This is the crossword puzzle thread

Thursday's puzzle was awesome, although there is a spoiler on this thread, but I had forgotten about it. Today's was tough but fun.

Btw, I think "Test-solver Frank" is LONGO.

Makes sense.

Crossed paths with Will yesterday but didn't get a chance to discuss this with him.

Just wondering what people's best times are for a weekday puzzle? I think I can average ~12 minutes for early-week puzzles. /strict amateur

Online, I can usually do a Monday puzzle in about 4:00. Probably longer on paper, though.

I can usually do the Monday in about 4 minutes too. The really top solvers can do it in 3 or even sometimes 2 minutes.

Just looked at the some of the champ's times for the past week- 1:36 for Tuesday! 4:34 for Sunday!

I used to be able to do an average Sunday puzzle in 18 minutes, if I didn't fall asleep whilst solving it. Now I've gotten it down to about 12, although that deepens on whether I have gotten enough sleep, have a sinus infection, etc.

But both jaymc and I have participated in tournaments so it is probably not fair to compare with our times.

I used to be able to do an average Sunday puzzle in 18 minutes, if I didn't fall asleep whilst solving it. Now I've gotten it down to about 12, although that deepens on whether I have gotten enough sleep, have a sinus infection, etc.

Damn! I take the whole week to do Sunday puzzles.

Been doing the Times puzzle on and off since 1978 and started doing it seriously two years ago so I wouldn't feel too bad if I were you

No worries, I'm just marveling at yall's real skillz.

Aargh, I came in about 60th in this weekend's tournament, need to start practicing and stop posting to this thread.

Lollapuzzoola?

Yup.

You can still play at home, I think, for ten bucks.

Knew I messed up puzzle three a little, have no idea how I got so many wrong on puzzle two, which I thought I had clean, maybe I shifted a theme answer by one letter. Didn't bother to check anything at all, though, before handing in.

OK, I see what happened, ha.

BEQ's 36A today: Hipster's lid

Wait that's not from today, it's older.

Saturday Times puzzle was the Lollapuzzoola final.

Looks like the book with jaymc puzzle in it comes out in two weeks.

Just tried to win that Penguin book, but I read my email too late and was beaten by the usual suspects (:

Who's offering it as a prize? I actually haven't seen it yet -- I think I was supposed to get an advance copy but never did.

Ben T sent out a mini contest with the inkwell email. I can forward it to you if you want.

Aargh. He just emailed me. I was fourth, just missing the cut.

Saturday Times puzzle was the Lollapuzzoola final.

It took me almost twice as long to solve it as it did the champion. (18:05 vs. 9:00) I knew I was off on the wrong foot when I started off 1A with "tepee" and it turned out to be "hogan."

I had seen it before and it still took me quite a while to solve.

I can forward it to you if you want.

Thanks, but no need, I was just curious.

Too late I just did. You can send him your answers when you ping him about your complimentary copy.

Oh!

do u see?

The Lollapuzzoola champ is pretty good- he's won that twice (maybe more I dunno), came in 26th at the ACPT and is apparently pretty fast at solving cryptics as well.

Exactly three weeks after Lollapuzzoola 4, I point you in the direction of the puzzle Tyler Hinman wrote for Lollapuzzoola 3, which Tony Orbach recommended to me: http://bemoresmarter.squarespace.com/puzzles/lollapuzzoola-3-the-great-pickle-giveaway-2010/

Today's puzzle was interesting.

jaymc, I see that your book is

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #32,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

#14 in Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Crosswords

oh, jaymc has a puzzle in that penguin book? now i have to get it.

Two puzzles, in fact! I just got my copy of the book the other day, and it was interesting to see (as someone who'd never before published a puzzle) how B.T. edited the clues. I think maybe a third were changed in some way: either easier, harder, or livelier. In retrospect, I think I probably had a few too many synonym clues -- which weren't necessarily easy (I tried to make it tough by using words with multiple definitions), but may not have been particularly fresh or interesting.

cool!

Heard ADIA just now for the first time ever maybe in the supermarket. Now I just have to go and listen to "ELLA in Berlin."

Yesterday's Times had a celebrity co-constructor, a one-time Jeopardy contestant.

Looking forward to receiving my copy of that Penguin book later this week.

Weirdly I had just seen Dana Delany's Battlestar Galactica episode last week.

I'm trying to remember: was she the third contestant when Andy Richter beat Wolf Blitzer?

tyler hinman puzzles are always so fucking sporty

Has this been linked to before?
http://www.slate.com/id/2145623/

IIRC, that's from Gaffney's book -- which is definitely worth a read.

For what it's worth, I use a software program to create a grid, and websites to help me come up with fill -- but I don't maintain a word list, ranked or unranked, like many constructors do.

Which program do you use, or is that a trade secret? :)

I use a freeware program called Crossword Master (for Mac). I emphasize: this is just for designing the grid. No bells and whistles at all.

I do have a copy of Crossword Compiler, which is the industry standard, but only on my work computer, because it's PC-only. I basically use it when I need to convert the grid to a PDF or other file format (PUZ, CCW) preferred by publications. If I had it at home, where I do my constructing, I'd probably take advantage of some of the advanced features.

Thanks. I was wondering about that because I have a Mac at home and it had seemed to me that the standard program being PC-only would force most constructors to be PC-based. I was actually meaning to ask some people at Lollapuzzoola but I forgot. What about the new format BEQ and Crossynergy use, the jpuz?

I haven't heard of that.

There's also a Mac-compatible program called CrossFire that a lot of constructors like. I have the free demo version, and it seems pretty good.

Oh yeah, I had heard of that one.

Amy R is always pushing .jpz (no 'u' sorry for earlier misspelling) http://www.crosswordfiend.com/blog/2011/04/18/tuning-spork-jpz/. You need to use a different program to solve with called Crossword Solver aka Puzzle Solve). Most of the speed solvers don't like it because it doesn't have certain convenience features AcrossLite but it seems there is some legal and financial reason constructors have been switching over.

Huh, I will check it out.

Here's a post by Tyler about this http://www.tylerhinman.com/blog/posts/316
which links to this post by Amy http://www.crosswordfiend.com/blog/2011/04/05/see-im-telling-you-make-peace-with-puzzle-solver/

Man, Friday and Saturday puzzles both killed me this week.