his trademark humor. Totally worth a look-see, if you have a spare 45 minutes.

Share the puzzle. New one on Monday.