#7 of our Curious Conundrums series.
Marti constructed this puzzle for the 2010 Valentine's Day (also Marti's birthday). Rich liked the theme but he already had another puzzle lined up.
14's as the first and last theme entries are always hard to place, esp on Row 3 & 13, as they immediately necessitate a pair of 3-block side pockets along the corner edges. Marti did very well with a pair of nice 9's going down, avoiding more black squares along the left and right edges of the grid.
Lots of sweet clues. Marti, URAQT, your bubbling personality shines through.
Puzzle:
Here is PDF (click on File, then Download).
Here is puz file (click on Download).
Spoiler: Here is the answer grid.
Thanks for solving, and we look forward to your comments.
C.C.
Marti constructed this puzzle for the 2010 Valentine's Day (also Marti's birthday). Rich liked the theme but he already had another puzzle lined up.
14's as the first and last theme entries are always hard to place, esp on Row 3 & 13, as they immediately necessitate a pair of 3-block side pockets along the corner edges. Marti did very well with a pair of nice 9's going down, avoiding more black squares along the left and right edges of the grid.
Lots of sweet clues. Marti, URAQT, your bubbling personality shines through.
Puzzle:
Here is PDF (click on File, then Download).
Here is puz file (click on Download).
Spoiler: Here is the answer grid.
Thanks for solving, and we look forward to your comments.
C.C.
Great puzzle, Marti. Too bad you didn't get it into the queue in time to be used. I wondered why you didn't wait until next year, but then realized this one was not only constructed for the specific date but also for the day of the week, which won't align again next year.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't recall that comic strip character, but perps took care of it. All of the songs came easily except A SECRET ADMIRER. That one needed a few perps to point me in the right direction.
Lots of fun clues, not too difficult. Thanks for your contribution to the Conundrum series.
Thanks Marti,
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun Monday level, I thought. For once I actually knew everything, but had to wait for perps to jog my memory once or twice. I especially liked the jibe at our former editor's puzzles implied in the "end of a quip" clue, and the unexpected answer to it.
My one real hold up was thinking ROON for ROOD, and parsing its perp as SIT -N, until SITED finally knocked me over.
A nice addition on a Tuesday when I finished today's LAT much too fast to get my daily quota of enjoyment from it!
Marti/HeartRx
ReplyDeleteFUN Valentine to your Hubby.
I hope he was the first to solve it.
Cheers !!!
Grumpy 1, thanks. Next year V-day will be a Tuesday, so it wouldn't be too hard to change the clues to suit that level. But, I would rather share this one with my special friends here on the corner, because I SECRETLY ADMIRE all of you!!
ReplyDeleteKazie, I'm not sure what you mean by "jibe at our former editor's puzzles"? I don't know much about him, other than that he never answers emails...fill me in!
Tin, would you believe that DH does not do x-word puzzles?? So I had to give him a different type of Valentine's Day present, LOL!
Every Thursday, Wayne Robert Williams would give us a quip. I think he still does. I started to blog his puzzles one time but found no one interested in it. His followers don't mind the obscure and the arcane but hate misdirection; they like clues you can easily look up the answers. They have no need for someone to decode them.
ReplyDeleteArgyle, thanks for that explanation about the quip. Now I see why Kazie liked it!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't finished the CW yet but I'm sure I will enjoy it.
ReplyDelete34A: Stout's stout sleuth/NERO. Since the clue uses Rex Stout's last name, shouldn't the answer be the sleuth's last name? Maybe the clue could be changed to Rex's rotund sleuth?
hearti
ReplyDeletebill got you with a great nit, about my fav NW.
Funny, Spenser is a big Arlo and Janis fan.
Fun frolic
tks
Bill G., "That's what editors are for..."
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I usually try to use the same first/last name as clue/answer. But I couldn't resist the Stout/stout bit... (sorry!!)
OK, I finished it. Lots of fun. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis was my first attempt at one of the conundra. I did it as I usually do, starting in the NW and going anticlockwise, ending in the north. Except for a problem in the S, where I wanted RIND instead of LARD for a few minutes, things went pretty well... UNTIL... I got to the NE, where I nearly ended up a DNF.
ReplyDeleteThe very upper right-hand letter eluded me for the longest time; I had no idea what ___ au rhum might me (and I still don't--have to look it up soon) and it took the FOREVER for ASSNS to break through my thick skull.
Fun, though. Thanks for this one!
Marti:
ReplyDeleteURAQT! Your puzzle was a fun romp, nothing that could not be worked out if I didn't know.
The only songs I'm familiar with on there are Love Me Tender and I Write the Songs. It tickled my memory to fill them.
Thank you for your contributions to our blog both as poster and constructor.
A fun and chatty bunch ye be! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm bamboozed by 9A (PICT), but got a kick out of 48A (Cat's Pajamas/FUR), and 4D (Crash Site/SOFA). But my favorite is the answer to 41D (ON A TOOT). Love that word, toot!
Happy Wednesday all. We're half way there!