ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ DO IT AGAIN]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ DO IT AGAIN]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
So, the latest Visual Thesaurus puzzle is up. Get thee to it.
Oh, and yeah, it’s official. You can now get BEQ puzzles on your iPhone, iPad or Palm devices. I’m pleased to announce that Stand Alone, Inc. is running my stuff. They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, so you shouldn’t refuse it either. (You’ll need their app, which you can get here). Looks like I’m in with good company, too. All the usual suspects, naturally: the Times, the other Times, the Onion, loads of overseas cryptics. Anyway, if you’ve already got that program, you can select me from their menu of providers. Or, if you wish you can signup for it here.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention my buddy Matt Gaffney’s got one under Stand Alone too. Get ’em both.
And yeah, an Android platform should be coming shortly. Wait for it.
Oh, and just a quick note on today’s puzzle. I’d been meaning to make some reference to you-know-what entry that I finally got into the grid. Kind of ashamed at the time delay on that one. Nevertheless, I still haven’t tried it yet. Kind of afraid to. Any brave souls out there care to comment?
Share the puzzle. New one on Monday.
I couldn’t read the full quote on acrosslite, so I googled for it: “For his contributions to jazz, Kenny G should be smeared with bacon grease, placed in a cage with three underfed Kodiak grizzly bears, and whatever happens, happens.” Okay, then.
15D was the last theme entry I got. I haven’t heard of the sandwich either.
Have there been many good 73As in the crossword blogs? Besides the usual these clues are too old/young arguments.
nice theme but the fill put the puzzle as a whole on the fail side for me. too many unfamiliar crosses.
The Stand Alone app is pricey but well worth it. I like to have puzzles with me wherever I go because, well, you know (nice to not have to explain my crossword geekiness here). This will provide a virtually endless supply. Cool.
Scooper —
Which were the crosses you didn’t like? I can’t even find one that’s objectionable.
I keep saying this to everyone I can, but solving crosswords on the iPad is a DREAM. And you can just drag any Across Lite PUZ files into the app via iTunes and you’ll be good to go. (Otherwise you can add your own puzzles via the internet.)
Stand Alone’s app is the best one out there and they’re very active when it comes to feature and bug tweaks. I’ve sent them a few emails and they’ve always been very responsive.
They even let you subscribe to your NYT crosswords account too so you don’t even need to get that Magmic app that charges you a monthly fee. I think in light of that especially that a one-time $9.99 is not pricey in the least.
I enjoyed this, despite the typo at 29 across. I think you meant to say P-O-P-U-P. Otherwise great.
several of the BIG PAPI crosses are proper names. i think they’re all pretty fair, but maybe that’s what scooper is referring to?
unless you dream about touch-typing and speed-solving, but i recognize that’s not a priority for everyone.
The literal TWIN/TWO/REPEAT device was very cool and, like @Karen, I found 15D to be the most resistant of the three. I gained two pounds just from reading 36D’s clue and keying in the answer.
Clue fav’s were “Got milk?” and, of course, the tribute to Kenny G.
For some reason, I couldn’t open this one in Across Lite, which worked fine for the NYT et al. Anyone else have a problem?
I liked this puzzle. KENNY G was the first answer in the grid. I was going insane because TWIN PEAKS stubbornly refused to get in the grid.
what he said. fair, sure, but all together made the puzzle feel choppy and inelegant, that’s all.
Sweet puzzle took its time to fall but got it all. The DOUBLE DOWN was my first theme since I had just read about it which made the rest of the puzzle a bit easier. Limp Bizkit has aged so badly it amazes me that I ever listerned to Mr. Durst.
I liked this one and I personally think 8D was just someone trying to get my attention…
I really like that crossword app for my iPod – I find it useful in dull meetings because it keeps me from making career limiting comments. My one question though is it appears that one needs an ID/password combo for your puzzles? I’ve figured out how to get the .puz files to download into this directly with a little fooling around, so I’m kind of curious if it’s now a paid subscriptiong thing like Gaffney has.
Not me. I only speedsolve at tournaments. The rest of the time my solving is as leisurely as I can make it.
Oh thank you for writing in “twin peaks”. I finished the puzzle but couldn’t grok the theme. phew.
I can’t say that there have been any good “FLAMEWARS” that I have see on the blogs of late.
That being said, and speaking only for myself, the high point of this months offerings, was definitely Rex Parker’s blog and comments on Tim Croce’s puzzle in last Saturdays NYT.
I have to tell you, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so loud and long. Rex and everyone else really tore Tim a new asshole. It seemed to me, ( and obviously a lot of others ), that Tim got a little carried away with his own ego. He basically admitted that he wanted to massage it, by proving that he could create a puzzle that only the top cruciverbalists could solve. He took a lot of heat for it on both blogs.
If you like a good laugh, it’s worth checking out.
I enjoyed this puzzle and was able to finish on my own. However, there were things I only got through crosses, and a few guesses were involved before the arrival of Mr. Happy Pencil.
Don’t know what 13D is short for. Wouldn’t have know 45A, or 48A coupled with 70D. I picked up the theme fairly quick. TWIN came first, and then TWO. It took me a lot longer to come up with REPEAT and DUPLICATE, but it was worth the thought process.
Really good cluing in this puzzle. Loved 11D, 28&29A, and 55A. Loved the KENNYG quote.
Don’t know if I could do the DOUBLEDOWN thing? I’m not that fond of white meat chicken. However, I did have a TRIPLE BYPASS for breakfast this A.M.. Three eggs with sausage, bacon and ham, covered with cheese on a hero. Delish !
Nice puzzle Brendan !
Enjoyable puzzle. I liked the theme a lot. One small nit: a gull may have a harsh call, but it’s not a wading bird.
Not sure if you’re still here… but “both blogs”? I count at least 5 that cover the NYT.