ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ POST-DOCTORAL WORK]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ POST-DOCTORAL WORK]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
The war against crossword folks continues.
I got a jaw-droppingly bad e-mail yesterday from a PR agency attempting to hit up crossword blogs to promote the DVD release of the Sandra Bullock bomb “All About Steve.” You may recall that Sandra plays some insane puzzlemaker in it (reread my open letter to Hollywood here). Well, anyway, in the e-mail, they offered a tie-in puzzle for promotional purposes. I mean, I guess it’s not the PR agency’s fault they didn’t realize the film insulted the intelligence of the crossword community in more ways than one. Hey, they’re just trying to promote a film. And press is hard to get nowadays. I totally understand that. But next time, if you’re planning on making a crossword to tie-in with a movie, you might want to ask a professional to do it. Like, me. I make promotional puzzles all the time. Yeah, so, anyway, for your entertainment, I posted their work here.
But anyway, they’re offering up some DVDs as contest prizes. And I can’t imagine anybody who goes to the number one crossword blog on the planet (patent pending) would want one. But hey, let’s have fun, shall we? If you have an annual Bad Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festival of Lights/etc. Gift Swap party, this DVD might be a winner. So, if you’re game, leave a comment in the comments section detailing the most humiliating gift you’ve ever received. I’ll pick the winners just before I post on Friday.
While we’re here, one of my test solvers, Joon Pahk, posted a lovely themeless puzzle here. Good stuff.
By the way, the blog turned one yesterday. Thanks for all the continued support. Next stop: day number 368!
Share the puzzle (uh, mine and Joon’s). New one on Friday.
Good puzzle. (Yours, not the movie tie-in. Good lord, that one made me laugh. Free advice to Hollywood PR firms: If you’re making a crossword to promote a movie and you’re not hiring a pro, you might want to double-check the spelling in your clues.)
Most humiliating gift: From a friend, a book about sexual techniques. Because if anyone’s going to take an interest in your sex life, who better than someone with whom you’ve never been intimate? (A few years after that gift, she followed up with a gift certificate to a sex toy store.)
At first glance it almost looked like Sandra Bullock was wielding a huge knife. But I guess it’s just an umbrella – slightly less menacing (unless you’re Burgess Meredith).
Congrats on the one-year anniversary of your blog!
Can I meet this friend of yours?
Yes, congrats. Fun puzzle today, especially enjoyed the Austin Powers tie-in. (Maybe for the next one Mike Myers might ask you to create a promotional puzzle?)
A year already! Wow!
Re the All About Steve crossword:
For a 7 year old’s first crossword (I’m presuming they got one of their kids to do it – save a few bob) it was brilliant, all the words even crossed each other(!) – which is common first crossword mistake.
Home today due to stupid amounts of snow, so worked this one solo. It’s been a while since I’ve done a BEQ by myself. I’ll admit to one Google; the other one was too obvious, so I’m not admitting to it.
I didn’t even notice the theme until I was done and saw Evad’s comment – I hadn’t seen an Austin Powers connection, what’s he… OOoooohhh…
TRET is new to me, but all the crosses were easy, so just a nice vocabulary-builder. Good puzzle. I’m off to check out the Sandra Bullock puzzle and Joon’s.
And I STILL don’t see the Austin Powers connecton. Someone please to elucidate?
Congrats, Brendan, on the anniversary. Still going through the archives and, just yesterday, found your totally mind-effing “Pull down menus–Look out below” puzz of 9 January. Wow! You rock.
As to today’s puzz, gotta grant the Medium you gave it, as I was able to wallow through it without googling. For a change. But it took me 51:57. I was 40 minutes in before I got one of the 15-letter answers (41A), and then things really picked up. Sorta. Loved it.
10A, best clue I’ve ever seen for INRI. 13D, how would a nerd’s pocket get INKY when s/he’s wearing a pocket protector?
Bad day for first-pass SWAGS: 28D LOOPS, 42D GELS, 68A DULL, and 70A ORGAN. Thought I was on a roll.
Good day for English geeks, between e.g. the 41A Christie novel, 62D NOH, 34D CANTOS, and 56A IBSEN. A note re Ibsen, for English or Modern Drama majors (totally not a slam at the clue): I studied Ibsen with a Comp Lit prof whose fluencies included Norwegian, and she argued that “A Doll’s House” was a mistranslation, that it should be “A Doll House”, which is (at least in Norwegian) significantly more nuanced. For what it’s worth.
I’m off to check out the Sandra Bullock puzzle and Joon’s.
i’m really hoping mine comes off better in that comparison.
Great puzzle today BEQ. Very fun. Congrats on a year. I only started coming here in August, but have loved everything you have put out.
In regards to a gift, I would have to say the graphing calculator I got when I was 8. The gift wasn’t bad, but the video tape of me getting it and exclaiming in a nasally 8 year old voice “A Calculator!! Oh Thanks!!” gets replayed by my siblings to much laughter most every holiday season.
A nice medium medium for me today. Took me 11:15, to fill but it took leaving it for twenty minutes then coming back for another look to get the theme. Nice!
Lit.doc: if you’re still looking for a hint, it’s not just Austin Powers but James Bond, the Beeb, and Marvel Comics. I’m totally with you on “Pull down menus” though. Bar none the cleverest theme I’ve ever encountered.
Ahh… Genesee beer. The only time I partake is when snowmobiling. I do not feel too bad having a beer go flat on me from the vibrations if it is already a bad beer. (not that I would ever drink and snowmobile)
I did not see the theme till much too late which somewhat embarrasses me.
A (very) rare complete for me. Thanks for your work.
Regarding the gift, had to be the “Chump gift” from my brother one Christmas, you know, the presents you buy by the dozen, wrap and leave in the hall closet in case of unexpected guests over the holidays? Nothing like getting a cookbook inscribed to your cousin.
Thanks for the clue. But I’m still clueless, so to speak. If it’s WONKY, I don’t see the connection–probably for many of the same reasons that the puzz took me most of an hour. Worse, when I finally see it, it will no doubt be painfully obvious. Sigh.
BTW, I forgot earlier to mention the most excellent punning clue on 39D. Frat “rho” letter. Nice touch, Brendan.
I’m almost tempted to answer your query about the theme. But it’s probably more fun for both of us if I just tell you to look at the title again….
Probably not ick-producing enough to win the “bad gift” sweepstakes, but I once got a gift certificate to a sports memorabilia store — that had gone out of business two weeks before Christmas.
Perfect level puzzle for me, had a bunch of open space and slowly picked my way through it. Getting the theme helped me on the last theme I needed, EVILUNDERTHESUN since I had DER and thought it must be MURDER.
My father-in-law knows I love to read and the genres. He’s bought me the same book over a ten year period, three times. It isn’t humiliating but it sure is damn awkward. How do you feign interest the third time?
I’m not exactly sure I’d call this fun, but I am grinning, albeit abashedly. And Fox makes five. Geez. Thanks for the hint.
Whoops. This was a reply to Eric Maddy, above.
I inadvertently addended my reply to DrBB’s reply to me, below. Thanks again for pushing me over the edge, er, top.
I really liked this one, Brendan — bravo!
Can someone explain Busy sounds?=MOAN, thanks!
Once from a secret santa I got a big warty green gourd, the kind that’s larger than your head. Not really a humiliating gift, but a puzzling one. But better than the cigars he gave me the next day (I think he ended up ‘borrowing’ them back).
Drawing a blank in the gift department right now, but wanted to say to BEQ and Joon that I enjoyed the puzzles greatly.
BEQ: Congrats on the 1-year. Creative cluing in there today. “Ixtapa eye” sounds like it could be an early ’80s new wave band, perhaps opening up for Wall of Voodoo? The theme was smooth and not a dead giveaway.
Joon: The tough vocab in some of your cluing, as well as some references stumped me for a while, so your puzzle was a good, solid challenge throughout. Too bad it didn’t see print, but it’s good to know there are other outlets beyond the dead-tree world for this to be appreciated. Funny, I noticed not long after 9/9 that your long Down answer was a 15, and what a nice puzzle answer it would make. Of course, there’s that whole “create the rest of the puzzle” thing… hell of a way to pull it off though, with a bizarrely fun bonus on the crossing 15.
Since no-one else has the guts…
Think “busy” as in doing “it”…
BEQ — Congrats on turning one. Your first year was certainly good for me! I hope for you as well.
Most humiliating gift was when I was director of 15 person office. On my turn during the white elephant gift exchange, I received a used copy of the “Joy of Sex.” I was stupid enough to trade my gift for an earlier opened box of shelled pecans. Pretty good trade, right? Wrong! Next day, the recipient of my trade filed a sexual harrasment claim against me.
Keep up the good work.
thanks howard!
I still get startled by clues/answers like 36D–the family-oriented mindset of virtually every other puzzle outlet is deeply ingrained. Not a complaint, just an observation. I thought it was a fun puzzle. As usual, “Medium” for me is near impossible. Surely we must have some musical tastes in common, but I haven’t found them yet.
My worst gift came from my mother-in-law. She had bought a single knife, fork and spoon to try out the pattern with her dishes and dining room, but decided to go with a different set. When she was stumped for what to give me, I got the single place setting. Still not sure wtf she thought I would do with it, but I kept it and use it when we run short of the regular flatware. The handles are big, bulky cylinders, making it difficult to balance them on the rim of the plate when not in use as per Miss Manners.
this is great, it reminds me of the Tick comic book where the Tick works as crossword editor.
Ed. in Chief: “Tick, you’ve only got two words: PABST and FRBLHG”
Tick: “Yeah, but they cross!”