NOTE: For the sake of solvers who may have missed last week's contest, the solution is on a separate page (see the tabs above). The write-up below gives nothing away about the puzzle or meta answer.
Week 1 Wrap-up
23 solvers out of 27 submitted correct answers this week, but only one of them can win. By random selection, this week's winner is Parker Lewis. Congrats, Parker. Parker is not only a skilled solver but an innovative constructor as well. In fact, his NYT debut partly inspired today's puzzle (no spoilers, really, so you're safe to follow the link).
From the sounds of it, solvers generally found this puzzle slightly more difficult than I had intended, although almost all were nevertheless able to work out the answer. Looking back, it's certainly a bit tougher than a typical Matt Gaffney week 1, but then my intention was not so much to try to hone in precisely on his difficulty levels, but more simply to gradually increase the difficultly each week a la the MGWCC. Since it sounds like solvers found this to be around a week 2 or maybe 3 on the Gaffney scale we'll call it a "week 2.25." This week's should be about a week 2.75 or so; maybe a full-on 3. Either way, I think you'll enjoy it. At least I hope so - I sweated blood making this one.
A big thanks to Amy over at crosswordfiend for directing a bit of traffic my way. Throughout the past week I had the pleasure of chatting with a number of puzzlers whom I had never met before as their answers rolled in. Hope to hear from y'all again this week.
Miscellaneous Xword News
In other crosswording news, the last few days have been particularly good to solvers. There was George Barany's stunning Chronicle of Higher Education puzzle (which, based on the star ratings, is a serious contender for puzzle of the year over at the fiend), a new Todd McClary "unthemely" puzzle, and three consecutive days of brilliant NYT puzzles (a tremendously impressive debut by Caleb Emmons on Thursday, Josh Knapp's crackling Friday grid - another contender for the annual Oryx awards, and Laura Sternberg's smashing Saturday puzzle). And all of these from either unknown or underhyped constructors (why is Todd McClary not a household name yet?). Also, speaking of the Chronicle, I think I'm going to start brainstorming some ideas for a submission. Having lost my NYT virginity, I feel more inclined to start submitting to other, more "modest" venues, and I've long felt that the CHE provides a unique outlet for puzzles that delve a little deeper into their theme subject or deal with topics outside of the arena of "common knowledge." Plus, George Barany, in his comments about this week's puzzle, had nothing but good things to say about working with editor Patrick Berry, so that's appealing too.
Lastly, I think I actually solved Matt Gaffney's meta this week, which makes it my first correct week 4! Unfortunately: a) I totally forgot to do week 1, so I can't say I'm 4 for 4 (stupid!), and b) it's not a real week 4 because there are 5 Fridays this month. A small victory nonetheless.
This Week's Puzzle
Anyway, good luck with this week's puzzle, and don't worry if you're not a computer person - I promise you can still get it!. Deets are as follows:
Meta Contest Overview: There will be four metas in total, one each week. I will be trying my best to consistently increase the difficulty each week, but, hey, I'm new at this. Each week, one winner will be randomly chosen from the list of solvers with the correct answer to the previous week's puzzle. They will win the opportunity to suggest an entry and/or clue for a future Cross Nerd puzzle, and will bring honour to their family and their country. At the end of the four weeks, any solvers that answered all four metas correctly will be entered into a draw to win untold riches, most likely in the form of a puzzle book or two (haven't decided yet, but seriously probably something around a $25 value).
Instructions: This week's contest answer is a superhero. This is week 2, but it's more like week 2.75 or 3 on the Matt Gaffney scale. Send an e-mail with the answer in the subject line to peter.bananarchy[at symbol goes here]gmail[dot]com by 11:59pm CST on Sunday, July 1.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Programming Camp
Rating: XW-PG13
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
Monday, 25 June 2012
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Month of Metas 1/4
First off, if you missed last week's interview with puzzler Jeffrey Harris, you should probably peep it now by visiting the slick navigation bar to your right.
On to business. As promised, it's meta time at The Cross Nerd. What's a meta? Let me explain (if you're familiar with metas such as Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest, you can skip this, as the standard rules apply):
A meta, short for meta-puzzle, is a puzzle within a puzzle (technically, I guess, a meta-puzzle would be a puzzle about a puzzle, but cruciverbalists are of course not known for their linguistic acumen). Basically, you first solve the crossword puzzle like you would any other, and then you try to extract a single, final answer. This answer can be suggested by the theme answers (if there are any), other answers in the solution grid, the clues, the grid design, the title, a combination of some/all of the above, or anything else within the puzzle itself (it's worth mentioning that Matt Gaffney has hidden solutions entirely outside of the puzzle before, but I won't be doing anything that underhanded). Also, the answer to a well-constructed meta will be the only answer that makes sense, and should be obviously correct once you get it. If it seems ambiguous or ill-defined, either you or the constructor (hopefully you) missed something. Ok, great. So...how do you find this answer? Well, that's for you to figure out, and, in fact, therein lies the fun. To avoid spoiling anything, I won't give you any examples, but you might want to check out some of Gaffney's old solutions (there are a few hundred, and he explains them very clearly). What I will tell you is how not to find the answer. The answer will almost certainly not actually appear as an entry in the grid. Metas are much more sophisticated than plain word searches. However, if while solving you notice an entry that seems to have something to do with the general "theme" of the meta (maybe it relates to the title or the answer category), make a note of it, as it may tie in to the theme to lead you to an answer. Then again, constructors like to toy with solvers, and sometimes toss in entries to deliberately throw them off the scent. Oh, one last thing: googling is encouraged, and may be needed for some of these puzzles (depending on the solver's background, of course). Check your hang-ups about "cheating" at the door: although the crosswords themselves are often solvable by any capable solver, many metas have even the best puzzlers hitting the net to piece the whole thing together. Of course, you'll still have to have enough of an idea about the nature of the puzzle to know what to search for...
Enough preambling, let's play. Here's the deets:
Meta Contest Overview: There will be four metas in total, one each week. I will be trying my best to consistently increase the difficulty each week, but, hey, I'm new at this. Each week, one winner will be randomly chosen from the list of solvers with the correct answer to the previous week's puzzle. They will win the opportunity to suggest an entry and/or clue for a future Cross Nerd puzzle, and will bring honour to their family and their country. At the end of the four weeks, any solvers that answered all four metas correctly will be entered into a draw to win untold riches, most likely in the form of a puzzle book or two (haven't decided yet, but seriously probably something around a $25 value).
Instructions: This week's contest answer is a medical procedure. It's week 1, so I've tried to make it easy (though maybe not as easy as a MGWCC week 1). Send an e-mail with the answer in the subject line to peter[dot]bananarchy[at symbol goes here]gmail[dot]com by midnight on Sunday, June 24 (and for God's sake please don't discuss it in the comments). Limit one answer per solver.
One last thing: I got an exciting phone call this week. You can read about it at 64-Across (this isn't part of the meta, BTW).
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Contest Puzzle #1 - Dim the Headlights
Rating: XW-14A
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
A meta, short for meta-puzzle, is a puzzle within a puzzle (technically, I guess, a meta-puzzle would be a puzzle about a puzzle, but cruciverbalists are of course not known for their linguistic acumen). Basically, you first solve the crossword puzzle like you would any other, and then you try to extract a single, final answer. This answer can be suggested by the theme answers (if there are any), other answers in the solution grid, the clues, the grid design, the title, a combination of some/all of the above, or anything else within the puzzle itself (it's worth mentioning that Matt Gaffney has hidden solutions entirely outside of the puzzle before, but I won't be doing anything that underhanded). Also, the answer to a well-constructed meta will be the only answer that makes sense, and should be obviously correct once you get it. If it seems ambiguous or ill-defined, either you or the constructor (hopefully you) missed something. Ok, great. So...how do you find this answer? Well, that's for you to figure out, and, in fact, therein lies the fun. To avoid spoiling anything, I won't give you any examples, but you might want to check out some of Gaffney's old solutions (there are a few hundred, and he explains them very clearly). What I will tell you is how not to find the answer. The answer will almost certainly not actually appear as an entry in the grid. Metas are much more sophisticated than plain word searches. However, if while solving you notice an entry that seems to have something to do with the general "theme" of the meta (maybe it relates to the title or the answer category), make a note of it, as it may tie in to the theme to lead you to an answer. Then again, constructors like to toy with solvers, and sometimes toss in entries to deliberately throw them off the scent. Oh, one last thing: googling is encouraged, and may be needed for some of these puzzles (depending on the solver's background, of course). Check your hang-ups about "cheating" at the door: although the crosswords themselves are often solvable by any capable solver, many metas have even the best puzzlers hitting the net to piece the whole thing together. Of course, you'll still have to have enough of an idea about the nature of the puzzle to know what to search for...
Enough preambling, let's play. Here's the deets:
Meta Contest Overview: There will be four metas in total, one each week. I will be trying my best to consistently increase the difficulty each week, but, hey, I'm new at this. Each week, one winner will be randomly chosen from the list of solvers with the correct answer to the previous week's puzzle. They will win the opportunity to suggest an entry and/or clue for a future Cross Nerd puzzle, and will bring honour to their family and their country. At the end of the four weeks, any solvers that answered all four metas correctly will be entered into a draw to win untold riches, most likely in the form of a puzzle book or two (haven't decided yet, but seriously probably something around a $25 value).
Instructions: This week's contest answer is a medical procedure. It's week 1, so I've tried to make it easy (though maybe not as easy as a MGWCC week 1). Send an e-mail with the answer in the subject line to peter[dot]bananarchy[at symbol goes here]gmail[dot]com by midnight on Sunday, June 24 (and for God's sake please don't discuss it in the comments). Limit one answer per solver.
One last thing: I got an exciting phone call this week. You can read about it at 64-Across (this isn't part of the meta, BTW).
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Contest Puzzle #1 - Dim the Headlights
Rating: XW-14A
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen, Jeffrey Harris
As you might have guessed, this week we'll get to meet puzzler par excellence Jeffrey Harris. Jeffrey is not only a deadly solver, but a fine constructor as well. He's been at it for close to a decade now, has been regular contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Sun (RIP), and has been published in the NYT and Wall Street Journal as well. Jeffrey has been in touch a number of times lately to provide feedback on the puzzles (mostly in the way of reporting grievous errors, which is always appreciated) and chat about his brand-spanking-new book, Sit & Solve Pop Music Crosswords. 42 mini-puzzles (10x10 mostly, I believe. Dimensions I've never worked with, but you know I love the minis), and at an unbeatable price, if you ask me. There's a sample of one of the puzzles that didn't make it in to the book (so the ones that did must be even better, right?) at Jeffrey's site. Don't be fooled by the diminuitive proportions: cramming that much thematic material into a breathable 10x10 grid with 2 themers could not have been easy, and it's a silky smooth solve nonetheless.
Anyway, I caught up with Jeffrey for a Q&A over the weekend; let's see how it went down:
Peter: Congratulations on your first book! What can solvers expect from it in terms of themes, puzzle styles, difficulty, etc.?
Jeffrey: As they’re only 10x10, most of them have only a pair of theme entries. There are a few puzzles with more, but they’re the minority. Also, there were some pairings I found that were just too nice to worry about pesky concerns like grid symmetry, so the last eight or so puzzles are nonsymmetric. I tried to keep them easy, but only solvers can really say how difficult they are.
P: Tell me about your approach to construction. What tools do you use, what do you do with a deadline and a lack of ideas, what qualities do you look for in a seed entry, long fill, or theme, etc?
J: I use Crossword Compiler with a hand-ranked wordlist, though I have made grids by hand and sometimes still do, if I feel like it. I like it when themes feel “complete”--if I solve a puzzle with three theme entries, I want that to be not because there was no room for a fourth entry, but because there is no fourth entry. As for long fill, no surprises--give me a multi-word phrase with interesting letters and I’m happy.
P: Whose work do you admire as a constructor?
J: Oh, that’d be a long list. Patrick Berry, Trip Payne, Frank Longo, Mike Shenk, BEQ, and Merl Reagle would probably be on everyone’s list; in addition, there are a number of constructors including Todd McClary, Eric Berlin, and Adam Cohen who I don’t see as much buzz/chatter about but who are definitely talented puzzlemakers who I try to emulate.
P: What are your thoughts on eye-catching/wide-open grids, convention-shirking themes/gimmicks, etc.? Is it all about the solver, or do you think that grids and gimmicks that push the boundaries and challenge constructors are important as well?
J: As a solver, I love being able to look back at a puzzle and marvel at the effort and skill put into the construction--this includes, however, the effort and skill needed to keep a puzzle clean. Quad-stacks are impressive, but if they’re filled to the brim with partials, abbreviations, dupes, and bogus phrases they become less so. And it’s not like these things are necessary! Patrick Berry, Frank Longo, and most recently Matt Jones have all made quad stacks that are much cleaner than the ones that have been published in the Times these past few months, and to me, those are exponentially more fun to solve and to admire after the fact.
P: Where do see your puzzling career going? Do you have any specific construction or publication goals that you’re aiming for?
J: Not beyond “making enough puzzles to keep a roof over my head” at this point, heh. I’d like to have a non-pocket-size book at some point, but that’ll be a long way off I think.
P: How do you think that the existence of a puzzle blogging community has affected the quality and/or style of puzzles, if at all?
J: I don’t know. It’s certainly made puzzle solving a more communal activity, which is a good thing.
P: I understand you’re a pretty shit-hot solver (a Lollapuzzoola champ if I’m not mistaken?). Which puzzle outlets do you hit up for a solid challenge? Other than traditional crosswords, which sorts of puzzles do you enjoy?
J: For challenge, both the Washington Post themeless and Fireball are hard to beat. I also do Matt Gaffney’s contest...week 5 puzzles can sometimes be even tougher than Posts or Fireballs. If you know how to solve cryptic crosswords and are looking or a real workout, I recommend the cryptics of Kevin Wald and Mark Halpin.
Thanks for the opportunity to be interviewed, and I look forward to solving more of your puzzles as you post them!
Pleasure's all mine, Jeffrey. It's always nice to get acquainted with other puzzlers, and so you can expect more interviews in the future. Feel like you've got something to share with the literally tens of adoring Cross Nerd fans? Hit me up and we'll shoot the shit.
On to today's puzzle. Dug out a bit of an oldie this week. I devised and polished the theme with the intention of whipping it into a NYT submission. Didn't even get as far as filling the grid before discovering that a very similar theme was done back in '06. Although none of the same entries are used, the idea was similar enough that it didn't seem worth waiting 6 months for the almost certain rejection, so I shelved it. Glad I did, though, because I needed a ready-made themed puzzle stat (too many themelesses recently), since I've been spending any and all of my free puzzling time working on both my submission to the 20 under 30 contest and my upcoming month of metas. Wait, what? That's right, you heard right: a month of metas. Between Trip Payne's jaw-dropping "Remote Possibilities" extravaganza, Pete Muller's (so far) excellent Muller Monthly Music Meta, and the usual dose of MGWCC puzzles, I've been more than a little inspired to try my hand at a meta-puzzle. After a little brainstorming, I've come up with what I think are four solid puzzle ideas, which I'll be running in the fashion of a month's worth of MGWCC. And there will be prizes! (mostly things of no monetary value). Tune in next week for more details.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: How Goes It?
Rating: XW-PG
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
Anyway, I caught up with Jeffrey for a Q&A over the weekend; let's see how it went down:
Peter: Congratulations on your first book! What can solvers expect from it in terms of themes, puzzle styles, difficulty, etc.?
Jeffrey: As they’re only 10x10, most of them have only a pair of theme entries. There are a few puzzles with more, but they’re the minority. Also, there were some pairings I found that were just too nice to worry about pesky concerns like grid symmetry, so the last eight or so puzzles are nonsymmetric. I tried to keep them easy, but only solvers can really say how difficult they are.
P: Tell me about your approach to construction. What tools do you use, what do you do with a deadline and a lack of ideas, what qualities do you look for in a seed entry, long fill, or theme, etc?
J: I use Crossword Compiler with a hand-ranked wordlist, though I have made grids by hand and sometimes still do, if I feel like it. I like it when themes feel “complete”--if I solve a puzzle with three theme entries, I want that to be not because there was no room for a fourth entry, but because there is no fourth entry. As for long fill, no surprises--give me a multi-word phrase with interesting letters and I’m happy.
P: Whose work do you admire as a constructor?
J: Oh, that’d be a long list. Patrick Berry, Trip Payne, Frank Longo, Mike Shenk, BEQ, and Merl Reagle would probably be on everyone’s list; in addition, there are a number of constructors including Todd McClary, Eric Berlin, and Adam Cohen who I don’t see as much buzz/chatter about but who are definitely talented puzzlemakers who I try to emulate.
P: What are your thoughts on eye-catching/wide-open grids, convention-shirking themes/gimmicks, etc.? Is it all about the solver, or do you think that grids and gimmicks that push the boundaries and challenge constructors are important as well?
J: As a solver, I love being able to look back at a puzzle and marvel at the effort and skill put into the construction--this includes, however, the effort and skill needed to keep a puzzle clean. Quad-stacks are impressive, but if they’re filled to the brim with partials, abbreviations, dupes, and bogus phrases they become less so. And it’s not like these things are necessary! Patrick Berry, Frank Longo, and most recently Matt Jones have all made quad stacks that are much cleaner than the ones that have been published in the Times these past few months, and to me, those are exponentially more fun to solve and to admire after the fact.
P: Where do see your puzzling career going? Do you have any specific construction or publication goals that you’re aiming for?
J: Not beyond “making enough puzzles to keep a roof over my head” at this point, heh. I’d like to have a non-pocket-size book at some point, but that’ll be a long way off I think.
P: How do you think that the existence of a puzzle blogging community has affected the quality and/or style of puzzles, if at all?
J: I don’t know. It’s certainly made puzzle solving a more communal activity, which is a good thing.
P: I understand you’re a pretty shit-hot solver (a Lollapuzzoola champ if I’m not mistaken?). Which puzzle outlets do you hit up for a solid challenge? Other than traditional crosswords, which sorts of puzzles do you enjoy?
J: For challenge, both the Washington Post themeless and Fireball are hard to beat. I also do Matt Gaffney’s contest...week 5 puzzles can sometimes be even tougher than Posts or Fireballs. If you know how to solve cryptic crosswords and are looking or a real workout, I recommend the cryptics of Kevin Wald and Mark Halpin.
Thanks for the opportunity to be interviewed, and I look forward to solving more of your puzzles as you post them!
Pleasure's all mine, Jeffrey. It's always nice to get acquainted with other puzzlers, and so you can expect more interviews in the future. Feel like you've got something to share with the literally tens of adoring Cross Nerd fans? Hit me up and we'll shoot the shit.
On to today's puzzle. Dug out a bit of an oldie this week. I devised and polished the theme with the intention of whipping it into a NYT submission. Didn't even get as far as filling the grid before discovering that a very similar theme was done back in '06. Although none of the same entries are used, the idea was similar enough that it didn't seem worth waiting 6 months for the almost certain rejection, so I shelved it. Glad I did, though, because I needed a ready-made themed puzzle stat (too many themelesses recently), since I've been spending any and all of my free puzzling time working on both my submission to the 20 under 30 contest and my upcoming month of metas. Wait, what? That's right, you heard right: a month of metas. Between Trip Payne's jaw-dropping "Remote Possibilities" extravaganza, Pete Muller's (so far) excellent Muller Monthly Music Meta, and the usual dose of MGWCC puzzles, I've been more than a little inspired to try my hand at a meta-puzzle. After a little brainstorming, I've come up with what I think are four solid puzzle ideas, which I'll be running in the fashion of a month's worth of MGWCC. And there will be prizes! (mostly things of no monetary value). Tune in next week for more details.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: How Goes It?
Rating: XW-PG
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Hot Cross Words
So it's been too nice here to stay cooped up inside slaving over a hot crossword. Shame, really, because I've got a lot of neat theme ideas cooking, but haven't had time to whip 'em up. I go into red alert mode when Thursday or Friday rolls around and I still don't have a fully fleshed out theme idea, and in those cases I'll usually end up digging out a seed entry or two from spice rack and tossing together a themeless. They're not necessarily easier to make, but they're safer. I always worry with new themes that I haven't let them simmer long enough and that I might be overlooking some deal-breaking detail or have missed an opportunity to add another layer of elegance. Plus, I'm guessing that at least part of the reason you solvers keep coming back is because I try to keep things interesting around here, so instead of resorting to a recycled theme I've prepared you a 17x17 themeless this week. Watch for upcoming themed puzzles if that's your thing - I've got some gooders in the works, as well as perhaps a meta contest. Stay tuned.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Themeless #13
Rating: XW-PG13
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Themeless #13
Rating: XW-PG13
Download the PDF file here and the PUZ file here, or solve or download the Across Lite puzzle and/or software from the embedded app below.
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