Not as much time to cook up a fancy brunch this weekend: I had to take an unplanned trip to Cape Cod and back Monday and Tuesday, and I’ve also been spending time on that alphabetical jigsaw I commended to you Thursday.
In the New York Times (behind the paywall) is a Puns and Anagrams by Mel Taub. I’ll have the solution for you this afternoon. Blogging at Wordplay, Deb Amlen explains how Puns and Anagrams have grown on her. I agree that they’re easy for us hard-core puzzle fans, but that makes them a good gateway to the cryptic world. As I’ve said before, we need to have all the rungs on the ladder: you can’t expect even good straight crossword solvers to jump right into a alphabetical jigsaw or one of Kevin Wald’s brain-busters. Plus the P&A format lets constructors play with fun anagrams that wouldn’t work so well in a proper Ximenean cluing with definition, wordplay, and nothing else.
Meanwhile, Deb reports that the regular crossword by Patrick Berry has what she calls a “layered theme.” Just about anything by Berry is worth a go at, so look for the puzzle in the Times this weekend or in syndication next weekend.
The Wall Street Journal weekend puzzle is a Snowflake by Mike Shenk. A hint is posted if you need it. Speaking of Mike Shenk, here’s a nice profile from one of the local papers. Quite a collection of puzzling talent around there: Hex (Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon) also live in the Lancaster-Harrisburg area.
Hex have their regular weekly cryptic in the National Post. I thought it was more challenging than usual, and there are a pair of 15s in the grid crossed by two 11s. Falcon guides you through it as he does each week.
For fans of the British style, Liz has a new and possibly fiendish opus posted, including a PDF for those of you who solve on paper.
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