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Yes, this is yet another blog posting the occasional crossword puzzle. This despite there being no shortage of great independent crossword puzzles out there. So what do we bring to the table that other places don’t? Well, open up this puzzle and you’ll see a few things immediately:
- This puzzle is asymmetric. It’s really not even close to being symmetric. For this particular grid, asymmetry was a necessity, and I didn’t feel like compromising the theme for symmetry’s sake. Speaking of which:
- There are only three theme entries. Very little theme for a puzzle these days, with five being the de facto minimum. We’re going with very little theme when necessary.
- There are over 20 3-letter entries. Is that bad? Does it negatively impact the solving experience? You tell me, but I vote no.
- This puzzle is quite easy. I expect expert solvers to blow through this one in record time, unless of course they’d like to spice it up a bit.
For me, what you need from a crossword is fun. I don’t know that tons of theme and a symmetric puzzle and an arbitrary constraint on 3-letter entries adds up to a fun puzzle. However, if you’re like me and you struggle with the later-week puzzles, you might want to consider this a refreshing breeze on a Friday.
If you’re curious about the origin of this puzzle, it actually came to me in a dream. In the dream I saw a puzzle Erik Agard had constructed with this theme, but only the first theme entry was visible to me. When I woke up I came up with the other two themers. So … thanks, Erik?
We’ll be posting the occasional easy puzzle with relaxed constraints, so keep an eye on this space for more. And let us know what you think in the comments!