Ladies and gentlemen, raise your glasses in support of Neville Fogarty, one of my Indie 500 tournament brethren and puzzlemaker extraordinaire. He decided to wind down his blog in order to focus on his grad school commitments — something that I struggle to do even as I publish new puzzles on a fortnightly basis rather than a weekly basis.
As Neville said, running one’s own puzzle blog takes a lot of hard work and independent constructors can use all of the support they can get to create a viable alternative to Big Crossword. So with that, here’s a reminder that I’m still running my month-long tip jar drive. Donors will receive two 21×21 bonus puzzles: one themeless, one variety Something Different puzzle. You can donate by clicking on this PayPal button below:
For those who have already spread the word about Devil Cross and/or donated money, thanks a million. It means a lot to me.
Enjoy today’s puzzle, a 68-word themeless. As for when the next one runs — I’m toying with the idea of running a meta this Friday, one day before my next New York Times puzzle comes out on October 18, but I’m not sure if I’ll do that yet. You can follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook to get the instant update on that. Either way, there will definitely be a new Devil Cross puzzle on October 25.
impressive!
Why, thank you.
If you are going to use “fogs,” would it make sense to clue it as a verb than as a noun?
My assessment before completing my last section, namely the SW, was that this was a solid puzzle, but that it did not have any answers that made me laugh. I must admit, though, that 39A (in the SW) made me laugh and was tricky for me to get even after having the first and third letters.
Ever stare at a puzzle for a few minutes, wondering how you’re ever going to finish it, when you only have random bits filled in, and you’re not even sure whether they’re right or not? And then you get that answer, that one answer that blows the whole puzzle apart, and two minutes later, you’re finished. I love that feeling, and for some reason, it was 10-Down that did it for me. After that, 13-Across became obvious, and I went into auto-pilot for the rest of it. That’s not to say it was too easy or too hard, just that it was a very satisfying puzzle!
Fun puzzle with some really good cluing. Enjoyed it very much. Thanks.
Thanks, Steve & Puzzled!
@rhettandlink I showed you guys some love in my fortnightly crossword this past weekend. http://t.co/qR31vxZJAm http://t.co/Rdkzm60IvF
I’m a bit late, but this was gold! The misdirect at 39A took me so long to figure out…the last two letters were the last two to go, and they still took me forever. Kept entering and deleting [the correct answer at 31D], since “Chilean” led me to believe I was looking for something more specific. Guess I learned something new! Seriously though, this was such a great solve…I’d list entries I liked but there were way too many. Wish I could get my themelesses as fun/smooth/sassy (as you like to say) as yours!
Thanks, Sam. I’d say you’re doing a fine job over at Grid Kid. Keep ’em coming!