them's crossing words

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And now for the mane event...

by Lisa Hanawalt & Brooke Husic

I think the Puzzmo editors needed to pull in the reins a bit[1] on this puzzle, things got out of control. The clues in this grid venture too far in the direction of horsegirl esoterica.

My main gripe with this grid is that meta crossword knowledge is more useful that the actual clues. For instance, "Ethiopian gem". Does Ethiopia only have one type of gem? I have no idea. But hey, it's a crossword and I know that 90% of them time OPAL is the right answer. Ship it. So on and so forth with BOB, ABS, OREOS, you get the idea.[2]

As for some of the less savory aspects of this grid (looking at you, AFTRA), my hint button was going strong.

I'm conflicted on Puzzmo hints. On one hand, I'm happy that I can extend the puzzle past unknown trivia without giving the answer away. That's a cool concept. On the other, anytime Puzzmo gives me an acronym I wish they just filled in the answer for me. I don't take any joy in sitting on a clue that I'm already stumped on and playing rearrange-the-letters until I stumble into the right word (BREYER).[3]

Creating a good hint that isn't just a side-definition of the existing clue must be difficult work. Especially so for stuff like BREYER that is just a proper noun. Although, maybe that's a bad example because I would've hinted it as "Shares the same name as an ice cream brand, sans s." Perhaps equally problematic if the solver isn't familiar with the secondary noun usage, though I'd argue it's much more recognizable.

I think the hint for REBELS is an example of hints done right. Originally clued as "People who buck conventions", the hint is "Fights back against authority". Although these are reframings of the same definition, the hint shows that the word in question can both be a noun (people) and a verb (fights). That's good intel.

Anyway, docking points for something is always going to feel a little bad. Maybe I just care too much about my time now that I've started this blog, but I struggle to use hints even when I'd otherwise sit around staring at blank squares for more than thirty seconds.

That's enough musing for one morning.

  1. Hey, they started it. ↩︎

  2. For better or worse this is a mainstay of the crossword puzzle genre. If you want easy fill to be difficult, attach some esoteric trivia and expect a solver to fill in the answer via the context of the crosses. The trivia is there to add a little spice after the answer is achieved. ↩︎

  3. Which, by the way, was hinted incorrectly as "Name formed by an anagram of 'berry' + r". That's terrifying! It has since been corrected. ↩︎

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