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SOLUTION to the last puzzle
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SOLUTION to the last puzzle
Hello! Excited to be posting this guest puzzle by Malaika Handa, a rockstar constructor who recently started her own site (which just launched recently, but is already providing incredible content). Many thanks to her for sending it my way—you can see below that our interests and voices overlap in a lot of ways, and I'm honored to have this puzzle on the site! A few words from Malaika:
It is so exciting to be featured on Grids These Days! I love the chaotic-good energy of this site / Paolo and hope this puzzle channels some of it. Speaking of chaotic ideas, for some reason I thought it would be fun to cobble together a collection of every mathematically possible 7x7 crossword. (A pretty hefty project given that I've only been constructing for three months... But it's good to aim high, right?) If you're interested in contributing one, email me at handamalaika at gmail dot com!
I for one am excited to see the 7x7 project develop, so be sure to check out the link. If it's anything like this puzzle, the project is going to be bangers only.
Hope you enjoy the puzzle!
[UPDATE: Thanks Steve Mossberg for pointing out the download links led to the wrong puzzle! Fixed now]
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SOLUTION to the last puzzle
Writing this in the seven hours before my math final paper is due, so this is gonna be quick (unrelated, if you know a lot about the Petersen graph please comment below).
Boswords Fall Themeless League just wrapped up, and it was a great time with a great set of puzzles. The puzzles are still here for purchase, and with such a stacked constructor lineup, there's no reason not to snatch them up.
Anyway, tried for a low word count grid today—hope you enjoy!
-Paolo
Then the bartender says "Why the short posts?" and I say "School, mostly."
Major shoutout to Chris King for letting me bite his style for the pdf version of this puzzle (semi-spoilers in the link). And, unrelated shoutout to Chris King for writing one of the coolest metas I've ever seen.
Also I haven't tested this with other solving programs, but do know that Black Ink will almost definitely crash if you try to open this puzzle. If you run into that with your program, the applet should be workable (if a little jumpy).
Hope you enjoy!
Paolo
[5:07 Pacific Time: UPDATED to fix a misspelling in the grid!]
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SOLUTION to the last puzzle
SOLUTION A to this puzzle
SOLUTION B to this puzzle (CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK)
Hello! Very excited to be bringing this puzzle by Quiara Vasquez, who you might know from her guest spots here, here, or here. She has an incredible voice, and it definitely comes across in this puzzle. Also it helps that this is a definite feat of construction (but I won't say any more for risk of spoiling).
This is the most fun I've had talking over/setting up a puzzle on this site—it's an unconventional one, but I hope it brings some joy in a stressful time. And, many thanks for Sid Sivakumar for help with formatting/other technical matters.
And, some words from Quiara!
It's Election Day, and you know what that means: staying up til 4 in the morning and watching democracy die in real time. How will we know who won this presidential contest as the results slowly trickle in? I'll tell you how - you'll solve this puzzle, which is doing what the lamestream media FiveThirtyAin't and calling the election at 11:00 a.m. EST. Move over, Marist Poll. There's a new "poll star" in town - and all eyes are on her.
Now, some of you crossword enthusiasts in the audience might have caught wise to the "trick" of this puzzle, which, in addition to flawlessly predicting tomorrow's headline, also pays homage to a grid of yesteryear - one of my all-time favorite puzzles, actually, albeit a controversial one. To say any more would prematurely expose the technical wizardry of my creation - it's best seen for yourself.
(Minor technical note: this puzzle's brilliance was too much for the PuzzleMe applet, so you'll need to check the solution file for the full effect.)
Hope you enjoy!
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Some bullets:
Hope you enjoy the puzzle,
Paolo
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Hello! Very excited to be running a puzzle from Chris Piuma, who you might know from his (very good) Twitch stream, and his (equally good) crossword site, both of which I highly recommend. Constructing-wise, I love what he's doing in terms of experimenting with the form of crosswords—no one's doing it like him. That sense is also very much on display in this puzzle, but I'll keep stop talking about it to avoid spoilers. All this is to say, I loved this puzzle, I hope you love it too, and here's some words from Chris!
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SOLUTION to the last puzzle (and the SOLUTION to the mini puzzle)
Very excited to be running today's puzzle! It's a guest puzzle by Matthew Stock, who's quickly established himself as a banger voice in the crossword scene. Apart from his indie site (linked below), you can also see his uniformly fun and excellent work at The Atlantic, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and more. I know I'm in for a good puzzle when I see Matthew's byline in general, but I was especially wowed when he sent the grid for today's puzzle (esp with the marquee 36-Across entry). I'm honored to be sharing his work today, and I hope you enjoy the puzzle as much as I did.
And, some words from Matthew!
I’ve been solving Paolo's incredible puzzles here since I first found out that indie puzzles existed, so I’m absolutely stoked to get to share one of my own here this weekend. I try to emulate Paolo often in my puzzlemaking, and this puzzle (especially its clues, which I had a ton of fun with) are very much a product of that. If you enjoy, hit me up on Twitter @1MatthewStock and/or check out my fledgling site, happylittlepuzzles.com. Happy solving!
The feelings are mutual—he's one of the cluing greats, (as you'll see below), and I find myself trying to bite his writing style way too often. Hope you enjoy!
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Hello! Easy puzzle today. There's also an unrelated mini-puzzle (pdf, puz) that came from some of the brainstorming for this puzzle. Hope you enjoy at least one of these!
And, of course, any relationship between this puzzle's number and its title is a coincidence.
(also! slight spoiler, so wait until after the solve, but if you haven't heard about the site referenced in 55-Across, check it out now it's so good)
-Paolo