Important Note: This puzzle has been removed from Devil Cross for the time being because it may become a future Washington Post Magazine puzzle. My apologies for the inconvenience. Puzzles #1-61 and #69 are still available to solve.
Photo credit: NPR
Oh, you thought I’d forgotten about themeless puzzles? Nope, I haven’t. But this one’s mega-sized! Because why not think big?
Have to run to a choir rehearsal, so here are some quick announcements:
- Kameron Austin Collins has jumped into the indie puzzle game with his new site HIGH:Low. It’s a biweekly themeless puzzle that you can sign up for here. His first one was a nice, nice puzzle. It’s Devil Cross-approved.
- There’s a new daily crossword blog out there, but this one is for the indies! It’s called New Grids on the Block, and they’re reviewing BuzzFeed and other puzzles with a sorta irreverent flavor. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Also, please note that my online widget for solving the crossword isn’t working right now, so you can’t solve right in the internet browser. But you can still solve in Across Lite and on the PDF as normal. Update, 10/17/15 @ 6:30 pm ET: I fixed the widget, so all methods for solving are available. YAY!
That’s all for now. Enjoy the mega-sized themeless goodness.
Out of curiosity… What is the definition of an indie puzzle? I always assumed it meant “not associated with a large organization like a newspaper” so does BuzzFeed qualify? Or is it just attitude?
That’s a good question. I’d agree with you that the BuzzFeed puzzle probably wouldn’t qualify in the traditional sense because it is such a large and (by now) mainstream organization. Then again, it did just begin and I’d say the content/attitude more closely resembles something like the AVCX than it does the NYT.
I dunno. I guess if one’s definition is that an indie puzzle is produced/funded entirely by the individual content creators — those who write and edit the puzzle itself — then BuzzFeed isn’t one of them. If it’s a question of breaking publishing standards set by established organizations like the NYT, then it is. Either way, I’m guessing the crew over at New Grids on the Block wants to blog about it because it’s a new, exciting development in the larger world of Puzzles, and they want in on the ground floor of critiquing it. Caleb’s been listening to their observations early on, for sure.
They’re good puzzles either way
As is this one!
BuzzFeed is definitely not an indie puzzle, but IMO it’s basically indie sensibilities applied for the first time to a professional outlet’s daily puzzle, so it seems worth reviewing and discussing at an indie-focused blog. It’s certainly much more related to indie puzzles than it is to the NYT or similar traditional outlets.
Also, one of the big ideas behind NGOTB is that we want to expose as many solvers as possible to indie puzzles. So the idea is that people will hopefully come for the BuzzFeed commentary, and find their way to an indie puzzle or two while they’re at it.
And, of course, the timing worked out nicely.
https://t.co/HACD29pVAl