tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Aunt Hildegarde Visits My Cousins

Aunt Hildegarde loves visiting relatives. Indeed, a few years ago, I visited her and her sisters and came away with some pretty strong preferences.

Last week a got a text from her saying she'd just met a celebrity and it changed all her preferences. (The celebrity part was unusual; the rest was not.) I braced myself for a visit, but it turns out she went to my cousins' instead--the three of them share a house, and apparently our dear aunt has been expressing all kinds of opinions to them, left, right, and center. So many, in fact, that I lost track of which ones told me which things in our group chat:

  • We were talking about castles and she said she likes BALFOUR but not WINDSOR.
  • Off to the liquor store since she suddenly prefers BEEFEATER to HENDRICK'S.
  • I guess she likes DEEP BLUE and not WATSON now?
  • She wants to visit DISTILLERIES but avoid WINERIES.
  • I found her playing my DUKE ELLINGTON records and trying to sell my MILES DAVIS records on eBay.
  • Now she's reading ELLERY QUEEN instead of STEPHEN KING.
  • How can she even prefer FREIGHT over CARGO? What's the difference?
  • Somehow she prefers HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ to PARDUBICE when it comes to Czech regions. What's that about?
  • Out of nowhere she declared a preference for JAYWALKING over LITTERING.
  • Help! She says she wants a KITTEN and won't accept a PUPPY.
  • She just expressed a preference for STRYCHNINE over CYANIDE. Should I be worried?
  • Apparently this Christmas we have to go WASSAILING instead of CAROLING.

I don't envy them. But...who did Aunt Hildegarde meet?


Her sister Aunt Hortense prefers using an answer checker to never knowing if she's right. But that's not a quirk; that's just common sense.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

This seemed like a good idea when I started. At least I learned a lot?

NOTE: several errors have been corrected.


One Battle After Another

"Classic" makes me think of Coca-Cola Classic, introduced at what may have been the height of the cola wars. But...how do you even fight cola wars?

Note: this puzzle is best read in the solemn intonations of Morgan Freeman, Sam Waterston, et al, with "Ashokan Farewell" playing in the background. That won't help you solve the puzzle, but it sets a mood.


My dearest Bunny,

We have been marching through this valley for what seems like days, with no signs of shade. Our commanding officer tells us that we are out of sight of anyone looking, so we don't know why our enemy has clear-cut the entire region; not one tuft remaining. The distant hills are quite scenic, though we're told the general never really takes in the view and only invaded for the articles. I think of nothing but returning to you in our penthouse once the war ends.


My sweet Vi,

It is hard to concentrate on this letter in the midst of battle, with the bangs of our cannons ringing out. We thought we had the enemy pinned down, but once again they were able to escape, as they always seem to do. Complex combinations seem the key to their strategy, whether we are in attack mode or defense mode. It feels as if this war has gone on forever, with no end in sight, and though I signed up for this battle five years ago, I am wondering if the time has come to lay down my weapons and open an office.


My darling Václav,

I had hoped our battle might end soon, but again my hopes were dashed. I should have thought that a single line between our nations would bring about peace, but those on the other side insist on having no line at all, even though our capitals suffer. So once again the night is punctuated by gunfire, and during the day we try to close the gap between us and them. We are nearing three years of battle and the only resolution I can imagine is for both sides to resolve to go their separate ways.


My beloved Isambard,

Here on the ground, the tumult continues. The breadth of our dispute is notable, and whenever we encounter the enemy, confusion reigns. Our supply lines cannot survive this chaos much longer, yet it pains me to see so many rally to our enemy's standard. Their narrow views will break us all, each and every one, and I am not sure our side, though it be in the right, can last much longer; retreat to the southwest may be our last chance.


My cherished Isaac,

I swore I would never desert my allies nor my compatriots, but I am reaching my limit. I know victory is integral to our nation's pride, and yet everything seems to converge on this conclusion: that the war is unwinnable, that neither side shall retreat, that we might each get closer and closer to victory but that we shall never bridge that final, infinitesimal gap. I can no longer differentiate good from evil, and five years away from you is too much time apart.


My charming Othniel,

For three days we have camped next to this field, with our enemy on the far side. The air is filled with the sounds of hammer against anvil, which stir up fear within each of us. We are chilled to the marrow, shivers running down our spines; nothing in our situation is humorous. We are all too aware that tomorrow we take the field, and the majority of us will remain where we fall, to be picked apart by scavengers until all that remains of us bleaches white in the sun.


My loving Veronica,

When our navigator first brought us to this beach, we thought we had earned a reprieve from the war. It took but a brief search to find sites for encampments, and for five days we had little to do but surf and make mosaics from shells and driftwood. Today, however, we sighted an explorer from the opposing army, giving us a window into their movements. Conquest has found us, and the time has come to man the communicators and announce our surrender. Soon I shall return to you, and we may live out our days far from the edge of the enemy's territory and resume, perhaps, our excursions to the opera.


My dearest Abigail: I have been shot in the answer checker and fear I shall need it amputated.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Every puzzle writer reaches a point where they must decide: do I not use "Helena, Hussy of Horror" because it is too obscure? Or can I not possibly not use "Helena, Hussy of Horror" because it is too awesome?

I think it's clear how I answered. Sorry this took forever to post; I had the idea and then had to keep tweaking it until I got something that worked. I think there's a lot to say about elegance of design and where it can or can't get compromised, but I'll just leave this here.


We Regret the Airer

We here at Rerun Television have updated our nightly schedules for our eleven channels. We've even updated our midnight block of "Re-Reruns", where each channel reruns a show from a different channel, though we might have lost track of that somewhere.

Channel 8pm-9pm 9pm-10pm 10pm-11pm 11pm-midnight Midnight-6am: Re-Reruns
RTV-① EastEnders iCarly SpongeBob SquarePants TekWar
RTV-② The Bletchley Circle Between the Lines Pawn Stars Square Pegs
RTV-③ Castle Forever Knight The Joey Bishop Show The King of Queens
RTV-④ 9-1-1: Nashville Austin City Limits Helena, Hussy of Horror Percy Jackson and the Olympians
RTV-⑤ Boston Legal $#*! My Dad Says Star Trek T. J. Hooker
RTV-⑥ Below Decks Green Acres Perry Mason Third Watch
RTV-⑦ Being Human Kindred: the Embraced Port Charles True Blood
RTV-⑧ Grey's Anatomy Orphan Black The Real Housewives of Orange County Red Dwarf
RTV-⑨ Dead Like Me Frasier iZombie Reaper
RTV-⑩ Big Brother Brazil Diners, Drive-ins and Dives Monuments, Memorials, & Museums Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
RTV-⑪ Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage Jon & Kate Plus 8 Law & Order: SVU Love & Hip Hop

Worried that we have half-hour shows in hour blocks? It's fine; we just added more commercials so that everything can start on the hour. That should make it easier to cycle through the channels looking for your favorite show. There's an obvious way to cycle, of course, but here's what our resident critic had to say about the Re-Rerun block:

Reed M. Innordar, TV critic: Once you've found the right way to cycle through the channels, you'll want to switch back to the first channel in the cycle, which obviously is RTV-4. Then flip through the channels in this order: 4th in the cycle (which again is obviously RTV-2), then 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 11th, and 9th.

It's all a bit confusing, we realize, and we really hope we didn't misread what Reed was telling us. If so, we regret the error.


Curb Your Enthusiasm? Press Your Luck? Check Your Answer?

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

I spent a while trying to do something with "outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, outplanned" and "outwit, outplay, outlast". That never happened, obviously.


Coming Out

Sometimes, something needs to come out.

  • Computer language developed in the early 80s → Around a 78, if there's not a grading curve
  • Islamic mendicant → When tripled, an even-handed, mediocre exposition
  • Enbies reject its binary nature → Titular pre-teen mass murderer of aliens
  • Descriptor for a soul or a Highlander → Descriptor for a tarnished soul or a third of the things Alexander Woollcott likes to do
  • Someone compassionate and charming, like everyone else born from September 22 to October 22, apparently → Something you can still spend in Turkey but no longer in Italy
  • Surface for holding food or recorded music → The contents of "The Major-General's Song" or "Ya Got Trouble", say
  • What's left after something is taken out → String around a finger, perhaps
  • Like pilots, soldiers, and many schoolchildren → Early enough in development to not have a definite shape

31353341


"We gotta make an all out stand; ayo I'm gonna need an answer checker!"

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Some Pantheons Are Better Than Others

Hey, did you hear the one about the insomniac agnostic dyslexic?

Pantheon 1

  1. A Greek statue of an anvil
  2. A Greek statue of a grapevine
  3. A Greek statue of a trident
  4. A Greek statue of a hearth
  5. A Greek statue of a peacock
  6. A Greek statue of a poppy
  7. A Greek statue of a staff with snakes
  8. A Greek statue of a bee
  9. A Greek statue of a bow and arrow

Pantheon 2

  • Dnuub, whose realm is domesticity
  • Ekiak, whose realm is travel
  • Ijneab, whose realm is moon
  • Kcabegir, whose realm is love
  • Nekuhsk, whose realm is wine
  • Nuorettew, whose realm is fire
  • Uniabih, whose realm is sea
  • Whc, whose realm is marriage
  • Zthihs, whose realm is agriculture

You ain't nothin' but an answer checker, cryin' all the time.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Why is "win, place, show" where my mind went with PLACE? No idea. But I've been a fan of Sandy Weisz's "Raddle" for a while now, and I wanted to see what it would be like to write one. Or three. If you're not familiar with them, it wouldn't hurt to play through one or two of his, so you can see what they look like when they're good. Also when there's not three of them mixed together.


WIN to ?, PLACE to ?, SHOW to ?

WIN PLACE SHOW
(1) (5) (4)
(3) (3) (6)
(4) (5) (6)
(7) (5) (8)
(9) (6) (8)
_______ _______ _______
  1. Add an "A" to X and anagram to get something positive? → Y
  2. Add two letters before the last letter of X to get a drink → Y
  3. Add two letters to the start of X to get a spot
  4. Change a letter in X to get a weather phenomenon → Y
  5. Change one letter in X to get a job → Y
  6. Change one letter in X to get a period of calm → Y
  7. Change one letter in X to get a site → Y
  8. Remove an "I" from X and anagram to get a venue
  9. Remove the first and last letters of X to get a pronoun → Y
  10. The colorful part of XY
  11. Time of year associated with XY
  12. Two before X, or two after XY
  13. What X was an ancient deity of → Y
  14. X sounds like this part of the body → Y
  15. X Y, a civil rights group
  16. X Y, a long hiatus
  17. Y and X, a famous novel
  18. Y X, a common mixer

You know what else Sandy Weisz's organization, Mystery League, provides? This answer checking website.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

If I'm learning anything from this experience, it's that it's much easier to throw together a puzzle if you don't terribly care to make sure it's solvable. Here's hoping.


KITCHEN Counter

The thing about cooking is that you throw in whatever you've got, and measuring is for chumps. Whereas in baking, if you don't measure things really, really exactly, your oven will explode and your cats will abandon you. Anyway, this recipe involves baking, I guess.

Gramma Jaqua's Oozy Goo
2 c cocoa, dutch processed
1 c chocolate chips
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs, lightly whipped
4 tbsp oil, divided
2 c skim milk, simmered
dash artificial vanilla
1/2 c light maple syrup
1 c creme de cacao
1 tub chocolate icing

Mix in a bowl. Garnish. Avoid (so gross).


Preheat answer checker to 350°. While waiting, reconsider the life choices that led you to try to make this.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Have I done cryptolists? I feel like I haven't done cryptolists. Not that I swear this is a good idea.


Mixins

Honestly, I can never remember if concrete is the base substance, or if there's something you have to mix together to get concrete.

AIUIGZ BCMYCWFC BJWNTY BPSMX BSYSGI
DUCPRKL EMUCFCUV FJHJAN FLDUO GSWXW
JAZAFI JGXFTQ JUUO KLQQR KMTW
KUZASLTU LSMB MAMAL MAML-MAKL MAVVUU
MGKGZO MOFOIZ NKOON NLQTWOP PAZAHO
RQO RSTW RTDK SCZTF SMOMJW
UPSMT USPT UYCFLGF VMUEWSTT XMPO
XUUWCF YVJVGF YZJZAO ZGZZ ZRKN
13 + ________ = 13
8 + ________ = 6

And a real, solid, concrete answer checker.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

OK, I'm back. Things get hard sometimes. (In this case, I had a mental block that I just had to get....)


Over

"Commencing first training mission of the newly-formed NATO Defense Time Travel Unit. Everyone sound off in turn with an item from your provided lists. Indicate comprehension with a simple 'Yankee' for yes and 'November' for no."

"Yoke!" "Yorker!" "Yokohama!" "Young!"
A Rent character A Fortune 500 company A European country A Gashlycrumb girl
A woodwind A baking ingredient A member of the Coppola family A state capital
A Commodores single A British relative A winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture An acting nominee at the 97th Academy Awards

"Uh, squadron leader, detecting an answer checker on your six."

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

I'm With the Band

OK, but what are you?

  1. A Toyota Prius (6 6)
  2. Exhibitionism (3 6)
  3. Thorondor (3 5)
  4. Liv Moore (3 6)
  5. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (5 4)
  6. Alfalfa (4 6)
  7. Moe (4 3)
  8. Jiminy (5 7)
  9. Walking on water (4 7)
  10. James Deane (7 6)
  11. Rumpelstiltskin (4 7)
  12. Yerba mate (6 4)
  13. Fruit of the tree of knowledge (6 7)
  14. Steel Vengeance (5 3)

I'm a picker, I'm a grinner, I'm a lover, and I'm an answer checker.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Not my best clue phrase (and honestly there was a better choice available for the prompt), but here we are.


Arroyos

The answer is four letters.

  1. Pierre is so rich, it seems like he owns a houvery city in France. (1)
  2. Niasony often helps out at her church when the deaes on vacation. (3)
  3. Ekaterin keeps bees that polte the flowers she grows. (2)
  4. Paulo declared his home a "No Dre" after one too many screaming fights. (1)
  5. Sarah is such a prude that when she saw Michelangelo's David, she tried to cover hidness. (4)
  6. Marlon hates how the oil srs everywhere when he fries chicken. (6)
  7. Marie likes to be frank, but finds people often take hesty as rudeness. (1)
  8. Rajesh hopes to disrupt the music try with his self-playing guitar. (5)
  9. Whenever Jean-Claude travels to Dublin, he murmurs "Helland" when the plane lands. (4)
  10. Francesca bought a tramline to see if she could do backflips. (2)
  11. Ahmed invested in NFTs and was left penss when the bubble burst. (3)
  12. Nigel arrived at Parliament wisage from the King. (5)

An earlier version of this puzzle misspelled "Helland". The error has been corrected.


Take me to the answer checker, dip me in the water, washing me down, washing me down

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Mysteries of the Ancients

What better time than '26 to look back?

  • Episode 1, "Ancient Murder": Crime is as old as civilization. We examine a murder among our distant ancestors and what, if anything, they would have done to catch the killer.
  • Episode 2, "Ancient Board Games": How did our distant ancestors entertain themselves? We take the surviving elements of a board game they played and try to reconstruct its rules.
  • Episode 3, "Ancient Celebrations": Long before we set dates on calendars to honor people and memorialize events, our distant ancestors created their own recurring observances.
  • Episode 4, "Ancient Entertainment": It wasn't just stories around the fire! Evidence suggests our distant ancestors gathered in locations designed for amusement.
  • Episode 5, "Ancient Mariner": All too often we think about our distant ancestors as "hunters and gatherers", but coastal civilizations would rely on the ocean as well. We look into not just their boats but their primitive scuba gear.
  • Episode 6, "Ancient Emotions": Did our distant ancestors experience feelings the way we do? We consider some defining events in their lives that made them who they were.
  • Episode 7, "Ancient Aliens": Were our distant ancestors visited by spacecraft? If the captain and crew of one of them were trapped here, what could we learn about them?
  • Episode 8, "Ancient Computers": Recent discoveries suggest our distant ancestors developed computational devices. Do none survive because of a war between man and machine?
  • Episode 9, "Ancient Horrors": Did our distant ancestors worship elder gods? Did they believe in monsters? What were their fears? We look through ancient stories to find out.
  • Episode 10, "Ancient Theater": What did our distant ancestors do for entertainment? We examine surviving scripts, some of which may be pieced together from two different sources.

Did you know our distant ancestors also had answer checkers? BUILT BY ALIENS?

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Getting slightly ahead of the every-two-days pace, here's...it seemed like a good idea when I started, and by the eighth or ninth clue I started really, really hating it. Here's hoping it's better than I think.


The Call Sign of the Wild

It seemed like for the entire first half of my cross-country drive, I couldn't get anything on the radio except very staticky station identification. At least I got some recommendations for the second half?

  • "You're listening to...you're tuned in, you must think everyone should tune in! And if you're ever in Indiana, listen to our sister sta...at 101.1: music you crave, music you desire, musi..."
  • "...top of the hour here a...the hits you want to hold onto! Whole lot more upbeat than my last j...ern Ohio...100.3, Sad Songs All Day. Real tearj..."
  • "You're bringing it up a notch here on...rom the West Coast, while in Missouri, wh..."The Candle", 97.2, lighting up your ni..."
  • "...your friendly DJ playing the gentle music you lo...mething gentle for your friends in Rhode Island on 97.2 "The Breeze"..."
  • "Let's get a big ol' moooooo for your friends here in the stu...nnsylvania, where th...101.2, "The Vineyard", whic..."
  • "Reignin' supreme here on...adio, just like our friends flying high at 89.3, Maine's favo..."
  • "...keepin' it weird here o...ton's home for whatever you're into. And let's shout ou...100.1 in West Virginia, who're keeping one eye open at all times, if you know what I mean...."
  • "When you're liste...s, you're as dear to us as our own kin! And spea...riends at 103.3...accompanying Illinois folks on their drive home, right by their sid..."
  • "You know us, sly as little foxes here a...just like those funny g...101.3 in New Jersey, your station for 24-hour comed..."
  • "....love 70s funk, which is why I'm thrilled to join The Gang here o...back home in Connecticut, where I...106.1, "like a warm blanket of music," we'd ca..."

We're giving away tickets to the first five callers, so get your answers ready and call 'em in!

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

I thought it would be much easier to make a crossword grid in HTML than it turned out to be. Maybe if I had access to CSS files instead of having to jam "background-color:black" into every "td" tag? Well, whatever.

You can also use the grid from 7xwords on September 16 but it'll think you got all the answers wrong.


In a Manner of Speaking

ACROSS

  1. He offered a nude eel
  2. You'll be sad if it's mist
  3. Sell occupants
  4. Start of a whole
  5. They're often raced off Rhodes
  6. "Born" organization
  7. Which action

DOWN

  1. Cars currently running it
  2. Pear
  3. Tony-award winning musical with rap
  4. Earth's second largest is the choral
  5. Prepare metal for Prince, perhaps
  6. "Say la ___"
  7. Coltrane's was usually a tenner

Sounds like you want to check your answer here.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

Yup, averaging about a puzzle every two days. Sounds right.


Janitorial Path

Welcome, new hire! We're starting you out with an easy little cleanup job. Building's over there--just gather up the letters at the start, feel free to drop anything in the recycling bin before you enter, and just go through and clean up all of the stray letters in the rooms There's a bin in each one, where you can drop any letter you don't need, and it'll get upcycled into a brand-new letter.

Of course, you'll want to make sure when you enter a room that the word you're carrying fits that room's category. So don't try just running straight through and shoving everything into bins willy-nilly; you'll need to plot out a path.

I'll see you when you come out in the southeast corner, where you can drop whatever word you've got onto the blanks there. And keep it friendly; no room for negative emotions in this company.

A grid of rooms, 5 across by 3 down, with an open door connecting each adjacent pair, plus an open door into the northwest and southeast rooms; see below for contents

(Click through for a larger image. Full text description: a grid of rooms, 5 across by 3 down, with openings connecting all adjacent rooms, and openings in the outer walls in the northwest and southeast. Outside the northeast room is the word START and a blank recycling bin; outside the southeast room are four blanks. In each room is a recycling bin with a number; a large letter; and a smaller word or phrase. Reading from left to right, top to bottom, they are in order: +1/C/Dessert; -5/K/Skill; -8/J/Fastener; +7/T/Hair; +11/A/Salt Source; -6/I/Security; +5/L/Athlete; +13/O/Card; -2/M/Chess Term; +12/E/Dynasty; -11/N/Salt Source; -7/K/Connector; +10/G/Quirk; +6/P/Drink; +0/H/Appetizer.)


When you're done with your answer, be sure to drop it in the answer checker for proper disposal.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)
Invisiclues

Invisiclues were just the best hint system ever. You could reveal them one at a time to avoid spoiling too much, and they got progressively more helpful. Plus there was always something thrown in that wasn't even part of the game.

  1. I don't believe this puzzle idea is any good any more.
  2. How do I improve the writing before I run out of time?
  3. I can't get any work done with the police siren going off!
  4. I need to typeset the puzzle's grid.
  5. It's 3am and I can't unlock my computer!
  6. I have a hunch my computer's running out of power.
  7. How can I give my puzzle more character?
  8. The hype around Enigmarch is too much to take.

(Hint 1/3) Are you    re it's plugged in?
(Hint 1/3) Certain words are a    lbreaker for lively writing.
(Hint 1/3) Have you    ed looking for a password?
(Hint 1/3) The her    tea wasn't enough to calm your nerves.
(Hint 1/3) Including a sla   r-film antagonist was too threatening.
(Hint 1/3) What you have now is better than your   itial work.
(Hint 1/3) You could    ase your entire head in something sound dampening.
(Hint 1/3) You'll need to handcraft some black and white pixel squares first.

(Hint 2/3) But     ks to the aquarium between you and the window, you don't need to.
(Hint 2/3) Getting out a    re power cord might help.
(Hint 2/3) Make sure you have a ruler and compass for alignment.
(Hint 2/3) Maybe you should mark them for    etion?
(Hint 2/3) Perhaps a singer would be ha   ess enough?
(Hint 2/3) You need to    ure out a way to stop it from distracting you.
(Hint 2/3) You sim    need something stronger.
(Hint 2/3) You wrote it on the ma   a envelope on your desk.

(Hint 3/3) >    ETE FIRST DRAFT
(Hint 3/3) >   PE "XYZZY" INTO BOX
(Hint 3/3) > ADD R   STAR TO CLUES
(Hint 3/3) > CONN    LAPTOP TO POWER SOURCE
(Hint 3/3) > POUR WA    IN TANK
(Hint 3/3) > S   T HEROIN
(Hint 3/3) > UNDERL    EVERY ADVERB
(Hint 3/3) There is no grid in this puzzle. Stop reading all the hints.


Erratum: an earlier draft of this puzzle was missing the "e" in "etion" in the fourth 2/3 clue. The error has been fixed.


Highlight here to reveal the answer checker.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)

I wanted to avoid just having lots of lists of clues. Need to get out of my comfort zone, right? Well, not today.




Things Fall Apart

The center cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. How can we fix it?



  1. Springtime joint

  2. Taxi sheep

  3. Policeman twitch

  4. Pro sawbuck

  5. Inmate dined

  6. Updated apiece

  7. Average lady

  8. Specific mineral


Some centers: alternatives, container, drink, judge, orientation, saw, spring, support




Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the answer cannot hear the answer checker.

tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)
Today's puzzle brought to by "just put something out there, it doesn't have to be good".



How very colorful!




And as always, an answer checker.
tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)
Oh god it's March again! You know what that means!

We're starting with "list of clues", because I haven't the energy for anything fancier.




Spice Bland

The ten dishes at the top didn't come out very well and need seasoning. I'd recommend sprinkling something on them, which will get you the much better dishes at the bottom.

  1. A serious enthusiast, sometimes verging on extremist [1]

  2. Digestive liquid (or humour) found in the gallbladder [6]

  3. D&D spellcaster, though only in the second edition [1]

  4. Online invitation website [3]

  5. Trig function used to measure vector similarity [2]

  6. Apiece [7]

  7. Sulked [6]

  8. Structural part of a boat [3]

  9. Hills of sand [8]

  10. TV series with Billy Porter as an emcee in the New York ball culture [4]


  • Arabic-derived name for Ptolemy's "Mathematical Treatise" (8)

  • Assumed something to be true as a starting point (10)

  • Band whose lead singer, Dan Smith, was born on July 14 (8)

  • "Canvas" for a fresco (7)

  • Colombia has two, separated by Panama (in contrast to Ecuador's one and Bolivia's zero) (10)

  • Group in which Matthias replaced a missing member in the fifth book (8)

  • Hovers without means of support (9)

  • Like literature with elves and magic (or, per Jacques, like a musician's melancholy) (11)

  • Showing no fear, like a Divergent faction (9)

  • With nothing but bones remaining (8)



And of course the traditional answer checker.
tahnan: It's pretty much me, really. (Default)
Behold: Enigmarch done, before May!




Grid and Bear It

"Puzzle" is such a broad prompt, but for a lot of people it means the Nikoli-style logic puzzle found on this site and its sibling sites. Unfortunately, I'm terrible at writing these. Fortunately, I'm excellent at solving them, and you've put up with a lot from me, so in order to end things on an easy note, I've picked eight puzzles and solved them for you. If you want, you can use the provided links to solve them yourself, but why bother?

(Note: most of them will default to the right puzzle type, but for Mosaic and Renzoku, make sure you choose the right type, because the sites for those default to something else. I was going to link to them directly, but while you can request a specific puzzle, you can't link to them. Grr. The numbers are otherwise meaningless; I just picked the first puzzle it gave me.)

Mosaic 7,325,142 (Go here to solve online)

Hitori 3,536,106 (Go here to solve online)

Slant 1,602,243 (Go here to solve online)

Tapa 4,338,385 (Go here to solve online)

Kakurasu 3,004,550 (Go here to solve online)

Shakashaka 9,033,544 (Go here to solve online)

Heyawake 10,045,921 (Go here to solve online)

Renzoku 8,381,330 (Go here to solve online)



As always, click on the images for larger versions.




Like I said, everything's already solved for you, but since I always include an answer checker anyway, here you go.