Latest news with #Puzzmo
Washington Post
06-04-2025
- Automotive
- Washington Post
Solution to Evan Birnholz's April 6 crossword, ‘Fork in the Road'
Hello from Stamford, Connecticut. I'm attending the 2025 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and earlier this weekend I was a featured speaker at the second Crossword Con presented by Puzzmo. I'll have a lot more to say about both events next week. For now, today's blog post will be fairly brief — quite a lot of crossword business to attend to this weekend. Today's odd puzzle features eight clues with parenthetical car makes, and the answers turn diagonally up or down in the direction of the corresponding circled car models, then ending on a new line. But that's not all. Each car is paired with another such that they cross each other at specific circled squares: The intersections of these cars spell out RAMP, which is the revealer at 107D: [What each circled model in this puzzle ascends or descends, and what's spelled by the letters where the models cross]. Just as I have been doing more and more recently, I drew once again from the asymmetrical well to make this puzzle. Once I decided on tying the diverging theme answers together with RAMP, and given that I wanted the start of each theme answer to be a legitimate word on its own, that basically forced asymmetry into the grid. Even a year or two ago this might have bothered me enough that I would have shelved the puzzle and redesigned it entirely, but I think I'm just ready to fully accept that symmetry can be discarded on demand. The puzzle may not have existed otherwise. What did you think?
Washington Post
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Solution to Evan Birnholz's March 16 crossword, ‘Folk Groups'
A couple of personal announcements before discussing today's puzzle: (1) First, I'll be giving a short talk at the second annual Crossword Con in New York City on April 4. It's a half-day conference presented by Puzzmo, featuring some other folks in the crossword business sharing their perspectives from a wide variety of topics. I wasn't able to attend last year's Crossword Con, but I was able to watch the videos of the talks of the 2024 conference on YouTube afterward. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to it, and big thanks to Puzzmo editor Brooke Husic for giving me a slot. Check out that top link for more information and consider buying a ticket if you'll be in the area that day — and then come to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament later that evening!
