ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
Wow are these things frigging tough. I mean Holy Christ-hard. I know I have a rudimentary command of the English language, but this settles it: I'm illiterate. I might (stretching it here: might) stand a better shot at the mots croises in "Le Monde." I'm taking an educated guess that since I managed to stay awake long enough to get a solid D+/C- in French class way back when in the halcyon days of high school, and the puzzles are clued straight, I suspect I could feasably get one or two entries. Maybe not. I'll let you know if I ever see that paper.
First off, a couple observations on the British puzzle pages. One: I don't see any editor's name, anywhere. In fact, the setter's name is the exact same font size (different font/color) as the title of the puzzle. A+ goes to whoever came up with that idea.
Secondly, the Times of London ran (count 'em) seven (7) pages of puzzles and puzzle-related ephemera (bridge, chess and Scrabble columns, e.g.). Seven. Wow. They were: a 23x with cryptic and straight clues (different answers, obviously, no attribution for that one, oddly), another 13x with straight clues, four codewords, four KenKen, four killers, seven sudoku, one Samurai, two 3-D sudoku, four mazes, the aforementioned columns and one variety cryptic (we'll get to that in a minute). It was a cornucopia of puzzles. Crazy!
I've heard Will Shortz say that the printed puzzle helps the sales of printed newspapers. Well, I've also heard that the Times is hurting financially. Quit fucking around and run more puzzles then. Like your sister paper. Why stop with the KenKens? Do you really think that sudoku and sudoku-like puzzles aren't New York Times-worthy enough? Yet the KenKens are just fine? Call up Thomas Snyder and Wei-Hwa Huang and they'll crank out capital A Art logic puzzles. Seriously, they're the puzzlemakers of the year, IMHO. (I don't give out awards like that, but their book "Mutant Sudoku" pretty much sealed the deal for me.) Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that the Times of London runs a ton of puzzles, and different variety in there too. Something the Sulzberger's should think about doing.
So, anyway. The cryptics. I fared oh-kay on the Christmas Eve on in the Guardian. Araucaria set it (for those that care), and it was a regular 15x. And when I say I "fared oh-okay," that just means I got four answers correct. {Popular group sees the smaller picture (5)} = INSET (saw the characde). {Revolutionary poem? No, a rude composition (7)} = RONDEAU (saw the anagram). I got HOW NOW BROWN COW from {What is this Jersey? An exercise in vowel sounds? (3,3,5,3)} exclusively on the straight definition and the letter count, but if you were to ask me how the cryptic part works, ya got me. I also got ALONG out of {Forward way to Tipperary (5)}, I guess from the song lyrics. But again, the cryptic end of it? Beats me. Everything else, well, I was toast.
The Listener crossword was set by Jago. It was a 12x variety that ran in the Times of London on December 26, and well, let's just say I couldn't get past the instructions. The clues, well, they relied so heavily on surface meaning (it was a story), that I couldn't make anything out. A small sampling of three consecutive clues clues: {Mum raised and fed pup on Xmas leftovers (5)}, {It's a sore point, considering what's in most food. (7)} {Both together for Xmas? (3)}. Yeah, right.
But did I mention all the sudokus (and variants)?
Anyway, I just want to leave you with the request that if you liked the puzzles this month (or year, for that matter), and if you could afford to give a little to the tip jar this week, it would be much appreciated. As a special way of saying thanks, I will give any object from the BEQ.com store to a randomly selected donor. Thanks ahead of time.
Share the puzzle. New one on Wednesday.
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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