BWS Puzzle 19: Midi Themeless #9 (diagonal symmetry)

Check it out, diagonal symmetry! I didn't start out with that idea for this puzzle, but I realized it would work well with a couple of the 10-letter seed entries. I like how everything turned out, with the confluence of intersecting 10s toward the bottom-right*, as well as the sprinkling of mathematics in the entries in the top-left*.

* I've realized recently that I really don't like the NESW convention for referring to grid sections. I can understand why it's used, but I honestly struggle to remember which way is East and which is West, in a way that I very much don't with Left vs. Right. So, I plan on continuing to use top/bottom & left/right instead. Hope that's alright with y'all.

However, I'm unsure about one particular square in this grid. It could have been an S, pluralizing both of the entries crossing there, but I ended up making it a black square. This increased the black square count beyond what I was hoping for, but there were already a few -S plurals elsewhere in the grid, so... I wonder if this example might help me understand what people prefer in balancing those kinds of considerations. Are these things you notice while solving a puzzle? Or just afterwards? Or at all? What about while constructing? Feel free to add any comments you have about all this.

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]

Comments

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

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

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...

Search This Blog