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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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 Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:49 am Post subject: 1 |
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I wrote a special wedding crossword for my nuptials that are happening in about two weeks. 98% of the crossword is standard puzzle fare, and only two clues are bride and groom specific (the ones with "Jess and Scott" in them).
I was wondering if you guys would be so kind as to try it out and tell me what works, what doesn't, and what can be improved REGARDING THE CLUES. The words themselves, unfortunately, are set in stone for reasons I don't want to get into without ruining the theme...once you get the theme, you can probably figure out why I can't change it at this point. I think there's really only one dud word.
I'm especially interested in people's favorite and least favorite clues.
Here's a link to solve it on the web, and if you're more of a pencil-and-paper kind of person, you can download a PDF link from there as well.
http://crossword.info/LordKinbote/A_Piece_of_You_Know_What
Thank you all in advance. |
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:50 am Post subject: 2 |
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| I've changed 32A to "Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom". |
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Zag
Tired of his old title
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:11 am Post subject: 3 |
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30A. The abbr. of abbr. is "abbr."
63A. I'm not sure it is accurate to describe an epee as pointless. In fact, the point is the only part of the sword that is used, except that modern epees have the point replaced by a safety tip. How about "Sword with a V-shaped blade"? or even just "Dueling sword"
Last edited by Zag on Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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jbvntx
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:15 am Post subject: 4 |
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I liked it very much. Very good theme words, fitting in with a wedding, and tied together with 42A. Here are a couple of suggestions that occurred while solving it...
46D - Soooo many people are soooo offended by this guy, that maybe a different clue would be more appropriate for a wedding setting. Depending on the crowd, of course.
63D - Epee has a point. It doesn't have an edge, or any right-of-way. At least back when I was in college. Sabre had both, and Foil just had a point.
7D - My first association with Enosh was a person (grandson of Adam & Eve). Maybe it's a city also?
Nice job. Some very clever clues in there.
_________________
jbv |
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:23 am Post subject: 5 |
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| Zag wrote: |
30A. The abbr. of abbr. is "abbr."
63A. I'm not sure it is accurate to describe an epee as pointless. In fact, the point is the only part of the sword that is used, except that modern epees have the point replaced by a safety tip. How about "Sword with a V-shaped blade"? or even just "Dueling sword" |
Fixed. Thanks. |
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:26 am Post subject: 6 |
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| jbvntx wrote: |
I liked it very much. Very good theme words, fitting in with a wedding, and tied together with 42A. Here are a couple of suggestions that occurred while solving it...
46D - Soooo many people are soooo offended by this guy, that maybe a different clue would be more appropriate for a wedding setting. Depending on the crowd, of course.
63D - Epee has a point. It doesn't have an edge, or any right-of-way. At least back when I was in college. Sabre had both, and Foil just had a point.
7D - My first association with Enosh was a person (grandson of Adam & Eve). Maybe it's a city also?
Nice job. Some very clever clues in there. |
Thank you for the comments.
46D - Maybe I'll change it...I don't know, it's just so timely, I couldn't resist. I think it would take a lot for a name alone to not pass the breakfast test.
63D - Noted and changed. I tried so hard to think of a different clue for the word, I erred. How is "Sword for parries and thrusts"?
7D - The place is named after the person...I might clue it after the person though. |
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Zag
Tired of his old title
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:31 am Post subject: 7 |
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I liked it also, and could solve it, which means that it is WAY to easy for, say, Pablo (and lots of others here) but probably makes it good for your average wedding guest.
If many of your guests are geezers like me, you might want a different clue for "He-man" than one you have to be under 25 to know the reference. But I was able to get it eventually. |
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jbvntx
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:32 am Post subject: 8 |
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46D - how about "Controversial 2009 movie role"? or "Film character we most hope doesn't crash our wedding"?
Congratulations, by the way.
_________________
jbv |
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Zag
Tired of his old title
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:34 am Post subject: 9 |
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| LordKinbote wrote: |
| How is "Sword for parries and thrusts"? |
I think that's fine, though pretty much all swords are for parrying, and most are for thrusting. You could say "Tool for parries and thrusts."
Oh, yeah! Congratulations!
Run now! It's not too late!!
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:36 am Post subject: 10 |
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| Zag wrote: |
I liked it also, and could solve it, which means that it is WAY to easy for, say, Pablo (and lots of others here) but probably makes it good for your average wedding guest.
If many of your guests are geezers like me, you might want a different clue for "He-man" than one you have to be under 25 to know the reference. But I was able to get it eventually. |
Oh, I definitely could have made it more difficult, but as you said, the average person who will be doing it is not someone who is doing the NYT every morning.
My original clue for "He-Man" was "Guardian of Eternia" which would have been even more esoteric. I think the "She-ra" clue is easier due to the parallel naming of the characters. For what it's worth, He-Man is a character from the early eighties, which means you'd have to be closer to 35 to be a kid when it was on TV. A 25-year-old wouldn't even have been born then. |
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:38 am Post subject: 11 |
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| jbvntx wrote: |
| Congratulations, by the way. |
Thank you.
| Zag wrote: |
Oh, yeah! Congratulations!
Run now! It's not too late!! |
And thank you. And yes it is.  |
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Quailman
His Postmajesty
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:55 pm Post subject: 12 |
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| ...or for Epee, "Pentathlete's implement" |
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L'lanmal
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject: 13 |
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Congrats!
33D - Some locations (including the one I taught at) do award "E"s rather than "F"s as failing grades. Your milage may vary. The answer was clear though.
For 46D, I'll offer "Dancing with the Stars judge Tonioli" as a US alternative. I would not have known the 2009 movie, but that is just ignorance and not distaste. |
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:04 pm Post subject: 14 |
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| L'lanmal wrote: |
Congrats!
33D - Some locations (including the one I taught at) do award "E"s rather than "F"s as failing grades. Your milage may vary. The answer was clear though. |
The funny thing is I'm a teacher and at my school, we DON'T give Fs, we give En, which stands for "Enriched". The logic is that by being in the class, you've been enriched, even if you didn't pass. I know, I know...
But I think the vast majority of schools still run on an A,B,C,D,F scale. |
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Lepton*
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:40 am Post subject: 15 |
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22 down is a bit ambiguous, especially if you don't have 21 across, which I think is kind of hard. I don't get the abbreviation for 4 down.
Quite good, actually. It's probably just the right difficulty for a 20-minute session for the average well-read-but-not-a-solver type. Good luck with everything! |
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Lepton*
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:42 am Post subject: 16 |
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| Never mind, I get 4 down. Stupid me. |
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ralphmerridew
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:01 pm Post subject: 17 |
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| IIRC, 55 Down is a neversaid; it should be "All we want are the _____, ma'am." |
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Courk
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:43 pm Post subject: 18 |
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Congratulations!
I see nothing wrong with the puzzle. I've not finished solving it, but I've gotten most of it, so I think 2+ people should be able to get it with no problem. |
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:14 am Post subject: 19 |
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| ralphmerridew wrote: |
| IIRC, 55 Down is a neversaid; it should be "All we want are the _____, ma'am." |
Hey, you're right! The question is, is the fact that most people know it as the way I've quoted it, even if it's erroneous, a good enough reason not to change it?
Or I could just come up with a different clue entirely. |
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Lepton*
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:55 am Post subject: 20 |
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| I went with "truth" first, and google gives three times as many hits for "just the truth" as it does for "just the facts". Vote: ralphmerridew's clue. |
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L'lanmal
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:20 am Post subject: 21 |
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| Perhaps entitle it a piece of _ _ _ _, rather than a piece of ****, if it is not intended to make people try to fill in an expletive for the blank. |
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PuzzleScot
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:58 am Post subject: 22 |
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Nice one.
my only comment would be with 61D - Latin for black is 'niger' or 'nigra'. (hence 'negroid', 'Nigeria' and 'Niger')
"Latin for 'dark' " would be better...
Other than that, I only had trouble in the top-left corner... |
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LordKinbote
Daedalian Member
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| Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:19 am Post subject: 23 |
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| L'lanmal wrote: |
| Perhaps entitle it a piece of _ _ _ _, rather than a piece of ****, if it is not intended to make people try to fill in an expletive for the blank. |
Actually, that was the very intention. Since it's not intended for publication, I could get away with such things.
I changed the Latin clue and the "Just the ____" clue based on the comments here. Thanks! |
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JDTAY
obseletes now
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| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 2:23 pm Post subject: 24 |
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| Just solved it. Two things: First, I don't get the theme. Second, why does every crossword ever have to have iota in it? |
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Zag
Tired of his old title
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| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:57 pm Post subject: 25 |
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| 42A named the theme, and the the singular version of that goes in the blank in the title. (Hint: NOT an expletive.) |
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