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BWS Puzzle 51: Top of the Charts

I have been working on variations of this theme for a while and I think something like this could work as a full-size puzzle, but this is the best I have so far. Let me know if you have similar ideas and want to discuss! (In particular, I wonder if something involving the Four Tops might work...)

This is also a funny grid with theme answers in the long downs crossing a central revealer, and with non-theme answers of the same length sandwiching that revealer. Perhaps not the best layout, in general, but I think it works out alright for this puzzle. And I hope you enjoy some of the bonus fill, including those central non-themers and the 7s in the top-right/bottom-left corners.

In other news, I made my print puzzle debut* with the Universal crossword this past Saturday 11/13! (The puzzles are only available online for a couple of weeks afterwards so I can't link to it anymore. And to be honest, I didn't even get to see it in print myself until a couple weeks later because I assumed the convenience stores in my neighborhood would sell newspapers but I guess that's not really a thing anymore? But anyway, I have a copy now! ☺)

The experience of working on that puzzle with David and Amanda as editors (mostly Amanda) was extremely helpful and informative, and I can't thank them enough! I'm hoping to put some newfound skills and knowledge to good use and have more publication news to share next year.

*In the past, I've published some mathematics-themed puzzles in print academic journals, like Mathematics Magazine, but those feel different enough that I don't really count them. And, besides, looking back at them now, I would change soooo much and do them differently.

Anyway, back to this post's puzzle... 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]

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Location: Cambridge, MA, USA

Comments

  1. Norah aka ShannonNovember 20, 2021 at 11:32 AM

    Hi Brendan, I know for a very short time you can still get the .puz by going to http://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/puzzles/crosswords, click the lil calendar icon, choose the date, and then use the chrome scraper to get a .puz. I'm pretty sure that short of that, the links disappear after some time. You could upload to your own drive and share a link from there. And it was a nice puzzle!

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