them's crossing words

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Are you picking up what I'm putting down?

by Kate Hawkins

Today's puzzle was solved together with my partner which is definitely a boon to my time. The highlight of this puzzle was her shouting "OMG it's SOUSAPHONES!" with enthusiasm only a High School Band Kid could muster.

I went on a three-letter solving tear in this grid thanks to lots of recognizable downs. AQI is an abbreviation well-known to any Californian[1], REM is a great band, SAP, LEI, ISH are all gimmes. My partner commented that "APT is an apt clue for a puzzle containing an apt pair". Well said.

The theme is nothing special, an apt pair of PUSHPRESENT and PULLREQUEST mirroring the pick/put verbs in the title. We ended up solving the puzzle without uncovering the theme because the down clues are so generous. All things considered, I'm most surprised at PUSHPRESENT being a thing that people say. As my partner puts it, "it gives me the ick".

The real delight of this puzzle are the four eleven-length acrosses spanning the length of the grid. I'm always surprised when Puzzmo grids contain non-theme fill that's the same length as the themers, but I'm very happy they're in this puzzle. It's a blast piecing them together and a fun challenge to land a plonk[2]. Mad respect for the constructor, it's not an easy thing to achieve.

  1. Air quality index. Lots of fires on the West Coast. ↩︎

  2. A plonk is a Puzzmo term for solving an answer in one shot without using any crosses. ↩︎

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