Same Same, But Different

by Nick Lowe

• Play it ↗
• Difficulty: medium

I can't say I've been much of a fan of the Open Submission Week themeless grids that Puzzmo has been publishing. Each one has felt like a substantial step down from the usual ACVX, and lacks a theme to otherwise distract from bad fill and awkward cluing. This particular puzzle might be my least favorite of the bunch. It's nice that the constructor has a personal story to share, but a good puzzle that does not make.

VIDEOGAME as an "activity" is forcing it. You might play a VIDEOGAME, but you never VIDEOGAME. It's a noun, not a verb. At least there's a cute cross with "What Remains of Edith FINCH" to make up for it. Although, describing Edith Finch as immersive might be a bit of a stretch. I'd opt for PONDEROUS.

Working out APHANTASIA was a fun little puzzle. I was stuck on AIL for the longest time, having filled ILL with IOUS and looking at a partial fill with ...TASII. Thinking about "phenomenon" in a clinical context helped me make a "-phobia"/"-ia" connection, allowing me to slot ...TASIA and AIL.

As for the other corners of the grid, there's just a boatload of crosswordese that doesn't feel like it passes the edit for a themeless puzzle. It certainly doesn't help that a few of these have appeared in some very recent grids, with ARO, GAL, and OPAL already well-exhausted. Add to that POI, AIL, LIB, and VEEP. Ugh.

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