Sorry for the delay, folks. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm ok with having a bit of a flexible schedule here, but I still don't like to let things get too out of control. Seems that life keeps wanting to intervene, as of late, so I hope you'll bear with me.
Gearing up for a busy weekend of music: 3 gigs in 3 days, with 2 different bands. Two local gigs, including the debut of my latest project, a really loud trio called Kafkaless, and one show just south of the border in Plentywood, Montana which I know distressingly little about. Oh well, should be fun. I haven't been to Plentywood for years, but I always have a great time there so it'll be nice to get back. Objectively it's not much to write home about, but when you live in southern Saskatchewan it's a wonderland of cheap beer, smokes, and seedy hotel rooms just a hop skip and a border crossing away. True story: 5 of us went down there for a bachelor party many moons ago and bought a round for the whole bar because liquor was like 1/6th the price we were used to paying in Regina. I think we each spent under $20, and it was almost certainly the only thing that kept us long-haired nerds from getting roughed up by drunken hicks.
The puzzle that I planned to use this week still isn't finished since it ended up getting quite large (I'll run it next week). Instead, I dusted off this one that I started a while back and finished it up. I wasn't too excited about the grid at first, which is why I had shelved it, but it's ok I guess, and I tried to spice it up with some devilish cluing. Speaking of which, if you want to see an actual quality themeless puzzle, check out Evan Birnholz's latest devilcross.com offering. One of the smoothest grids I've seen in a long time (seriously, it's Berry smooth), yet with no shortage of awesome shit. Seriously, dude's got chops.
One more thing: only after this grid was filled and partially clued did I realize that there's another 12-letter entry that could use more-or-less the same clue (or at least most of the same clue words) as 14-down. Might've made a good symmetrical mini-theme, but to be honest you might start to wonder about me if I ran a mini-theme like that. Maybe you wonder about me as it is, I dunno.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next week.
Puzzle: Freestyle #31
Difficulty: Harder than usual, I think
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
2 comments:
Dude. It's humbling to be compared to Master Berry. Thanks!
Fun times at the Broda Corral: 1-, 2-, 14-, and 15-Down are all great (I assume the latter was the could-have-been-the-same-clue answer?). I liked 21-, 23-, and 44-Across too, and your clues for 28-/29-Across made me laugh out loud.
The could-have-been-the-same-clue answer I had in mind was MASTURBATION. Same length as 14-down and works with the same clue ("number one" = pee and oneself). I should have been clearer that it's not a word in the grid, but an alternate answer for the clue that I realized afterward. Although 15-down could potentially have a sexual meaning as well, I suppose.
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