Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!

Jun 23 2024 - reviews

A fun grid packed with wild fill. Aside from one problem corner the difficulty was just right. Overall a great, puzzling crossword.

The kind of circular grid shape that this puzzle employs works really well for midis. I like that the puzzle isn't easily divided into four corners, and ends up feeling quite a bit different from a full-sized crossword as a result. There's not really a right way to approach the solve. Every answer that you fill ends up contributing a lot of useful information to the rest of the grid, since the words overlap in lots of different places.

The star cross is smack-dab in the center with ABRACADABRA intersecting KANAKAMAOLI. If you had told me these two words were going to appear in today's puzzle I would've thought you were crazy. But it totally works! Even with nine A's to contend with the grid comes together nicely with lots of interesting words, like POLARIS and POWERMOVE, EVAPORATE and SEATBELTS. Good stuff.

I solved 95% of this puzzle in about ten minutes, with the remaining five spent puzzling over COATI on the left-hand side. At first I thought the reference to "band" was supposed to help me fill COATI, as if it were going to be something like PUNK or ROADIE or SINGER. Turns out "Raccoon relative that might form a band" is simply referring to the terminology for a group of COATIs. Cute, but unnecessarily misleading for a word I was never going to get anyway, especially when that word is crossing ONEK (meaning one kilometer, the arbitrarily-lengthened version of 1k).

But hey, COATI is just one small blemish on an otherwise great puzzle. The first ten minutes were perfect difficulty-wise for a grid of this size, with many tip-of-my-tongue definitions that I could go back and fill after I worked through some of the easier stuff.

As far as the clues go, I especially enjoyed "Adventurer, or where they might sleep" (CAMPER). I felt mighty clever working that one through. "Classic magic word that inspired the names of two Pokemon" (ABRACADABRA) isn't hard to figure out but boy is it satisfying to plonk. I do want to point out that "Swifties or the BeyHive, for example" (FANBASE) perfectly exemplifies Puzzmo's musical interests.

Eureka

Jun 22 2024 - reviews

Oh boy there's a lot of references in this grid that are outside my realm of knowledge. TikTok recipes, Instagram, Tinder, no thanks! The Chronically Addicted to Phone edition of the daily crossword.

I know swipe left/right is a Tinder thing but I couldn't tell you which one is yes or no. Miraculously I did know about the TikTok recipe (FETA pasta) because my partner wanted to try it. My advice: never follow TikTok recipes, they're all bad.

This is the first rebus in a Puzzmo crossword (I think), which is pretty rad. Unfortunately the rebus squares were marked with a vertical line so I knew exactly where they were and that they took two letters each. Talk about spoilers. It turns out that there's an option in the settings to turn this hint off (just like the word separators), but I think it defaults to "on". At least I'll be ready two years from now when the next rebus crossword is published.

Rebus aside, today's theme is rough. The theme is two California cities, SF and LA, hidden in the themers via rebus squares. That's it, really. I guess the grid is kind of shaped like the state of California, at least if you squint your eyes and tilt your head and pretend that you're not just looking at a diagonal line.

Although the tone of the clues didn't resonate with me, the difficulty of the grid was spot-on. I'm sure if the rebuses weren't revealed the grid would've been substantially more difficult (hence the hard rating), but even with the hints I had a great time working through the grid. The one exception was YAHEAR, which is some questionable 30s slang. I'm never quite sure when I fill something that has a "ya" as a substitute for a "you", it just feels sketchy.

PUZZLING|PATTERNS

Jun 21 2024 - reviews

After I completed this puzzle, I looked over at SYMMETRY and thought, "so what?" Turns out I was missing the point because I have word separators turned off. Symmetrical black squares, no big deal. Symmetrical word separators? That's on a whole 'nother level.^[1]

Although I respect the flex I've got to say the theme makes zero difference for the solve (especially when word separators are turned off). The reality of this grid is a below-average themeless with some awkward corners.

My two problem corners were BESO and SNOG, where awkward fill meets clever clues. I really like "French, to the English?", but only because I have constructed crossword puzzles before and I know how much of a bummer it is to have SNOG in your grid. What an awful word! BESO is a bit of language trivia unknown to me crossed with another wordplay-ism, "Inner ears?" (COBS). I found both of these corners much harder than their surroundings.

"Half of half-and-half" is absolute gold and left me chuckling. I've got to give the constructor props for some really good clues, a much appreciated attempt to compensate for the fill.

EMS vs. EMT is another dilemma I had to address in this grid. EMS is the category, EMT is the practitioner? I think I have that right. Then "Ambulance operators' abbreviation" is a tad misleading since the operator is an EMT, even though the category of medicine is EMS. Man, who cares. Just fill the S because the crossing clue sounds plural and send it.

Consider enjoying this puzzle with some pale ale

Jun 20 2024 - reviews

What a tough puzzle.

The theme is words that rhyme with "pale ale", with RAILTRAIL, SNAILMAIL, and FAILWHALE. There's a zero percent chance I would've recognized this during the solve if I didn't hint at RAILTRAIL. Up to that point I was convinced the grid was themeless!

Speaking of RAILTRAIL, is this a thing? What a brutal piece of fill. Not only do I not recognize the word, its clue is a wordplay definition: "Former 'training' site now used for physical activity?" I can see how one might arrive at RAILTRAIL without prior knowledge thanks to the "training" hint, but unfortunately that requires a level of wit far beyond my meager capabilities. How about giving me "train-ing" instead?

FAILWHALE and SNAILMAIL are fun, even if I messed up the latter by filling HATEON instead of HATING for "Expressing undue negativity". Another bit of bad solving on my part, not recognizing the "ExpressING" part of the clue. Yeesh.

My worst solving area was slotting OLD for "No longer hip", which I recognize may be a little ageist but certainly also represents how I feel with every coming year of my life. With an LP at the end of "Absolutely loved" I was completely screwed in that corner with no hope of success. If I were smart, I would've recognized LP as the final two letters for a word that does not exist, but instead I stuck to my guns and burned through my time trying to fit the fill around it. Oof.

Despite coming away from this puzzle with a few wounds to my pride, I enjoyed the cleverness in the clues. "Auto-maintenance?" for SELFCARE is pretty good, as is "Long car's short name" (LIMO). The cluing did get in the way of my solve in quite a few areas, like in "Use two needles to make fiber art" where I spent too much time second-guessing KNIT since I don't colloquially think of yarn as "fiber".

Shoutout to MARG, the cocktail abbreviation that only appears in crosswords because if you said it in real life you'd recognize just how ridiculous it sounds.

Changing it up on y'all

Jun 19 2024 - reviews

Lots to like in this crossword, though it does make me feel like an idiot for my time and hint usage. I didn't catch on to the theme until I hinted one of the answers, where I immediately realized I should've taken my advice from yesterday to pay attention to the title of the puzzle.^[1] Classic mistake.

The theme is the hilarious combination of EEVEELUTION and EVEOLUTION, two words that mirror one another in sound and spelling. There is a tendency in crosswords to avoid common substrings (e.g. both words contain identical endings with LUTION) but for themers it's totally acceptable to throw that rule out for the effect. It definitely works here.

I like EEVEELUTION quite a bit more than the other themer, mostly thanks to that palindromic beginning. I've also played some Pokemon in my day, even if I never participated in the gigabrain macroeconomics that is Eevee IV breeding. EVEOLUTION, on the other hand, is a little before my time. I did enjoy reading the review from Wikipedia though:

[...] instead of the record coming off like a pu-pu platter -- a little R&B from column A, a little pop from column B -- it maintains its focus, making it a wholly satisfying experience.

What's more crossword than a PUPU platter?

I like that this crossword basically has two themes for the price of one. Both 3D and 18D are clued as "6/19" with answers related to today's holiday, JUNETEENTH. It's a nice touch.

Lots of talk about today's theme in this review because I think it's the standout feature of the grid. The cluing and difficulty is solid (I did get hung up on MUSICVIDEO for a long time, thinking about music visualization instead), but I don't have a lot of highlights.

I do have a few bugbears though, particularly in the lower-left corner. INSTA on 28A strikes me as crazy hard, MATHY is a bit meh, and STAND for "Firm position" doesn't seem to fit as well as "stance". If you didn't guess already this corner was my last one filled.

Where are we?

Jun 18 2024 - reviews

An aptly-named followup to yesterday's, "Where is everyone?", today's "Where are we?" is a grid resembling a compass with the four cardinals slotted in each direction.

I caught onto the theme as soon as I slotted SOUTH, the easiest of the four themers. This puzzle reaffirms that its always a good idea to pay attention to the title (and the emoji, apparently) since it's a bit of a giveaway once you nail a direction. After SOUTH, the rest followed suit (NORTH, EAST, WEST) and I was well underway.

The cute grid shape does sacrifice a bit on fill quality, with a whopping 17 three-letter words peppering the grid. I didn't find it too distracting from the solve, most of the three-letter words are pretty easy and the constructor's cluing voice resonated with me. That said, I could definitely see folks struggling with this grid if they are hung up on some of the shorter words.

I love how much wordplay the constructor baked into this grid, a really impressive feat for an Open Submission Week crossword. "Metal band, perhaps?" for CIRCLET had me chuckling. "True follower" (NORTH) and "Introduction to science?" (OMNI) are a clever combo.^[1]

The long fills also have some great clues. DOORTODOOR and it's clue, "Like salespeople who may wear comfy shoes," is a definite grid highlight. "Opt into sleep deprivation, perhaps" (STAYUPLATE) and "Places for innermost thoughts, perhaps" (DIARIES) are also great.

I had fun with this one, even with its imperfections. One of the few grid-shaped-like-object puzzles that holds up.

Where is everyone?

Jun 17 2024 - reviews

I really wanted to like today's crossword after peeking its shape. There are three full-length downs and two full-length acrosses in a 9x9 grid, a puzzle packed full of interesting, long words. Unfortunately the other fill is kind of boring and the theme doesn't do much to inspire.

My main problem with this grid is the theme, a kind of wordplay theme that only applies to the clues. Today we're given "Line at the top?" and "Line at the bottom?", two clues that play on one another as references to "line" and oppositions for top/bottom. The actual fill, though, is ITSLONELY and SIGNATURE, two words that have nothing to do with one another, nothing to do with top/bottom, and hardly anything to do with lines. It's a little disappointing.

My favorite aspect of crossword themes is piecing together the themers from their shared elements, either unraveling the theme as I go or using the theme as a map. This crossword has none of that, since the clues are where the theme begins and ends. If you don't know the clues, you don't know the themers. It's just like all of the other fill in the grid.

Speaking of all of the other fill, the full-length downs are great. I plonked GETARAISE immediately and filled GAS and TREE for the other two. TREESTUMP gradually revealed itself as I proceeded through the grid, nicely taking shape with the clue. My main stumbling block was GASRANGES, The R and A being the last two letters that I slotted in the grid.

The rest of the crossword's fill is incredibly forgettable. LILT, ETS, OREO, TATAS, SRA, INES, IAN, ARIA? No thanks. I also struggled with a bunch of the trivia in the grid, references to media that I have not consumed nor heard of ("The Light We Carry", "Seasons of Love", Juana INES de la Cruz) or chocolate substitutes (CAROB).

"Maker of multi-cel-ular creations?" is almost a groan-worthy pun, but it doesn't quite work. The problem is that the pun word is another piece of annoying crosswordese, "cel". Would anyone understand this if they weren't solving the crossword daily?

The Bagatelle; or, Nineteenth-century novels and other amusements

Jun 16 2024 - reviews, partner-solve

Now that's a title. This puzzle is full of deep cuts and I applaud the constructor for the effort. Nineteenth-century novels, eh? Why not.

This is the only crossword on this site that is a partner solve with hint usage, and I suspect it will remain that way for quite some time. Normally when I'm able to tap into the superior crossword-brain of my partner the two of us can crush any kind of puzzle. Not today! This puzzle is an absolute doozy.

Here's a list of all of the literary references in this grid (at least, the ones that are plainly referring to the theme). You can thank me later.

• TOMCATMURR: The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr

• ANNEBRONTE: Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell

• GOD: The Great God Pan

• RED: The Red and The Black

• ORC: Herewald the Wake: Last of the English

• NEMO: The Mysterious Island, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

Hot dog, those are some references.

I stand by a difficulty rating of "hard" for this puzzle because you can plainly see how much of the easier fill is obfuscated by less straightforward trivia, as is the case with GOD, RED, and ORC. The same goes for some of the non-literary fill, such as ESP with "Sixth member of a famous quintet", or SMOG as "Pea soup". The latter of which only appears in Wikipedia as Pea soup fog, if you're wondering how the hell "Pea soup" could possibly mean SMOG.

The FLOUT/"Repudiate" tag-team combo was also a big source of trouble. It took us forever to fill that one in from the surrounding context, constantly revisiting the gimmes to the left (BLOOD, BFFS).^[1] UMOK certainly didn't help the situation.

My partner and I both found the difficulty of this crossword to be a little more frustrating than satisfying. I can respect a tough grid, but when hints are required in several places it loses a bit of its luster. I'd like a few more gimmes in some of the corners, perhaps. Throw me a bone!

GAS #5: Thermo Sudoku

Jun 15 2024 - reviews

Lately I've been diving deep into the Cracking The Cryptic rabbit hole, watching videos of sudoku puzzles I could only dream of solving. After a bit of research I stumbled on their GAS playlist, AKA the "Genuinely Approachable Sudoku" playlist. I thought it might be fun to learn the variety sudoku format and experiment with a few puzzles on this site. Maybe once every week or two?

I find the thermo suduko variant visually appealing so that's the puzzle I selected from the first video.^[1] It took me a few minutes of staring at the grid to totally comprehend what I was meant to do, but once I started thinking about the constraints of bulbs and tips the logic of the puzzle fit together beautifully.

I love how variant sudokus are so minimalist in their starting digits. In fact, this puzzle provides more than most of the ones that I've seen on the channel. I assume that has to do with maintaining an approachable level of difficulty. Regardless, there's something incredibly satisfying about slowly unwinding a grid of numbers from some abstract shapes and illustrations.

There are two basic rules of thermos that I found incredibly helpful:

• If a 1 is on a thermo, it must be the bulb.

• If a 9 is on a thermo, it must be the tip.

In retrospect these rules are obvious, but when you're looking at a blank canvas it's nice to have a couple of logic rules to fall back on. It's a friendly nudge in the right direction, something to grasp on to when approaching a new grid. It also helps conceptualize the type of constraint that a thermo applies to the grid.

I solved the puzzle by focusing on the middle row, making an effort to fill out all of the thermos. Once I wrapped my head around the format everything slotted nicely into place, filled with lots of satisfying aha moments.^[2] Then followed the normal rules of sudoku, searching for pairs and applying the process of elimination to the remaining cells.

I don't know how future GAS puzzles will fare but this one felt incredibly approachable. Watching Mark perform the solve is hilarious compared to my bumbling around the grid, but it was loads of fun all the same.

Little Ditties

Jun 14 2024 - reviews

A solid Open Submission, if a bit plain.

The theme is a few choice lyrics from children's songs that describe things, which I suppose counts as a categorical: SHORTANDSTOUT and ITSYBITSY. I'm a bit disappointed there's no wordplay relating the two themers, even if there is technically wordplay in the clues. It falls a bit flat.

That said, my biggest problem with the theme is that it is completely spoiled by the title. The clues include wordplay, sure, but I don't need to look at the wordplay to know what the answer is. I just see "teapot" and "spider" and the rest is explained by "Little Ditties".

I was punished by some overzealous plonking in this grid (as is usually the case). I slotted GOLD instead of GEMS and BUNCH instead of BATCH, to name a few. My solve time suffered since I had to revisit a bunch of corners. So it goes.

Interestingly, this is the second "BABA is you" reference from an Open Submission puzzle (a game definitely worth checking out). There must be some correlation between folks who like thinky puzzle games and folks who want to undertake crossword construction. Not to mention that double-A is irresistible.

So far I've been a little negative towards this grid, but I don't think the constructor did a bad job. There are some fun clues in here that deserve highlighting:

• "Aid for some drivers" (TEE)

• "Frustration for an online gamer" (LAG)

• "Alicia Keys's forte, aptly" (PIANO)

These are just a few I picked out on a quick scan, but I think the constructor did a great job balancing their voice with the contents of the grid.