Puzzle #439: Shapely Crossword
Posted February 16, 2010 • #shapely #crossword
This big Shapely Crossword contains a special key grid that you must fill in order to get the meta clue!
Comments
David Millar • 06/02/10 6:16 am
Thanks again for the feedback Grant. I tried changing the B-Across clue to "Throwing items in Halo" and C-Across to "Might consist of an adj. or 2". J-Down is fixed and the Meta clue is fixed, but I'm still not sure of a good clue for D-Down. I'll post the updated PDF in roughly 10 minutes.
mathgrant • 06/01/10 7:36 pm
I like how the gimmick of each shape representing one of 4 letters makes unchecked letters easier, but not too easy. :) A few things I'd like to point out:
B-Across (the second): I haven't found this word in any dictionary besides Urban Dictionary. It seems to be a slangy term for a real-world weapon, used amongst players of a number of first-person shooters. I'm not saying you have to change the word, but it's probably going to trip up any solver who hasn't heard of the term already. :)
C-Across: In general, it's more rewarding for the solver to be given a clue for the word to abbreviate than just the word to itself. (For instance, instead of "September: abbr.", consider "It follows Aug.") To a far lesser extent, this also applies to E-Down.
D-Down: "Anne Frank verb (past tense)" seems to be a poor clue. "Emulated Anne Frank" might be better -- and it still seems like a poor clue, IMO. Any number of one-word synonyms would make a better clue, albeit a terse one.
J-Down: Clue should have a hyphen in it ("___-Doo").
Meta-clue: The fourth letter should be a blue square overlapping a red left triangle.