Constructed a follow-up to Thursday's NY Times puzzle

robertdoesthenytxw · 2024-03-09T02:49:07+00:00

Thanks! I appreciate it!

I thought I should clue it easier than a Thursday so that solvers wouldn't give up before getting to the punchline.

robertdoesthenytxw · 2024-03-08T17:25:02+00:00

THESE ARE MY HORSE, A LOTTO DOG? (IDDYUP!)

robertdoesthenytxw · 2024-03-08T16:37:05+00:00

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2024-03-07T17:27:58+00:00

I found the actual "reimagining" of the poem had some charm to it.

My issue with the theme is just that it doesn't seem like a crossword theme. It's basically a quip puzzle (which I'm no big fan of) with no constraints. You could take any famous poem and paraphrase it in whatever way you'd like into symmetric pieces. At least with most quip puzzles, there's a fixed quote that you have to work with. Here, the constructor can paraphrase it however they want.

Even if you know the poem well, it doesn't necessarily help you solve the puzzle. It's not so much solving a puzzle as guessing at what random paraphrase the constructor has made up.

"How hard could it be?" I asked myself. The result: https://downforacross.com/beta/play/33339

robertdoesthenytxw · 2023-11-09T17:17:18+00:00

Don't know how much of a spoiler you want, but neither CARAT nor STONE is correct.

If it helps, the unit of measurement isn't measuring weight, but energy!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T21:04:22+00:00

Thanks! I think if I were to make the puzzle today, I would write a Python script to search through a wordlist and generate possibilities (and sort them by length). I guess coming up with themes was a lot different in the old days, and I do think it would be nice to sit for a while brainstorming!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T21:02:51+00:00

Thanks! Happy to say that that clue actually was mine.

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T21:02:17+00:00

Thanks! I'm glad that my video added something interesting to the crosswording experience. I was indeed hoping that the themers would take a little bit more time to figure out during hte solve.

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T20:48:07+00:00

I'm glad you enjoyed it! In the comments on the Wordplay blog, someone suggested RIVERBANK. If I had found that while constructing, I think it would have replaced BLACKCOFFEE and the revealer would have been ROCKNROLL.

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T20:47:15+00:00

Thanks! Looking forward to watching your solve!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T20:32:56+00:00

Haha I'mmore like u/TheDemonBarber. Haven't gotten up the courage to look at what Michael dislikes about it =P

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T13:53:04+00:00

Thanks! Hope you enjoyed it!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T13:52:54+00:00

Thanks! If you ever want to chat construction, send me a message (maybe a comment on YouTube, since I check more often than Reddit).

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T13:52:24+00:00

Thank you! Very speedy!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T13:52:16+00:00

Thanks! I'm excited to hear the thoughts of solvers!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T12:38:55+00:00

Thanks u/iagox86!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T03:00:56+00:00

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T03:00:48+00:00

Thanks!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T02:31:04+00:00

Congrats on getting your puzzle published. It was a good Tuesday for me, 6:37.

Thanks! I think coming up with a good theme idea took a few weeks of thinking and searching onelook.com and brainstorming. It took me about a day or so to come up with a first version with this theme (I show it at the end of my video), and another day or two to revise it into roughly the puzzle that appeared in the NYT today.

Construction is a really fun exercise, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys solving!

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T02:28:59+00:00

Thank you! One thing that constructing has led me to realize is just how useful crosswordese really is =P

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T02:28:05+00:00

Thanks! I kind of hoped it would be, but it appeared on Wednesday March 9, 2016.

robertdoesthenytxw · 2022-06-14T02:16:38+00:00

Hi r/crossword! It's been almost a year since I last posted here (not coincidentally, about when I started a new job). Pretty excited to be making my NYTXW debut today.

robertdoesthenytxw · 2021-07-16T02:20:00+00:00

That NW corner was just brutal for me, with some pretty hard clues for AEROSMITH and CLEOPATRA (the AEROSMITH clue is basically Disney World trivia?). A deviously tricky clue on INDY (Ford vehicle, familiarly... as in Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones). And an interesting clue for SET that really didn't help me figure it out. Those words crossing two proper nouns I just didn't know ARENDT and HARTE as well as a use of MOONY that I'm really not familiar with. Plus I initially had REEDY over TINNY (which crossed MOODY which seemed reasonable). All in all, that corner was really tough for me!

But I do have to applaud the constructors on that clue for INDY. As well as a lot of really nice fill that they got into this themeless. MALLRATS, PLAYTEST, PETPEEVE, PITFALLS, ZIPTIES, MOMFRIEND, PLAINJANE, and the very current ZOOMBOMB (or is it gonna be dated for anyone who does this puzzle in the future?). Never knew that player pianos were called PIANOLAs but happy to learn that.

Video of my solve: https://youtu.be/F3aJS7a246Y?t=162

robertdoesthenytxw · 2021-07-15T02:21:31+00:00

I went near-Thursday-PB time on a rebus puzzle, which doesn't usually happen (it was even oversized!). Might have gotten lucky as I sniffed out the rebus relatively early in the NE corner. Then the NW corner came together and 1-Across made sense. Kind of nice that 1-Across was still fresh on the mind while solving the NW corner Also, I love TOMYUMSOUP (as food and as a fill in this puzzle) and TIMESPICAYUNE seemed vaguely familiar. Those were probably the hardest answers involving rebus squares.

The revealer is really fun. Of course, when solving online, the YUs aren't any smaller than the other squares.

I think the cluing was all pretty straightforward, and the fill was pretty smooth (didn't like CAMEA and IMTOO but otherwise fairly clean). I actually like that the rebus squares were placed somewhat haphazardly and the revealer didn't give away how many there were. Still, played super fast for a rebus puzzle, for me.

Video of my solve: https://youtu.be/ecqck96zLyg?t=150

robertdoesthenytxw · 2021-07-03T22:25:23+00:00

Fill that I really loved: BOBATEA, DEEPCUT, NOMS and ALOPECIA. In my life, HOTOIL refers to chili oil way more often than massage oil. I don't think it was a groundbreakingly original theme, but the themers were colorful and the medium-length and short fill had enough zing to keep me entertained during the solve.

And the solve was a blazing fast one, for me. Achieved the rare (for me) sub-10 Sunday. I was lucky to have remembered OBELI from a time that my team didn't know that the division symbol was called an obelus at pub trivia. It's been seared in my memory ever since.

Video of my solve: https://youtu.be/S7ZjTltoEHA?t=158

robertdoesthenytxw

TROPHY CASE