Tito
Shreveport
I haven’t done today’s puzzle or read the the comments. I did yesterday’s. It was fine. Our awesome columnist said as much. Unlike most of us, she actually has to write an entire column, hence she ventured to add that it could have been better, that an extra layer would have elevated it, and yes, sharing an example to make her point. Obviously she felt she was in a safe space where she could voice her opinion. This community that she helped build. Where she has kindly and graciously welcomed newcomers for years, walking them through the ropes sharing tips and warnings of what to be on the lookout for. I was one of those who learned so much from Deb. In passing out all the bits about crosswords, she also shared her heart. It was clear that she was kind and well meaning. Definitely not the type to be motivated by spite. So yesterday she wrote a column that wasn’t sufficiently koombaya by this community’s standards. Did they say ‘Oh, it’s Deb, and we know she means well’? Did they say ‘we know her heart’s in the right place’? Did they extend grace to one who unceasingly extends it? There’s always been a tendency to shut down any and all criticism of puzzles. Seeing what happened to Deb yesterday, it seems this tendency has been taken too far. So she felt a puzzle fell a little short. So what? She’s done tons of puzzles, she can tell. She’s paid to share her thoughts on the solving experience. She did. She was doing her job! Let’s respect that and cut her some slack.
2024 PUZZLE OF THE YEAR Hello all, This is usually the time of year when the puzzle of the year (POY) contenders are nominated. This year, however, I won't be able to run or participate in the process because it's been an extremely busy year for me, and I haven't done enough crosswords to know which should qualify. I kept meaning to get back in and play catch up in time to run the contest, but at this point, have to admit it's too late to get almost a years worth of crosswords caught up on. My sincere apologies. All is not lost, however, I am counting on my very able and competent partners who have been heavily involved in this process to run this year's POY. First and foremost, I'm counting on Puzzlemucker to take the helm. I'm also hoping Cat Lady Margaret and Eric Hougland will pitch in and make this work. Starting later in the year would work better as December puzzles will get a fairer shot at being nominated. PUZZLEMUCKER CAT LADY MARGARET ERIC HOUGLAND Please read the above. I'm counting on you guys. Would have loved to do this as usual, but seriously, life been lifin', and I've had an unbelievably hectic year. Again, counting on you, thanks guys!
This was a fine puzzle. A solid Thursday. Thanks, Joe! With regards to Deb’s column, I honestly think she’s earned the right, and is entitled to speak her mind. It also didn’t seem harsh, it seemed she simply said she wanted more from a puzzle (kind of reminds me of Oliver Twist asking for more and getting into all manner of trouble for it). I found it reassuring that she could voice her expectations, for me, it’s a sign that she ‘owns’ her column, and is not some kind of hostage to it. Hopefully the candid feedback is also more helpful to constructors.
6/6/23 Palindromic Mirror Image Puzzle By Daniel Jaret Impressive feat, where the entire puzzle was a palindrome; Hence: 1A/1D was D A P O R A Mirroring the last answer: A R O P A D RACECAR the middle entry, was its own palindrome.
5/14/23 ALTERNATE ENDINGS By Sid Sivakumar Pairs of down entries used a zipper merge to form a third down entry.
4/8/23 By Sid Sivakumar Entries included PESCETARIAN, DON’T RUSH ME, ONE TO WATCH, SOLAR TIME and MARCH IN STEP. Even the scant glue was cleverly clued, e.g., “They have bags under their eyes, for short”/ TSA.
2023 POY FINALIST Fellow Wordplayers, we have only a few more days left to vote for the 2023 Wordplay POY. The various Puzzle of the Year Categories can be accessed and voted on via the following links. Please stop by and vote. Sunday POY finalists: <a href="https://nyti.ms/3H5F3ih#permid=130285736" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/3H5F3ih#permid=130285736</a> Monday to Wednesday Themed POY List: <a href="https://nyti.ms/48K6zgV#permid=130285760" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/48K6zgV#permid=130285760</a> Thursday POY List: <a href="https://nyti.ms/41RM7IA#permid=130285793" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/41RM7IA#permid=130285793</a> Friday/Saturday Themeless POY: <a href="https://nyti.ms/47segXW#permid=130285814" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/47segXW#permid=130285814</a>
2023 POY FINALIST The various Puzzle of the Year Categories can be assessed and voted on via the following links. Please stop by and vote. Sunday POY finalists: <a href="https://nyti.ms/3H5F3ih#permid=130285736" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/3H5F3ih#permid=130285736</a> Monday to Wednesday Themed POY List: <a href="https://nyti.ms/48K6zgV#permid=130285760" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/48K6zgV#permid=130285760</a> Thursday POY List: <a href="https://nyti.ms/41RM7IA#permid=130285793" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/41RM7IA#permid=130285793</a> Friday/Saturday Themeless POY: <a href="https://nyti.ms/47segXW#permid=130285814" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/47segXW#permid=130285814</a>
2024 Puzzle of The Year (POY) Dear fellow puzzlers, Eric Hougland is the new POY chair. He will be running the POYs for the near future (until he tells you otherwise. Thanks all, it's been fun.
2023 PUZZLE OF THE YEAR Thanks to all for the great nominations for puzzle of the year. Yearly, we have ended voting on Sundays, so will keep the tradition this year as well. Voting will close by noon on Sunday, and finalists will be listed. I held the spots to make it easier to find the lists of finalists, and vote. So if you’re an early solver, please circle back tomorrow to vote for a puzzle of the year. Thank you!
Fun theme. AN OFFER YOU CANT REFUSE was too good to resist, also liked PETER for Pan handle. Loved the bonus entries by CLM, PM, & Co, especially METEOR SHOWER & BAD SPELLER For your consideration, how about Poachers Horny Magician Burglars For GAMERS WANDERLUST HOUSE CLEANERS
4/20/23 CLOCKWISE ROTATION By Simeon Siegel Rotate puzzle CLOCKWISE to make sense of the vertical themers. Ex.: “Babe in the woods quality” W U Z W U O Z Z H (INNOCENCE).
4/30/23 NAME DROPPING By Lewis Rothlein and Jeff Chen Names were embedded in six vertical themes which needed to be dropped from those entries and then added to the vertical entries below them. Example: “Be cautious of (CHARY) and “Title woman who has children at her feet, in a 1968 hit” (LADY MADONNA) were expressed as: C L H A A D R Y (D M O A N N A) Y
12/9/23 by Doug Peterson and Christina Iverson Entries included: ACT NATURAL NOT TODAY SATAN WHY NOT BOTH, EMBIGGENS Gorgeous Saturday puzzle with a lot of zing.
@Eva H. Staying power translates to legs. It’s like having sea legs, which is a way of saying you can tolerate/withstand/outlast say a choppy boat ride. If you have legs, you have staying power.
2023 POY Fellow Wordplayers, Happy New Year! This is the last week to nominate a Puzzle of the Year. Links for accessing nominees are posted below, please vote and or nominate as many puzzles as you like. Your participation is strongly valued and encouraged. After this week, on Sunday the 7th of January, nominations will be closed, and the top 5puzzles in each category will be listed. Voting on the top 5 will then commence. On Sunday the 14th, votes will be tallied, and the 2023 POY winners announced.
THURSDAY POY FINALISTS Listed in order of votes garnered. Puzzles that were tied are listed in chronological order.
7/20/23 SLEEPING CAR By Drew Schmenner Zzzz’s were used within themers in lieu of car companies. Ex.: “Up for debate, as an issue”/ UPZZZZEBATE (up FOR Debate).
4/6/23 TRADING PLACES By Sam Buttrey Revealer was TRADING PLACES. Pairs of answers like LAUREL & HARDY and PENN & TELLER had their clues reversed, with little indication which pairs were involved.
8/16/23 TAJ MAHAL By Mangesh Ghogre and Brendan Emmett Quigley A masterpiece of construction with circled letters depicting the TAJ MAHAL in an ONION DOME pattern. Also included were entries MINARETS, SHAH JAHAN, INDIA and the perfectly placed SPIRE and TOMB.
Loved it! For me, this puzzle was a perfect Sunday puzzle. The difficulty level was just right, the theme was sufficiently layered but not overdone. The solve was smooth and intuitive. What’s not to love.
2023 POY NOMINEES The 2023 nominations are underway. Please click on the link to vote for puzzles listed. They’re listed by categories: Sunday, Monday-Wednesday, and Thursdays. If your favorite puzzle is not listed, I strongly encourage you to add it. It’s not too late. <a href="https://nyti.ms/3RLAmiv#permid=130132523" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/3RLAmiv#permid=130132523</a>
SUNDAY 2023 POY FINALISTS Listed in order of votes garnered. Please vote your favorites for Puzzle of the Year.
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY POY FINALISTS Listed in order of votes garnered. Puzzles that were tied are listed in chronological order.
FRIDAY/SATURDAY THEMELESS POY FINALIST Listed in order of votes garnered.
6/4/23 FLYING COLORS By Rafael Musa Pride flag colors: Paired entries where one described the other one shown in color, e.g. RED STATES with ON AND OFF shown in red.
4/29/23 By David Steinberg Included grid spanners like CHAMPAGNE SHOWER and MONEY IS NO OBJECT, signature fresh fill like PICKLEBALL, WOWIE ZOWIE and ALL SMILES. “Colonial-style houses” for ANT FARMS. “One of three in many baseball fields” for ACRE.
@Eric Hougland Thanks Eric, your nominations are excellent, so clearly this system works. Btw, looking back, I think my favorite Thursday from 2023 was one you nominated, I’ll post it below. I wish it had placed. Eric’s Thursday POY Nominee 1/26/23 SNOWBALL EFFECT By Dan Ziring and Quiara Vasquez Rebus puzzle. The revealer, SNOWBALL EFFECTS, spans the grid in the middle. The themers are words that represent growth, and they also visually increase in size, forming a snowball effect. Themers include: S, SW, SWE, SWEL, SWELL F, FO, FOR, FORM, G, GR, GRO, GROW For example: G GR GRO GROW R A U L A N N E M A D R P R E S S Y D
@Puzzlemucker, Hope you’ll do us the honor of announcing the winners this year. You do the best write ups, and you’re our POY guru. Don’t know your schedule, but can you confirm what time the voting will close, and at about what time you’ll be announcing the winners. Appreciate your input as always.
2023 Friday/Saturday POY Nominees Please click on the link to vote for the Friday/Saturday Puzzle of the year. If your favorite puzzle is not listed, kindly add it so it can be voted on. <a href="https://nyti.ms/48dhujx#permid=130132507" target="_blank">https://nyti.ms/48dhujx#permid=130132507</a>
1/4/23 CELESTIAL BODIES By Laura Breiman and Tom Bachant CELESTIAL BODIES, the revealer, spanned the middle. Five celestial bodies in circled letters within other entries were visually depicted: MOON, COMET, GALAXY, ASTEROID and STAR.
2023 POY FINALISTS Hi all, The 2023 POY finalists in the various categories are listed in the earliest of today’s comment threads. Please stop by and vote for your favorites. Voting is open until next Sunday, January 14th. The highest vote getter overall will be the 2023 Puzzle of the Year. Please participate. If your favorite puzzle didn’t place, feel free to share. Puzzles can be reviewed in the archives.
@Barry Ancona Thanks for the excellent idea!
@Eric Hougland Eric!!!! Thank you so much, glad you bit. The format There are 4 POY categories; THURSDAYS SUNDAYS MONDAYS -WEDNESDAYS (Themed Puzzles) THEMELESS (Essentially Fridays & Saturdays) Introduce a category each week and invite nominations. The nominations: 1. Best to be the first poster of the day to make finding the list of nominees easier. 2. Each nominee has to be listed separately so they can be voted on. 3. Set a closing date and time for voting. 4. Pick the top 3 nominees for the penultimate week The penultimate week: 1. List the top 3 finalists in each category. 2. Again, list individually so they can be voted on. 3. If there's a tie, it's okay to list both, saves time as a tie breaker takes longer. 4. Set the time when voting closes, should be the following week, shortly before announcing the finalists. Final week: 1. Voting closes at preset time. Be sure to note the votes at given time as they can change at the last minute. 2. Announce the winner in each category. 3. Announce the POY winner, POY winner is the highest vote getter across all the categories. Other details: 1. Write out the POY Calendar at the outset letting everyone know which dates the nominations will run, date for voting for the finalist, date of POY announcement. 2. Nominations open on consecutive Sundays. You can do it differently, but Sundays worked best for me. Thanks again, appreciate your taking this on. Break a leg!!!
@Cat Lady Margaret Thanks CLM, I've enjoyed you POY input and puzzle nominations over the years. Eric has generously agreed to chair this year. I'm sure he'll appreciate your assistance. Will look forward to viewing and solving your nominations. Best wishes!
@john ezra Hi John, glad you're doing POY this year. Eric will be chairing, I'm sure he'll appreciate your assistance and input. Regards!
@Puzzlemucker PM!!!! So good to see you. How have you been? Thanks for outlining the POY for Eric, thanks for so much more. This entire venture would not have gotten off the ground without your effort and input. Thanks for the heavy lifting over the years. Thanks for coming up with the categories, thanks for making it work. I could go on, but you get the gist, thanks for being you, you're the best. Warmest regards always <3
@Eric Hougland Will place a note above letting folks know you're the new POY Chairperson. I don't expect to get back to doing crosswords in the near future, so this is me handing over to you for good. Feel free to tweak the process and improve it (would welcome that). Thanks again!
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