ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ GOING THROUGH HOOPS]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ GOING THROUGH HOOPS]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
Not a shocker that I'd base the theme on what I did. Avid followers of the blog have noted my appreciation/fascination with the hoops. Did a couple two three b-ball related themes already for other places, but I felt the need to draw upon basketball again so I went with the whole rebus thing. Now, I could have gone to town with phrases that have the letters NBA in there (way too many to list here, I'll leave the proof up to the reader), so this probably could have been a Sunday if I was so inclined. I know Will's inundated with rebus themes so even if it was the greatest rebus puzzle ever made, the waiting would be years plus. Put it this way, I have a rebus that's been in Will's hopper now for over two and a half years now, that's how many rebus puzzles he's got. Also, I don't think anybody else runs rebus puzzles. (Pleasee correct me if I'm wrong.)
Now like I said in the first paragraph, these things are a hoot to make. It's like the how-many-guys-can-ya-fit-in-a-telephone-booth contest, except it's letters. Okay, this one's a boring three extra letters, but, hey, they're still fun to make.
The grids can go one of two ways. You can have the kind where theres many of the rebus squares and their answers are short lengths in grids that don't really look like themed puzzles. Thing is, those are the grids that telegraph in capital letters: HERE COMES A REBUS! We know when the themed puzzles run, and if the theme answers aren't totally obvious just by looking at the grid, chances are it's a rebus.
So thats why when I make a rebus puzzle, I use a grid style like the one like I've posted here. It's well-disguised, methinks, as the grid looks like a "normal" crossword with standard length theme entries (two 14s and a 15). Aside from the bait and switch, here's an opportunity to have longer entries that we can't fit in a normal 15x (in this instance, two 16s and a 17). Newer entries = freshness = happy solvers. Also, I love the fact that we've lengthened a couple of the "fill" entries as well (5-Down is now 8 letters, 29-Down 7, and 37-Down stetches out to 11). Again, longer entries = snappier fill = happy solvers.
So, is the additional NBA in the SE corner a fair addition? I put it there for a couple reasons. Like I said in the second paragraph, I could have gone to town with the NBA rebus, there's a bajillion possibilities. Frankly, I was trying to fit a couple in the NE and SW areas, but it wasn't happening. So, I saw I could put on in the SE. Is it a fair move? I duno. I mean, part of me feels I had to do something with that otherwise boring 3x4 corner. The other part of me feels I should have removed it as I couldn't get one to fit in the NE. If there are any game constructors who wish to redo the NE corner and put another NBA up there, be my guest. I'll change this puzzle post and give you any book I've written, or something from my apartment I don't want to move into the new condo. It's your call.
Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed this. New puzzle on Monday.
Brendan Emmett Quigley creates custom-made puzzles for all occasions: birthdays and bar mitzvahs, anniversaries and retirements. You name it. Need a puzzle for your website or your publication? He can do that, too.
Brendan's custom work clients have included The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, BeerAdvocate, Boston Magazine, De Beers, The Decemberists, ESPN, The Improper Bostonian, Lollapuzzoola, McSweeney's, Phish, Reflexive, The Smithsonian Magazine, St. Martin's Press, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, and Andrew Weil.
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