I've been solving crosswords for a long time now, from solving the Sunday NYTimes with my family over lunch, to digital solving during college and law school classes, and eventually going to tournaments. Crowning achievements: a nice 69th place at ACPT 2018, 45th at the inaugural Couchword tournament in 2020, and 6th place (out of 6) (by a wide margin) in the inaugural (and only) Downs-Only division at Lollapuzzoola 2019.
GPOY: Lollapuzzoola 2019 Downs-Only Division (Matt Gritzmacher, Me,
Peter Gordon, Andy Kravis (hiding?), Joon Pahk, and Erik Agard)
After threatening it for a while, I've finally started making my own puzzles, and it turns out I like themes that are probably not going to be appearing in your friendly neighborhood newspaper—they're a little too nerdy, or a bit niche, or "way too complicated." After finishing some of them, even I look at the grid and laugh about how nobody in their right mind would publish them. So welcome to the blog where I'll try to post at least semi-regularly with new puzzles that *I* think are fun, in the hopes that someone else out there does too. If you like the idea of a puzzle where the themers all include infinity gems from Marvel, or are homophones in sign language, or can be read as a functional Tarot card spread, watch this space. Wait, those were supposed to be throwaway ideas, but should I...should I actually make those?
First puzzle going up isn't 100% new, I initially put it online back in March. And while it's got a nerdy hook, it's probably the least weird puzzle I've worked on so far, so don't hold that against me. After this, I've got one more old puzzle to re-post in the next few days, and then I'll plan to start with 100% new puzzles soon.
One of my favorite parts of the big ACPT event every year is hanging out in the Marriott lobby and bar with a bunch of puzzle-world friends, playing games late into the night, and then remembering at 2am that we still have to solve Puzzle 7 in the morning. While it was rough that ACPT had to be rescheduled this year, it was also amazing to see a group of puzzle people work together and set up the first ever Couchword tournament to help fill the void for the whole community, with digital solving in record numbers. If you haven't already tried them, the puzzles are still up at that link, you could be solving them right now!
GPOY: LGBTQ+ Crossworders Meet-Up at ACPT 2019
Thinking about how the Couchword team was helping cushion the blow of missing ACPT, I quickly put together this puzzle, Game Night, as an extra freebie for folks who wanted to keep solving puzzles after the tournament was over. It is a nod of sorts to the late-night board game crew, who I'm hoping to see in person again soon. Hope folks enjoy!
PDF File (for paper printing)
PUZ File (for digital solving)
P.S.: I didn't quite finish the cluing on this until the morning of Couchword, so thanks to Lily Geller, Monica Iyer, and Bill Dahab for giving it a slightly frantic test-solve literally during the tournament!
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