Skip to main content

BWS Puzzle 15: Grid 'n Play #2 - 68er

 

This themeless puzzle is an ol' 68er, which is not as low as tons of amazing puzzles out there (including Paolo Pasco's recent ol' 62er) but is the lowest I've managed to pull off decently enough that I'm willing to share here.

I'm categorizing this in the Grid 'n Play series because I took this grid from the xwordinfo database and modified it ever so slightly, then filled it in, as opposed to starting with some entries and building the grid from there. Specifically, the grid for this Caleb Madison puzzle in the NYT on Friday, April 19, 2019 really caught my eye! I find the 3-blocks jutting in from the side and situated in the center rather pleasing, especially when paired with the short diagonal segments and tetromino pieces in the four corners.

If you look carefully, you'll see that my grid here is only different in where those 3-blocks are placed. Caleb's grid staggers them so they're not all along the central row, creating stacks of 6s in one pair of corners and stacks of 8s in the other. I moved those 3-blocks so they're on the central row, making all the corners have stacks of 7s and making space for a couple of spanning 15s around the middle. I seeded those 15s first (31-Across is something I said out loud the other day and 35-Across is tangentially related to something I'm working on) and then filled the rest from there. As you'll notice, there are some blips that make this puzzle unpublishable elsewhere, but I think the entries and clues are fun enough for posting here on the blog.

I opted for the tricky version of several clues so, along with the lower word count and spacious areas, that's why I'm labeling this puzzle as extra hard. For you competitive solvers out there, I don't think this will really be that bad (nothing like those tough Boswords puzzles we've had lately!), but I think this is a significant challenge compared to most other puzzles I've posted here. I hope this doesn't scare you off and instead motivates you to test your mettle! 😁

Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome.

Download links:   [puz]   [pdf]   [solution]        Direct link: [play online]

Labels

Labels:
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Puzzle 92: Take a Break

Just a quick break from themelesses for this silly little puzzle, inspired by a phrase that came up in conversation. Warning: one theme entry has some vulgar language; not recommended for kids. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf fullscreen solution
Post a Comment
Read more

Puzzle 91: Themeless #23

  I was almost halfway through cluing (an early version of) this when I noticed a short word in the grid duping part of a longer entry. See if you can guess what used to be at 1-Across before I had to rework that section... (Also, does anyone else have trouble deciding whether a ?  is warranted for a clue? There are some obvious, punny cases, but other times it feels like it comes down to a matter of how easily I think a solver will spot a misdirection or some kind of unexpected usage, and that's hard to do sometimes.) Anyway, enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf fullscreen solution
Post a Comment
Read more

BWS Puzzle 10: Midi Themeless #5 - harder clues

This post has the "harder clues" version of today's 10x10 themeless puzzle, both in the embedded applet and the download links below. If this proves too challenging, click this link here for the "easier clues" version of the very same puzzle. I want to briefly comment on this puzzle's grid, too, because I've been trying to experiment with and learn more about grid designs lately. I've seen a lot of really cool and innovative grid symmetries and designs (some of which I mentioned in a recent post ) and I've been trying to apply some of those ideas to my own puzzles. This particular grid (shown above, top-left) uses one basic shape: that wide L thing with 5 blocks along and then 1 block around the bend, so to speak. That basic shape recurs four times and, overall, the grid does have standard rotational symmetry, but it almost  doesn't look like it should. I'm particularly intrigued by how this grid turned out because of the word lengths it...
2 comments
Read more