Wednesday 25 June 2014

Slipping and Sliding

A thousand apologies, but no puzzle this week. I'll try to get one up by the weekend, but no guarantees. Reasons include: surprise road trip to the twin cities over the weekend, crazy week at work, gig on Friday, long weekend and possible camping this weekend, and summer in general. Luckily, my man Erik Agard has you covered with a three-puzzle meta suite.

Thanks to the Minnesota puzzle crew for a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon nerd-out and tournament, and special thanks to the wonderful Andrew Ries for putting us up and putting up with us after a long day's drive on Friday night. The puzzles at the tournament were all top-notch, and the people were even better. I particularly enjoyed the one by Andy Kravis and the final themeless punisher by Victor Barocas. You can purchase all 7 puzzles for only $5 here: https://thefriends.thankyou4caring.org/events/event-registration-mn-crossword-tournament.

Since the schedule here is so unpredictable, you might want to consider joining the Google group by clicking on the link in the menu to the right. That way you'll never miss a puzzle.

More words soon...

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Puff Puff? Pass

I didn't quite finish the puzzle last night, so I'm posting this on my lunch break. I'll try to keep it brief.

I was almost completely finished this puzzle a few days early this week, actually, save for a few clues. A few entries in each puzzle always scream out for a bit of devious wordplay, and I like to let those simmer a bit in the old brainpan to minimize the chances of missing a perfect cluing opportunity. In the end, I didn't come up with anything too terribly clever for this puzzle, but I'm still glad I didn't rush it and overall I suppose I'm happy with how it turned out.

Also, I've been smoke-free for one week and I couldn't be happier about it. 10/10, would recommend. I'd like to say I was motivated by health concerns, or financial concerns, or even aromatic concerns, but, while these were certainly concerns of mine, it was a new romantic interest that finally pushed me past the tipping point. Ladies love the buttless chaps, after all.

Oh, and lastly this looks cool so I think I'll attend and you should too. Still need to finalize plans with my travel companion, but the outlook is very good.

More words, crossed and otherwise, two weeks hence.

Puzzle: Freestyle #35
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