(Photo credit: http://taxcredits.net/)
Again, my apologies for the late posting today. But, there’s some exciting news out there in CrossWorld:
Patrick Blindauer has released his newest Puzzlefest, called Xword University. This will be my first time tackling one of Patrick’s metapuzzle suites, but he’s one of the most devilishly clever constructors out there, so I strongly recommend ordering yourself a copy.
In addition to his fun biweekly Rows Garden puzzles, Andrew Ries is now expanding his puzzle operation to include a weekly 15×15 crossword. It’s only $5 for a year’s worth of puzzles, so that’s a great deal.
And as for me, I have some exciting news as well: The Quest, the student newspaper of Reed College, will be publishing Devil Cross puzzles in their print edition! I’m very excited to expand my puzzle to a college audience.
Enjoy today’s puzzle — this one has a mix of oldschool and newschool. I aimed for real tough again, but considering how several people told me my last Super Spicy puzzle was actually relatively easy, I may need to get a new Spice Meter. There will be a new crossword on April 12.
Update #1, 3/29/14 @ 7:00 pm: The original clue for 27-Across had a typo (well, more than a typo — I didn’t have a finished clue). I’ve since fixed it.
Update #2, 3/31/14 @ 11:00 pm: The commenter Abby points out that I had another error in one of my clues. The original clue for 17-Across had the wrong first name. I’ve corrected that as well. My fault on both mistakes, everyone (fingers crossed that I don’t have another….)
Holy smokes that’s a smooth grid! Not a single abbrev., partial, or obscurity, and no shortage of fun stuff. Tougher than the last themeless, if I’m remembering correctly, but not too too tough; even the missing word in 27A didn’t stop me
Felt somewhere between a fri and sat NYT for me (didn’t time myself though). Very nice cluing throughout. Great misdirection in 29A, 8D, 24A, 33A, and 40D, among others. I think I’m just on your wavelength though because they all fell pretty quick. Kicking myself over 36D, though; I knew that but it still took forever. Nice bit of trivia, that.
Thanks. I’ll admit that some of those clues that you mentioned resemble previous clues for the same answers in other puzzles. I have a feeling this could play easy or tough depending on whether people know 47-Across.
As for 27-Across: I wrote down the beginning of the idea early this morning, put the puzzle down because I had a lot of other engagements today, came back, then forgot that I never finished it. I hate it when that happens.
re 27A: I’ve done that before
And re: 47A. Yeah, that was a gimme for me, but it won’t be for everyone. Most solvers should be able to get it reasonably quickly from crosses, though. GoT is huge, and so is Peter Dinklage. He was on the cover of the Rolling Stone. Of course, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I don’t think that the best-known character from a cultural phenomenon is at all unfair as a marquee entry. You beat me to it, in fact.
Not an unfair due answer to its wide popularity. Much respect to Peter Dinklage as well.
That said, 47-A kicked my rear around pretty harshly – I haven’t had time to watch the series, and so I generally know of family names but no more, so as to avoid future spoilers. Not an easy thing today.
Some of the specific factoid clues sprinkled in there made this one much harder, but true to its difficulty. (Lou Rawls, Colby College, and Streets of Rage 2? That’s some tough chili cluing right there!) Nice clues and grid!
Yeah, I was more worried about the clue for 47-Across being a spoiler rather than whether the answer itself is unfair. Hopefully it won’t be a big deal. And Howard, you should watch “Game of Thrones.” Season 4 starts next week!
As for Colby College — my brother went there, so that was a shout-out to him.
I too thought this grid was super-smooth. Made me remember Hawaii Five-O and Harriet the Spy, which I enjoyed.
But–47 across has a murder trial?? When did that happen?? Spoiler for me. But not too much of one. Just have to guess who he’ll end up killing. Hopefully that little snot Joffrey!
Liked this puzzle but the SW-ish area was a bit of a problem as I didn’t know Wo Fat, Jumpman, Game of Thrones, and a few others. Is Game of Thrones that good?
Thanks for the puzzle. It was very spicy indeed.
Thanks. I’ve never read the books but I think the show is great, not least because of Peter Dinklage who plays 47-Across.
John not Richard Kimble, right? They didn’t totally steal the name from The Fugitive.
DAMN. You’re right. And I knew that too. Just never checked it after writing the clue.
Thanks for pointing that out — I’ll correct it.
The super-spicy rating was appropriate for me as I did not know many of the cultural references, including 47 across. I was able to get them from the crosses, so I thought it was fair – even though it took a while. Very enjoyable. Thanks.
The puzzle earned its Super Spicy rating this week! Was floundering with about 1/3 finished, then once I grokked 36D, I sailed right thru the rest – though 47A required every crossing, and was my final entry. Wonderful puzzle, Evan!
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