Got a puzzle in the New York Times! Play it here ; if you don't have an NYT subscription, you can probably figure out other ways to find it. This feels like a good opportunity to go a little more in-depth on my construction and publishing experience; some notes below! On constructing: This puzzle started with the oversized groups of black squares in the corners, because I liked the look of those big pools of ink. How the crossword looks before you solve it is part of the experience! (I think it's like the plating of a dish at a restaurant, in an awkward metaphor I've tried to force before.) With this many black squares, I could afford a pretty low wordcount, and I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of fill I was able to get. (ENIGMATOLOGY, most famous as the invented major of a young Will Shortz, was a happy accident, not an attempt to curry favor!) I started filling from the top down; I'm a big fan of conversational fill, and SOIGATHERED is one of those phrases
I figure one 21x21 puzzle with deranged fill and half-assed clues is the equivalent of a polished 15x15! A shockingly high word count, only one egregious dupe, and a filling philosophy based on cramming in memes. Uh, enjoy as best you can? PDF PUZ Fullscreen
What a fun theme! Had a lot of fun with this one
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle, thanks!
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