Keeping Austin Weird

After a short but action-packed vacay in TeAustxas, I'm back in business.  Hope the double-header from a fortnight ago and the many brilliant puzzles available at the sites listed in the sidebar tided you over.  I was excited to share some stories, but:
a) it's no longer fresh in my mind,
b) the whole trip was kind of a blur while it was happening anyway, and
c) it's 2:37am local time and I have work in the morning.

In lieu of stories proper, here are some miscellaneous highlights: Napalm Death (whose drummer ran offstage to barf, and came back to play the fastest song in the set), Between the Buried and Me, wearing sandals in the mosh pit like a boss, Deerhoof, lots of free beer, feeling oddly like a millionaire riding around downtown in pedicabs, Saul Williams, sticking a dollar bill on a girl's arm with a staplegun (that was her way of busking - Austin's a weird place), travelling across the continent to meet new friends that live in my home town, Deathfix, lots of tacos, and many more.

Today's puzzle went through a number of revisions and one complete rewrite.  Had the grid about half-filled on Sunday.  I jumped on the computer Monday morning to finish it up, but opted to tackle BEQ's themeless first, which I was shocked to discover contained one of the 11-letter entries I had used in one of my stacks.  It's been used before, but it's distinctive enough that I couldn't bring myself to use it only a day after BEQ, and since changing it would have necessitated a nearly complete rewrite, I shelved the puzzle and started anew (in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not dropping the entry in this write-up so that I can use the puzzle for a future post).  

Oh, and you'll see a name you may not recognize in the byline.  That's my buddy Drew, a fellow cruciverbal enthusiast and Cross Nerd solver, who helped with the cluing (and contributed 30-Down, probably the best clue in the puzzle).

More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.

Puzzle: Freestyle #22
Rating: XW-18A
Difficulty: Fairly torturous
Downloads:

PUZ
PDF

Hello I Must Be Going

Sorry about the delayed post.  Not skimping on the puzzles, though; for your solving pleasure I've got a themed double-header to cover this week and the next.  I'll be kicking it in Texas on a bit of a holiday.  Plus, seeing as I've been doing this for nearly a year now, it seemed high time I got myself a week ahead.

The puzzles are complementary, yet distinct.  Either can be solved first.

Oh, and no online versions this time (not sure if anyone uses them anyway), since I don't want you to see both puzzles at the same time.

More words, crossed and otherwise, two Tuesdays from now.

Puzzle: "Out of Season" and "Consider Yourself Blessed"
Rating: XW-PG13
Difficulty: On the easy side
Downloads:

Out of Season PUZ
Consider Yourself Blessed PUZ

Out of Season PDF
Consider Yourself Blessed PDF

Yee Hah

Off to Austin, Texas next Thursday for the Fun Fun Fun Fest.  To be honest, I couldn't name five out of the hundreds of acts that are performing there, but that's not for their lack of popularity.  I know Run-DMC are going to be there, as well as David Cross from Arrested Development and Saul Williams.  I scanned the list a little while back and remember being impressed.  Really, though, my interest in the music is secondary to my interest in flying to Texas to stay in a small house and dig some live jams with 13 other people (most of whom are friends of friends I've never met).

Oh, by the way, I just googled some of the acts: Girl Talk, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Explosions in the Sky, Santigold, Deerhoof (how could I forget!), Refused, Tomahawk (hells yeah), Against Me!, Fucked Up, Converge, Air Sex Championship (wut? actually, that's on the spoken word/performance art stage.  I don't think that's a band).

Anyway, for next week, the plan is to release a set of two puzzles, which will cover the next two weeks.  They might go up a little later than usual, but they'll be 15x15 complementary, themed puzzles so hopefully they'll be worth the wait.

For this week, I promised you a theme, so here's a theme.  Actually, I promised you a cool theme, but you'll have to settle for mediocre but kinda cute.

Grid was a bear to fill, I was surprised to find.  It necessitated bumping the black square count a little high and settling for some bleh fill.  I guess this kind of theme entry arrangement is not to be taken lightly, although I'm sure Patrick Berry could have done it in a 36/76 without the cheater squares.

More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.


Puzzle: Squares Away
Rating: XW-14A (for tasteless puns mostly, rather than actual adult content)
Difficulty: Tried to make it measium and cute
Downloads:
PUZ
PDF