Jump: Today’s topic | Hard evidence
Note to readers: In the past, Wordplay marked crossword puzzle clues with quotation marks. However, when creating and editing crosswords, clues are usually given in parentheses, a practice that Wordplay now accepts.
Thursday Riddle – I’m hungry. are you hungry
Let’s dive into this crossword puzzle by Paolo Pascoe and Sarah Sinclair. It should satisfy our craving for fun puzzles. If you do the solution online, be careful not to get any pixels stuck in your teeth. I came out of the web.
And if for some reason you want to skip it, don’t, there’s a nice surprise when you’re full enough.
Today’s topic
At first I thought Mr. Pascoe and Ms. Sinclair’s circular grid represented a cell with all the parts rotating and the detector was something like “mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell.”
I was disabused of this idea when I approached the actual detector at 26A which read: [Pepperoni, mushroom or green pepper … or what each cluster of black squares represents in this puzzle]. The answer is pizza toppings, but I ran into a problem: the answer, like many entries for this puzzle, didn’t fit the space.
We all know what that means. This meant I spent a lot of time solving puzzles and not filling in the answers. This is the formula I use to say that the grid is full of rebus squares. These squares along the perimeter of the grid are shaded for better visibility
We were served a large pizza with delicious toppings, but that doesn’t explain why there are rebus inserts on the edge of the griddle. This is indicated by the second detector at 41A, which indicates: [Feature of a deluxe pie … and of this puzzle?]The deluxe feature is the stuffed crust, characterized by many characters in shaded squares.
I hope you finished the pizza—sorry, I mean puzzle—because as I typed the last message, the grid came to life in a way that made me hungrier.
Hard evidence
1 a. My first guess is [Château : France :: ___ : Spain]It was Casa before I found out about the rejection, but apparently I wasn’t thinking big enough. The answer is Castillo.
50 a. one [Rough houses?] It is a word that means to physically wrestle or play. A two-word formula, it literally means rough house and the answer is stucco.
At 66 [Vixen, e.g.] Not an old word for a lustful woman. This is Santa Claus’s reindeer.
3D. The [College team whose name is its home state minus two letters] It’s Fighting ILINI and the missing letters are O and S.
17 d. Do you think the designers talked about the instruments in the manual? [One of two heard in “This Kiss”]? not now But this sentence contains two short words.
24 days If a crossword puzzle clue is bracketed within the puzzle, the puzzle solver is asked to think of a nonverbal synonym. What would you do if you asked yourself? [[Is this still good?]]? You can smell the item in question.
36 D. This [Artist whose work has a wide reach?] He is a muralist as many of his murals are large scale.
59 D. Oh, if I were an Oscar Mayer… I really want to be…
Notes about the creator
I’ve read many builder’s notes in my time, but this is one of my favorites.
How to make pizza:
1. Think about Evan BernholzFehlstarts“He does it once a week or so.”
2. I wonder if there is another way to solve crossword puzzles where each overall answer has a fun/difficult quality.
3. You have an idea for a puzzle where each answer begins with a two-letter riddle involving a shrinking head detector.
4. A shrunken head may not be suitable for testing for breakfast. Maybe a pivot point.
5. Change the concept to “stuffed crust” with a two-letter repetition at the beginning and end of each entry.
6. Sarah implemented the suggested idea of a pizza-shaped grid with a two-letter paraphrase around it.
7. Admit it’s a good idea. Moving forward in cooperation.
“Hipster-friendly explorer. Award-winning coffee fan. Analyst. Problem solver. Troublemaker.”
