(Photo credit: John McKeon)
A bit of a flurry of puzzles on my end, much to my pleasant surprise. I wrote today’s New York Times crossword — you can see my notes of it here. I also wrote this week’s Fireball Crossword, a contest puzzle (deadline of 6 pm ET on Sunday, April 27) which I’m told is kinda sorta tricky. And then there’s today’s offering on this site. It’s one of my more experimental themelesses, in that I jammed in several grid-spanning answers and I rolled the dice on at least one of them being a common phrase. I have a feeling this will play either somewhat easy or very tough, depending on your knowledge of certain subjects (I know, said every crossword puzzle writer ever), so I’m splitting the difference and calling it “Spicy.”
But anyhow, I hope you enjoy all three of my puzzles. There will be a new one on Devil Cross on May 10.
Oh, and if you’d like to check out a new project by Fireball editor Peter Gordon, take a look at his Kickstarter page for the Fireball Fortnightly News Crossword.
Wow, this one was in my wheelhouse. 20-across is one of my all-time favorite movie quotes from one of my favorite cult movies. 11-down is one of my favorite TV shows. 12-down…well I grew up with the author’s son and knew the family well. A friend of mine got to hang out in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere with 51-across and Hulk Hogan–when he asked for a picture at the end of the night, Hulk had to back out, not because he was too famous for a picture, but because according to the hype surrounding the match, he and 51 across were supposed to be mortal enemies!
So you can tell I liked it. Congrats on your continuing success!
Thanks. I’ve been meaning to use the 20-/51-Across combo in a puzzle for a while, and since 51-Across died recently, that made it a go for this week. I got to see a live-screening of “They Live” last summer with 20-Across in attendance. He’s….kinda weird. Much of what he said at the Q&A session didn’t make sense either in terms of content or basic grammar. He seems like a fun guy to hang out with, but he might be on the decline.
Cool that you knew Orson Scott Card’s family.
Poor Rowdy Roddy! He’s pretty good as “the Maniac” on It’s Always Sunny, though.
What a week you’ve had; this one’s another winner in my books. I wouldn’t say it was right in my wheelhouse, but I’m familiar with all of the grid-spanners. Actually, couldn’t remember the name of the Rihanna album, but once I got a few letters at the bottom I recalled that Jay-Z says the name at the beginning of the track. Had to spin it once I was done the puzzle; love that song. Was just reminiscing about the Simpsons gummy Venus de Milo episode last night, in which Willie is referred to by Kent Brockman as Rowdy Roddy Peeper for taking the video of Homer dropping the babysitter off (thereby clearing him).
Thanks. I started with the three long across ones — figured that the hot battle in the bedroom should be in between those wrestlers (even though I wasn’t sure if 37-Across could fly as a normal phrase). When I hit upon the Rihanna album in OneLook, I figured it was a perfect fit with the others. It’s kind of a theme, in a strange way. The toughest thing was getting the grid to cooperate with 72 words or fewer, so I had to settle for a pretty segmented grid in the northeast and southwest corners.
And that Simpsons episode you mentioned is one of my favorites.
Great puzzle! A bit easy, but that’s ok with such good fill and clues. I think there is a small typo in the clue for 65a, though?
Sorry — in the .puz version.
Thanks. I’m not seeing the typo that you’re referring to, though.
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