Category Archives: Medium

PUZZLE #37: The Carnival Games We Play

Written on Feb, 28, 2015 by in | 3 Comments.

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If you’ve been on Facebook and Twitter at all over the last couple of days, you’ve probably filled your quota for ridiculous viral memes until at least 2018. Another constructor suggested that somebody should make a Schrödinger puzzle (a crossword with more than one correct solution) to commemorate the now-infamous “what color is this dress” photo, where the entry BLACK AND BLUE can morph into WHITE AND GOLD as long as the crossings on the terminal words can be made ambiguous enough to accommodate both possibilities. I’ll admit I was tempted to try it during the 11th hour, but Schrödinger grids are tough to pull off cleanly, and to do it on a highly topical subject on very short notice made it a non-starter for me. So consider it a challenge for other indie constructors out there.

Instead, I’m going with a theme idea I’ve had on the shelf for a little while but didn’t flesh out until now, with a larger-than-normal 17×17 grid. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t exactly plan for the similar combos at 1-/2-Down and 80-/83-Across, but it worked out that way and I’m sticking with it.

In other puzzle news, there’s a crossword tournament coming up one weekend from now in Ithaca, New York, and the proceeds go to Tompkins Learning Partners, a non-profit organization that provides literacy tutoring. I likely won’t be able to make it out there, but it does sound like a fun time. However, there is some exciting Indie 500 Crossword Tournament news on the horizon and it should drop pretty soon. Stay tuned….

Enjoy the puzzle. There will be a new one on March 7.

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PUZZLE #33: Hidden Gem (updated May 2021)

Written on Jan, 31, 2015 by in , | 6 Comments.

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As of tomorrow, Devil Cross will celebrate its first birthday! As always, I’m very appreciative of my solvers and I’m glad you kept me going for the first 365 days. Here’s to another several indie puzzling years ahead of me.

Today’s offering is a meta puzzle. You know the drill: find the hidden unique answer, send it in. Special thanks to Sam Ezersky, Vic Fleming, Paul Melamud, Mike Doran, and Brendan Emmett Quigley for test-solving it and giving me helpful feedback.

Speaking of meta puzzles, it looks like there are quite a few going around this week. Erik Agard has one, Andrew Ries has the beginning of a meta suite, Peter Gordon has one for Fireball Crosswords, and as always, Matt Gaffney‘s got one for his meta series. Please note: subscriptions are required for the latter three.

The answer to this metapuzzle is a gemstone. Please submit your answer to me (devilcrosswords@gmail.com) by 6 pm ET on Friday, February 6. Only one answer per entrant, please — so make sure you’ve got it right before hitting “Send.” As for a prize…..I used to give a Devil Cross T-shirt to one randomly selected winner, and I can still do that. But if requested, I’ll provide the winner with a different puzzle-related prize (a puzzle book, an opportunity to fit a word or phrase of your choice in an upcoming puzzle (within reason), etc). We’ll work it out.

Enjoy the puzzle. There will be a new Devil Cross puzzle on February 7.

Update, May 16, 2021: Hi from the year 2021! I figured you might want to try this old metapuzzle since it has the same name as the May 16, 2021 Washington Post crossword (but the meta is different). I’ve updated a few clues and imported the PuzzleMe interface for handy solving on the page. There’s no longer any contest associated with this puzzle, but either way, hope you enjoy it! –Evan

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