It has been a while, hasn't it? New freestyle for youse today because why not? Be careful with this one...
Freestyle #39
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Showing posts with label freestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freestyle. Show all posts
Monday, 1 February 2016
Saturday, 12 September 2015
Freely Styled
Friday, 16 January 2015
Trivial Matters
Been busy lately with a new sorta-puzzle-related project. A few friends and I will be hosting a pub trivia night, beginning this Sunday evening. If you're in the greater Regina area (extremely unlikely), come on out to The Lancaster at 19:00. Anyway, gotta get back to it, so that's all I'll say for now. Enjoy the latest freestyle; it was my submission for the final Post Puzzler themeless contest, but it wasn't picked. I'm reasonably happy with it, though, so I figured it wouldn't be nice to keep it all to myself.
More words, crossed and otherwise, whenever I feel like it.
Puzzle: Freestyle #37
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
More words, crossed and otherwise, whenever I feel like it.
Puzzle: Freestyle #37
Downloads:
PUZ
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
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
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
Downloads:
PUZ
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
I Am The Walrus?
New puzzle day!
...however, I've decided to scale back operations a bit here. Beginning this week, I'll be posting puzzles fortnightly rather than weekly. Join the Google Group if you'd like to have the puzzles mailed out to you. Link to the right, or right here, I guess. I hope you don't mind. I've simply got too many things on the go at the moment, and summer is fast approaching to boot. I'm raising my standards for these puzzles all the time, and consequently it takes me a lot longer to write them. Well, it takes a little longer, but I agonize over picky little details, the validity of certain answers, whether or not I've gone too far with a clue, etc. In the end I'm still rarely completely happy with the puzzles, but I then probably never would be. Point is, this all adds up to more time than I generally have/want to devote to constructing as of late, so fortnightly it is.
This weekend, a long one for us, I'll be attending my first ever Lebowski Fest. It'll likely be a small one, but should be a hoot. Plus, looking at list of attendees on the Facebook event, it turns out I have more Achievers in my circle of friends than I realized, so I should be in good company. Sadly, though, two of my closest Lebowski-loving compadres, Drew and, believe it or not, Donnie, are out of town. Anyway, I just heard about it and I need to whip up a costume toot suite. I've got the hair and the build for Jesus, but no purple leisure suit, alas. Maybe Smokey? Who else has long hair in the movie? If I didn't have hair at all I'd definitely have to go as Knox Harrington, the video artist.
Anyway, today's puzzle is tough as nails. Tried to go Newsday Stumper hard on this one; see how you make out. I was having some fun with the cluing...maybe too much fun in some cases. Hope it's at least fair.
...however, I've decided to scale back operations a bit here. Beginning this week, I'll be posting puzzles fortnightly rather than weekly. Join the Google Group if you'd like to have the puzzles mailed out to you. Link to the right, or right here, I guess. I hope you don't mind. I've simply got too many things on the go at the moment, and summer is fast approaching to boot. I'm raising my standards for these puzzles all the time, and consequently it takes me a lot longer to write them. Well, it takes a little longer, but I agonize over picky little details, the validity of certain answers, whether or not I've gone too far with a clue, etc. In the end I'm still rarely completely happy with the puzzles, but I then probably never would be. Point is, this all adds up to more time than I generally have/want to devote to constructing as of late, so fortnightly it is.
This weekend, a long one for us, I'll be attending my first ever Lebowski Fest. It'll likely be a small one, but should be a hoot. Plus, looking at list of attendees on the Facebook event, it turns out I have more Achievers in my circle of friends than I realized, so I should be in good company. Sadly, though, two of my closest Lebowski-loving compadres, Drew and, believe it or not, Donnie, are out of town. Anyway, I just heard about it and I need to whip up a costume toot suite. I've got the hair and the build for Jesus, but no purple leisure suit, alas. Maybe Smokey? Who else has long hair in the movie? If I didn't have hair at all I'd definitely have to go as Knox Harrington, the video artist.
Anyway, today's puzzle is tough as nails. Tried to go Newsday Stumper hard on this one; see how you make out. I was having some fun with the cluing...maybe too much fun in some cases. Hope it's at least fair.
More words, crossed and otherwise, in two weeks.
Puzzle: Freestyle #34
Downloads:
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
It's All Been Done
Well, I've had a full two weeks, and what do I have to show for it? Nothing. At least on the crossword front. Been very busy, in fact, with a number of other undertakings, large and small. Unfortunately, I can't really talk about the puzzle-related ones just yet, but all will be revealed soon. Anyway, it all adds up to no new puzzle this week, but instead of just leaving you with resounding disappointment and a short tease of a write-up I figured I'd dig one out of the archives for you. I know that many of you weren't around for the first incarnation of The Cross Nerd, back in 2011/2012, so I feel reasonably fine running an oldie but a goodie for y'all. Actually, this one was near the end of that first run. I was too embarrassed to post some of the earlier ones, but this one is stylistically and technically similar to my current offerings.
Oh, and speaking of back in the day, shout-outs to scientist, Facebook trivia guru, and Cross Nerd OG Brandon Hensley for a delightful and kooky Thursday NYT puzzle last week (and his NYT debut!). Keep it up, Brandon!
I'll definitely be back next week with a new puzzle (I had one about half-done for this week, but don't have a lot of time to complete and polish it up), although I am giving some serious thought to ramping down to a fortnightly schedule over the summer. What do you think?
More words, crossed and otherwise, next week.
Puzzle: Freestyle #21
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
Oh, and speaking of back in the day, shout-outs to scientist, Facebook trivia guru, and Cross Nerd OG Brandon Hensley for a delightful and kooky Thursday NYT puzzle last week (and his NYT debut!). Keep it up, Brandon!
I'll definitely be back next week with a new puzzle (I had one about half-done for this week, but don't have a lot of time to complete and polish it up), although I am giving some serious thought to ramping down to a fortnightly schedule over the summer. What do you think?
More words, crossed and otherwise, next week.
Puzzle: Freestyle #21
Downloads:
PUZ
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
3.1415926535897932384626433832...
Sorry about the skipped week there. I had a freestyle mostly finished, but didn't have quite enough time to devote to polishing it to my standards. The wonderful feedback I've received from y'all has really encouraged me to up my game, but as a result I spend much much longer on each puzzle because I hate to have an off week. Excuses, excuses.
In other news, although I totally forgot about pi day last friday, the topic came up at work this morning and I ended up betting my colleague that I could memorize and recite pi to 1000 digits by next week. I wasn't sure at first if I could get even remotely close, but over lunch I started brainstorming various possible approaches and it seems eminently doable. My psychology education finally paid off, in fact, and I recalled the method of loci (which is similar to Sherlock Holmes' memory palace technique). And just when you thought this post couldn't get any nerdier (you're reading a crossword blog, what did you expect?), I figured that the best thing to map the digits to would be the Super Metroid any% speedrun route, since I've been drilling it for the last few weeks. It turned out to be kind of fun, actually, trying to identify patterns in the sequence of digits and then thinking up meaningful associations to the game map. Tying individual numbers to the number of enemies or platforms in a room, say, or imagining that alternating strings like 323 or 3993 could represent contours in the terrain or patterns of movement around obstacles. Seems to be working: after only about half an hour I already had 150 digits down pat, and I'm up to 250 now. Victory is mine.
Anyway, that has nothing to do with today's puzzle, which is just another freestyle. Filling it was somewhat difficult, as evidenced by the abundance of cheater ("helper") squares. I prefer the look of a grid with very few black squares, but beyond that I don't actually care about cheaters if they improve the fill significantly, as they did in this case. Hope you feel the same.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next week.
Puzzle: Freestyle #30
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
In other news, although I totally forgot about pi day last friday, the topic came up at work this morning and I ended up betting my colleague that I could memorize and recite pi to 1000 digits by next week. I wasn't sure at first if I could get even remotely close, but over lunch I started brainstorming various possible approaches and it seems eminently doable. My psychology education finally paid off, in fact, and I recalled the method of loci (which is similar to Sherlock Holmes' memory palace technique). And just when you thought this post couldn't get any nerdier (you're reading a crossword blog, what did you expect?), I figured that the best thing to map the digits to would be the Super Metroid any% speedrun route, since I've been drilling it for the last few weeks. It turned out to be kind of fun, actually, trying to identify patterns in the sequence of digits and then thinking up meaningful associations to the game map. Tying individual numbers to the number of enemies or platforms in a room, say, or imagining that alternating strings like 323 or 3993 could represent contours in the terrain or patterns of movement around obstacles. Seems to be working: after only about half an hour I already had 150 digits down pat, and I'm up to 250 now. Victory is mine.
Anyway, that has nothing to do with today's puzzle, which is just another freestyle. Filling it was somewhat difficult, as evidenced by the abundance of cheater ("helper") squares. I prefer the look of a grid with very few black squares, but beyond that I don't actually care about cheaters if they improve the fill significantly, as they did in this case. Hope you feel the same.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next week.
Puzzle: Freestyle #30
Downloads:
PUZ
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Adventure Time
Flying out to our (well, my) nation's capital on Saturday. Visiting a few friends in Ottawa, including a person who didn't exist when I was last there, and then off to bum around Montreal for a few days. Hopping a train to NYC on Thursday (because I've been late for the ACPT and cru dinner every year so far through no fault of my own), and then it's game on. I was a judge last year, which was fun, but I'll be competing this year, so you are all now officially my sworn enemies. Amazingly enough, since I rolled in 45 minutes late (I'd like to blame it on the time change but that had nothing to do with it) reeking like booze for the Sunday morning scoring session, they asked me back again this year, but I had to politely decline in favour of seeing how I've improved as a solver over the last two years. In 2012 I bagged an unremarkable 331st place finish, and I like to think that since then I've gotten better at solving than I have dumber in general. Only time will tell. Actually, speaking of time, I'm going to be taking a bit more of it on each puzzle this go-round. It turns out that I misunderstood or just didn't think about the scoring last time, and I raced to finish each puzzle at the expense of accuracy. I had pretty good times, mind you, but I made a lot of stupid little mistakes that cost me dearly. I'm hopeful that a more sensible strategy will help me rack up a few more points. Plus, I've hardly been solving at all in the last little while, so I'm a bit rusty and pushing myself to whiz through the grids is not going to end pretty.
For the second week in a row, I have for you a puzzle that I don't really think represents my typical style very well. It's a grid I filled some time ago with the intention of submitting it somewhere classy. The fill, while problem-free, imo, is decidedly non-risque. I'm pretty happy with some of the clues, though, so there's that. Anyway, I'm officially on holidays now and a midterm and a few gigs that were demanding a lot of prep time are out of the way, so I've got no excuse to step my game up for next week. Plus, I want to have something I'm proud to show off at the ACPT (I plan to have a stack of print copies to give out). Since I'll be on the road and not really sure where I'll be and when, the puzzle might go up a few days late, closer to the tournament. Don't fret, it'll be here.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next week.
Puzzle: Freestyle #29
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
For the second week in a row, I have for you a puzzle that I don't really think represents my typical style very well. It's a grid I filled some time ago with the intention of submitting it somewhere classy. The fill, while problem-free, imo, is decidedly non-risque. I'm pretty happy with some of the clues, though, so there's that. Anyway, I'm officially on holidays now and a midterm and a few gigs that were demanding a lot of prep time are out of the way, so I've got no excuse to step my game up for next week. Plus, I want to have something I'm proud to show off at the ACPT (I plan to have a stack of print copies to give out). Since I'll be on the road and not really sure where I'll be and when, the puzzle might go up a few days late, closer to the tournament. Don't fret, it'll be here.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next week.
Puzzle: Freestyle #29
Downloads:
PUZ
Monday, 20 January 2014
Timeless
Crazy busy week already, so I'm going to keep this short.
PUZ
Right on the heels of probably my easiest vowelless to date, today's puzzle might be the toughest freestyle in a while. Despite it being a full 72-word grid this one kicked my ass harder than any freestyle grid in recent memory, so I guess I felt I couldn't let you guys off too easy. Then again, maybe you won't find it too bad. I did go back and throw in a few gimmes in the shorter fill after a quick test solve (yes, I test solve my own puzzles).
Oh, and mind the R-rating on this one. The last few have been in the neighbourhood of PG/14A, but longtime solvers will know that that's fairly atypical for me. Not a ton of saltiness in this one, but definitely one entry that wouldn't pass the breakfast test (and maybe not even the BEQfast test).
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Themeless #27
Rating: XW-R
Downloads:
PDFRating: XW-R
Downloads:
PUZ
Monday, 6 January 2014
Shh, no tears. Only dreams now
Welcome to 2014. Hope your NYE celebrations were life-altering, or at least fun. Mine were good, but somewhat bittersweet. Played with one of my bands, Ink Road, for our final show after four or so years together (well, sort of. I'm one of only two original members). The gig went really well and there was a healthy crowd, but I am going to miss playing those tunes. Plus, those fellas were some of the finest musicians I've ever had the pleasure of jamming with. Oh well, at least it ended amicably and for a nonridiculous reason. Our singer/songwriter is off to seek his fortune in medicine, so I guess I can accept that.
Also, just tonight I received my signed copy of Ben Tausig's new book, The Curious History of the Crossword (I won it randomly when I renewed my AV subscription). I've only read a few chapters but I like it already. Ben's writing is insightful and lucid, the book itself looks gorgeous, and it's packed with fine puzzles by a host of top-shelf constructors. Check it out!
Today's puzzle is a regular freestyle once again, and is kind of shaped like an onion. I don't know how that happened, but the stacks in the center and the blocked out corners were intentional. I came up with the symmetrical stacks and played around with them in various conventional freestyle arrangements, bottom stack on the top and top on the bottom. Got curious about what would happen if I moved them on top of another in the center of the grid, and then filled out from there. The blocked-out corners came about because I didn't want more than 100 entries to clue.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #26
Rating: XW-PG
Difficulty: Do you really need to keep asking? (i.e. hard)
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
Also, just tonight I received my signed copy of Ben Tausig's new book, The Curious History of the Crossword (I won it randomly when I renewed my AV subscription). I've only read a few chapters but I like it already. Ben's writing is insightful and lucid, the book itself looks gorgeous, and it's packed with fine puzzles by a host of top-shelf constructors. Check it out!
Today's puzzle is a regular freestyle once again, and is kind of shaped like an onion. I don't know how that happened, but the stacks in the center and the blocked out corners were intentional. I came up with the symmetrical stacks and played around with them in various conventional freestyle arrangements, bottom stack on the top and top on the bottom. Got curious about what would happen if I moved them on top of another in the center of the grid, and then filled out from there. The blocked-out corners came about because I didn't want more than 100 entries to clue.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #26
Rating: XW-PG
Difficulty: Do you really need to keep asking? (i.e. hard)
Downloads:
PUZ
Monday, 9 December 2013
Grind, back to the
So I'm pretty excited about this Kickstarter project. Friday noon is the high point of the week, week after week, for me, and if this doesn't deliver some marvelous mind-melting multi-meta merriment I'll be very surprised. Can't wait.
Not much else to say this evening, so I'll keep it short. Feeling pretty tapped out from my first day back at the office after a much-needed staycation last week.
Today's puzzle is a plain-old 70/32 (vowelful) freestyle. Maybe something a little different next week; we'll see.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday
Puzzle: Freestyle #24
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: Hard, probably?
Downloads:
PDF
PUZ
Not much else to say this evening, so I'll keep it short. Feeling pretty tapped out from my first day back at the office after a much-needed staycation last week.
Today's puzzle is a plain-old 70/32 (vowelful) freestyle. Maybe something a little different next week; we'll see.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday
Puzzle: Freestyle #24
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: Hard, probably?
Downloads:
PUZ
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Move It On Over
Yikes, only one puzzle left after today! I'm of course hoping to make it extra special, but then I don't really have any good ideas as to how I'm going to do that yet. Plus, I'll be moving into my new apartment next weekend, so time will be tight. Super stoked on that; I've been living in houses with roommates for the last 4+ years, so it will be nice to have my own space for a change.
Just another freestyle this week. Quite tough, if you ask me.
Parting words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #23
Rating: XW-PG
Difficulty: Quite tough
Downloads:
PUZ
PDF
Just another freestyle this week. Quite tough, if you ask me.
Parting words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #23
Rating: XW-PG
Difficulty: Quite tough
Downloads:
PUZ
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
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.
PDF
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:
PUZRating: XW-18A
Difficulty: Fairly torturous
Downloads:
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Bitch, bitch, bitch
Thanks to all who gave feedback on last week's vowelless for giving feedback on last week's vowelless. It was my first one, and there are definitely things I'll do differently next time. For starters, I'll try not to underestimate the difficulty of even slightly misleading clues in a vowelless puzzle. Straightforward clues for straightforward answers in a squeaky-clean grid is where it's at, I'm learning.
As for this week's puzzle, it's yet another freestyle (read: stand-in for a theme that I couldn't think of). Not terribly happy with this one, but mostly because of a few Natick-y crossings. Too much paintballing and watching movies this weekend and not enough constructing, and I guess tackling a 66-word grid with less than a day before it goes live was a little too audacious. Although I was happy with most of the individual entries, I didn't pay enough attention to some of the crossings in the grid. For instance, the already-difficult 25-Down crosses a few difficult names, so sorry about that. I erred on the easy side for the clues, to try and balance things out a bit. Some fun entries in there, but I tried to keep the cluing relatively sane. Overall, though, this puzzle lacks the consistency and structural integrity that I look for in a good freestyle grid. I'll come up with some cool theme or other to make up for it next week, or something.
Oh, and lastly, just in time for Tuesday, see "Looper" immediately if you haven't already. It's astonishing.
Puzzle: Freestyle #21
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: Some tough words, but not too much trickery
Downloads:
PUZ
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Rider Pride
Sorry about the missing write-up last week (assuming anyone actually reads these). Finished writing the puzzle at like 2am and I didn't have it in me to come up with anything to write. I came up with the theme entries a few days earlier and shelved them, then on Sunday afternoon suddenly and inexplicably became interested in trying to make a Marching Bands puzzle. Having never made one before, I had no idea what to expect in terms of time input, so I came up with the brilliant idea to just spend the time writing a PERL script to fill one using my wordlist. Since I was already working with a puzzle format that I was almost entirely unfamiliar with, I guess it seemed like a good idea to try and codify the construction rules using a language I'm just learning. Not surprisingly, the whole plan went down in flames. It turns out that the Marching Bands format presents a challenge not encountered when writing a crossword-filling program (which I've done in the past): there's no way to know in advance how many entries will fit in each band, or where the entries begin and end in each band and row. While certainly not intractible, this problem proved a little too difficult to solve in the very limited time I had left myself. Actually, I got it mostly working, but there were a few bugs that I didn't have time to squash. So, I busted out the theme answers I had prepared earlier at 6:30 Monday evening and got to work filling the grid and writing close to 100 clues. Turned out surprisingly ok (and props to Drew Lawn for inspiring the theme when by dropping the last theme answer in conversation a while back). I doubt I've learned my lesson for good, but this week at least I finished in a comfortable amount of time. And expect some Marching Bands in the future, though, Gods willing.
Oh, and one more thing about last week's puzzle. I received an e-mail about an error in one of the clues, but I sort of anticipated that I would, so I figured I'd clear it up. 8-Down read [Sting wanted his, in "Money for Nothing"], which clues MTV. But wait, wasn't Mark Knopfler the songwriter and vocalist for Dire Straits? In fact, and I just learned this while cluing the puzzle, Sting was a guest vocalist on "Money for Nothing." He sang the falsetto "I want my MTV" part during the intro (notice that it sounds almost identical to the refrain from "Don't Stand So Close To Me." This was by design). I struggled a bit with that clue, since Mark Knopfler actually wrote that line before Sting got involved, and I anticipated that no matter which one I went with some solvers would think I had made an error. In retrospect, I should have just taken a different approach to the clue, but I thought it was a fun bit of trivia. Oh, and here's a good source for all of this, btw.
In news not about me, Neville Fogarty's Friday puzzle was ___ing outstanding. Hats off, Neville. Humbling to see this caliber of stuff being put out by other young indies.
Plain-Jane 15x15 freestyle this week. I'm happy that I was able to fill this grid reasonably cleanly, but I feel it's lacking in the sparkle department. Maybe crossing my two seed entries in a difficult spot was ill-advised. 24-Down is a plug for Cross Nerd OG Parker Lewis, who selected the entry as his Month of Metas prize. If you've found your way here, you're most likely a crossword junkie and have probably heard of it. If not, take note. I was inspired to put 35-Across in there while watching the riveting Riders-Lions game on Saturday night. I worked a few summers as a groundskeeper with 35-Across, and his brother Chris, who's now a slotback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, was one of my frequent homework partners in 1st-year Engineering at the U of R. He was on the Riders' roster for their '07 Grey Cup win, which was the same year that his brother played with the Stanley Cup-winning Ducks. These sorts of things mean a lot in a city the size of Regina.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #20
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: Tough
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.
Oh, and one more thing about last week's puzzle. I received an e-mail about an error in one of the clues, but I sort of anticipated that I would, so I figured I'd clear it up. 8-Down read [Sting wanted his, in "Money for Nothing"], which clues MTV. But wait, wasn't Mark Knopfler the songwriter and vocalist for Dire Straits? In fact, and I just learned this while cluing the puzzle, Sting was a guest vocalist on "Money for Nothing." He sang the falsetto "I want my MTV" part during the intro (notice that it sounds almost identical to the refrain from "Don't Stand So Close To Me." This was by design). I struggled a bit with that clue, since Mark Knopfler actually wrote that line before Sting got involved, and I anticipated that no matter which one I went with some solvers would think I had made an error. In retrospect, I should have just taken a different approach to the clue, but I thought it was a fun bit of trivia. Oh, and here's a good source for all of this, btw.
In news not about me, Neville Fogarty's Friday puzzle was ___ing outstanding. Hats off, Neville. Humbling to see this caliber of stuff being put out by other young indies.
Plain-Jane 15x15 freestyle this week. I'm happy that I was able to fill this grid reasonably cleanly, but I feel it's lacking in the sparkle department. Maybe crossing my two seed entries in a difficult spot was ill-advised. 24-Down is a plug for Cross Nerd OG Parker Lewis, who selected the entry as his Month of Metas prize. If you've found your way here, you're most likely a crossword junkie and have probably heard of it. If not, take note. I was inspired to put 35-Across in there while watching the riveting Riders-Lions game on Saturday night. I worked a few summers as a groundskeeper with 35-Across, and his brother Chris, who's now a slotback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, was one of my frequent homework partners in 1st-year Engineering at the U of R. He was on the Riders' roster for their '07 Grey Cup win, which was the same year that his brother played with the Stanley Cup-winning Ducks. These sorts of things mean a lot in a city the size of Regina.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #20
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: Tough
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, 18 September 2012
Puzzizzle
My man Parker Lewis has been working with the folks over at Puzzazz on a brand spanking new app for crossword lovers, through which you can solve puzzles from 29 different collections by 17 different constructors. Serious constructors, too: BEQ, Vic Fleming, Parker Lewis, Michael Wiesenberg, T Campbell, David Steinberg, Ian Livengood, Wayne Robert Williams, and Carla Frechette & Marya Doery, as well as cryptics by Mike Selinker, Todd Rew, Brian Greer (from The Guardian), and Wayne Robert Williams. Take a peep at what they've got. Also, if you're a constructor that's been itching to get some of your work into a published collection, hit 'em up for that too.
On to the puzzles. From the feedback I got, it sounds like people dug the weird puzzle last week. Glad to hear it; expect more. This week, though, I have for you a plain ol' freestyle (well, it's 12x17, but nothing special otherwise). Had to rush to fill the grid again this week, though amazingly not due to procrastination. I started a completely different grid with one of the seeds in this one and sunk a solid chunk of time trying to fill it. May have been too ambitious of a grid, though, because in the end there were far too many compromises in the fill for my liking. Scrapped it and whipped this one up in a rush this afternoon. A couple rough spots, but overall it's an improvement. Played it safe with the clues and tried to skew easy, but there may still be a natick-y square or two. Let me know what you think. Oh, and I'm starting to prefer "Freestyle" to "Themeless," so I'm making the switch.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #19
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: On the easier side, for a themeless
**Update: Looks like the PDF download was broken this morning. Not sure why, but it should be fixed now.
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.
On to the puzzles. From the feedback I got, it sounds like people dug the weird puzzle last week. Glad to hear it; expect more. This week, though, I have for you a plain ol' freestyle (well, it's 12x17, but nothing special otherwise). Had to rush to fill the grid again this week, though amazingly not due to procrastination. I started a completely different grid with one of the seeds in this one and sunk a solid chunk of time trying to fill it. May have been too ambitious of a grid, though, because in the end there were far too many compromises in the fill for my liking. Scrapped it and whipped this one up in a rush this afternoon. A couple rough spots, but overall it's an improvement. Played it safe with the clues and tried to skew easy, but there may still be a natick-y square or two. Let me know what you think. Oh, and I'm starting to prefer "Freestyle" to "Themeless," so I'm making the switch.
More words, crossed and otherwise, next Tuesday.
Puzzle: Freestyle #19
Rating: XW-14A
Difficulty: On the easier side, for a themeless
**Update: Looks like the PDF download was broken this morning. Not sure why, but it should be fixed now.
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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