« Guest crossword by Matt Gaffney | Main | CROSSWORD #497: You Can Count On Them »

December 10, 2012

CROSSWORD #496: Themeless Monday

THEMLESS MONDAY: [ ACROSS LITE][ PDF] 
PROGRAMS: [Across Lite] [Adobe Reader]

PROGRAM: [Java]

What a difference just one letter makes. It wasn't until I was pretty much done with cluing today's puzzle that I'd noticed that there was a [gasp!] pretty egregiously duped answer in the grid. And when you've got a 62 (!) word, wide-open grid on your hand, there's really nothing you can do except grit your teeth and hope nobody notices. These corners are just too damned interconnected to allow for a quick fix. We're talking major revision here. Anyway, a miracle happened. Amy Reynaldo noticed that one measly square could be changed and, ta-da, no dupe. I'd go so far as to say her suggestion even made the grid better. So thanks, Amy!

I shall leave figuring out what square was changed as an exercise to the reader.

Share the puzzle. New one on Thursday.

Posted at 09:00 AM in Hard |

Comments

Archived Puzzles
(By Difficulty)

BEQ Puzzles on the go

  		•
    For iPhone, iPad,
    Palm, and Android.
    BEQ and Onion puzzle
    packs available too!

Cheat

Home Delivery

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Ye Olde Gift Shoppe

People Are Talking!

Custom Crosswords

  • 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.

    Call (617) 2-999-BEQ or click here for rates.

  • Brendan Emmett Quigley has been a professional puzzlemaker since 1996. In fact, he's the sixth-most published constructor in The New York Times under Will Shortz's editorship. Brendan's puzzles have also appeared in every major market including Creators Syndicate, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Crosswords Club, Dell Champion, Games Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Sun, Tribune Media Services, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

    He regularly contributes work to The AV Crossword Club, Bawdy Crosswords, Spirit Magazine, Visual Thesaurus, and The Weekly Dig. At one point in time, Blender, Electronic Business, Paste Magazine, Quarterly Review of Wines, The Stranger, Time Out New York, and Wired.com ran his work. His puzzles have been mentioned on episodes of "The Colbert Report," "Jeopardy!," and "Sunday Night Football."

    He is the author of over thirty different books. In his spare time he can be seen banging on typewriters in the Boston Typewriter Orchestra.

    He will be posting two puzzles a week — on Monday and Thursday.

    Email Brendan

Search