Club 72

Word count: 72
Mean word length: 5.36

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10-Across was inspired by science fiction. I don’t know why, because I’m not much of a sci-fi fan — OK, I’m not a sci-fi fan in the least . Even though I know it’s fiction, I can never help but to say, “Well, that isn’t physically possible…” 150 times per movie. (That’s why no one invites me to movies anymore…)

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Thanks as always to the test solvers for their input.

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Crosswords

Puzzle 380: Freestyle 340. Don’t rest on your laurels.

July 17, 2018 Tim Croce Leave a comment

Word count: 72
Mean word length: 5.44

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I’m not gonna lie here, the block structure made this grid not so bad at all to construct. Those long diagonal lines of black squares allow the constructor to use an economy of them while still keeping the word count reasonable and keeping the grid from having any wide swaths of wide-open white space. Not counting the pair of helper squares, this is, I think, the fewest number of blocks one can have in a 72-entry grid — 27 if you don’t count the two helpers.

Thanks so much to all who’ve left a tip! It’s much appreciated, believe me.

Thanks as always to the test solvers for their input.

As always, share this link! Pass it around! New puzzle on Friday!

Crosswords

Puzzle 379: Freestyle 339. This one’s going viral.

July 13, 2018 Tim Croce Leave a comment

Word count: 70
Mean word length: 5.57

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Sure, this grid was build all starting from that center stack, but that center stack was started with something unusual for me: a seed entry that was seeded because of its clue, not strictly because of the entry itself. I just couldn’t resist once I came up with the clue for that phrase.

Thanks so much to all who’ve left a tip! It’s much appreciated, believe me.

Thanks as always to the test solvers for their input.

As always, share this link! Pass it around! New puzzle on Tuesday!

Crosswords

Puzzle 378: Freestyle 338. Out with it!

July 10, 2018 Tim Croce 2 Comments

Last Friday’s freestyle solution

Word count: 70
Mean word length: 5.46

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I like the central staggered stack. You and I know that. It’s a way to cluster long entries together without needing to align every single letter to make it work. In this case, instead of stacking, say, three elevens one on top of the other, needing to match three columns of eleven letters, the stagger lets me stack a 12, 13, and 12 and I only need to match three columns of nine letters. Maybe I’ve said too much… I’m giving away all of my secrets…

Thanks so much to all who’ve left a tip! It’s much appreciated, believe me.

Thanks as always to the test solvers for their input.

As always, share this link! Pass it around! New puzzle on Friday!

Crosswords

Puzzle 377: Freestyle 337. I know what’s what.

July 6, 2018 Tim Croce 1 Comment

Word count: 72
Mean word length: 5.31

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Usually, my stacks either start at an edge or are one row or column off the edge, but I pinched them in a bit further for this grid. I don’t know why I did it — it would have been just as easy to move the stacks one row farther from the center, considering the grid spanner — but sometimes I need to change it up a little bit.

Thanks so much to all who’ve left a tip! It’s much appreciated, believe me.

Thanks as always to the test solvers for their input.

As always, share this link! Pass it around! New puzzle on Tuesday!

Crosswords

Puzzle 376: Freestyle 336. I’ve got eyes in the back of my head.

July 3, 2018 Tim Croce Leave a comment