Crossword Fiend | Reviewing the best crosswords in newspapers and on the Web

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

Newsday 9:26 (Amy) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 3 | 2*: 1 (3.50 avg; 9 ratings)
NYT 5:58 (Amy) 5*: 8 | 4.5*: 16 | 4*: 6 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 (4.32 avg; 34 ratings)
LAT 3:30 (Andy) 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 6 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 (3.65 avg; 13 ratings)
CS 14:55 (Ade) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 (3.90 avg; 5 ratings)

Do you love Matt Gaffney’s Weekly Crossword Contest? Matt is following in the footsteps of other indie puzzlemakers who’ve ventured into making their work available via subscription. Starting in January, the MGWCC meta puzzles will run you $26 a year. That’s 50¢ a week—50¢ for feeling frightfully clever when you triumph over the puzzle, and the same 50¢ those weeks where you beat your head into a 15×15 brick wall and can’t for the life of you figure out the meta. Given the amount of time some people expend on ruminating over what evil thematic ploy Matt used this time, heck, the Week 4 or 5 puzzles might work out to 15¢ an hour. A good value! Head to mgwcc.com to sign up, or tell Santa or Hanukkah Harry that MGWCC is on your holiday wish list.
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Anna Stiga, Barry C. Silk, Josh Knapp, Randolph Ross, Stanley Newman | 27 Comments

Friday, December 5, 2014

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

NYT 5:25 (Amy) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 8 | 3.5*: 8 | 3*: 7 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 (3.41 avg; 27 ratings)
LAT 6:30 (Gareth) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 6 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 3 | 1.5*: 2 | 1*: 2 (2.56 avg; 18 ratings)
CS 7:24 (Ade) 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 5 (3.14 avg; 7 ratings)
CHE untimed (pannonica) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 5 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 (4.23 avg; 13 ratings)
Blindauer 12:02 (Matt) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 (4.00 avg; 5 ratings)
WSJ (Friday) 14:00 (pannonica) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 (3.50 avg; 6 ratings)
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged David Steinberg, Jeff Chen, Marti DuGuay-Carpenter, Patrick Blindauer, Patrick Jordan, Tim Croce | 21 Comments

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

Fireball 5:54 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 3 | 3*: 1 (4.19 avg; 8 ratings)
NYT 5:27 (Amy) 5*: 27 | 4.5*: 14 | 4*: 7 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 3 | 1*: 1 (4.41 avg; 55 ratings)
LAT 5:03 (Gareth) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 7 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 (3.63 avg; 16 ratings)
CS 15:01 (Ade) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 3 | 1*: 3 (2.85 avg; 13 ratings)
BEQ 6:17 (Matt) 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 2 (3.04 avg; 12 ratings)
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Andrew J. Ries, Bob Klahn, Brendan Emmett Quigley, David Quarfoot, Jeffrey Wechsler, Kacey Walker | 26 Comments

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

AV Club 4:09/1 error (Amy) 5*: 6 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 2 (4.00 avg; 17 ratings)
NYT 3:07 (Amy) 4.5*: 7 | 4*: 8 | 3.5*: 10 | 3*: 5 | 2.5*: 1 (3.74 avg; 31 ratings)
LAT 2:59 (Amy) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 2 (3.00 avg; 9 ratings)
CS 10:29 (Ade) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 (3.33 avg; 6 ratings)

Two hot tips:

This is the final week to get in on Patrick Merrell‘s Kickstarter project, a kids’ book called Zep (in the Curse of the Evil Dr. Sumac Who Lives Next Door), written and illustrated by Pat himself, with some sort of cunning meta puzzle hidden within it. Click over, watch the video, sign up!

Also, if you’re looking for puzzly holiday gifts for kids this month, check out Cynthia Morris‘s new book, Kids’ Krostics: Puzzling Penguins – And 49 More Amazing Animals. This is Cynthia’s first volume of acrostics for kids. She’s also got a weekly online acrostic puzzle for adults at American Acrostics (you can print out a PDF if you prefer hard-copy solving).
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Alan Arbesfeld, Ben Tausig, Bruce Venzke, Gail Grabowski, Patrick Blindauer | 17 Comments

MGWCC #339

Posted on December 2, 2014 by joon

crossword 4:55
meta DNF 5*: 16 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 (4.69 avg; 21 ratings)
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 35 Comments

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

NYT 4:04 (Amy) 5*: 4 | 4.5*: 5 | 4*: 10 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 5 | 2*: 6 | 1.5*: 6 | 1*: 7 (2.91 avg; 48 ratings)
Jonesin' 4:04 (Amy) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 (3.75 avg; 2 ratings)
LAT 2:56 (Amy) 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 4 | 3*: 4 | 2.5*: 3 | 2*: 3 (3.08 avg; 18 ratings)
CS 9:51 (Ade) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 (3.63 avg; 8 ratings)
Xword Nation untimed (Janie) 5*: 3 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 1 (4.64 avg; 7 ratings)
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Bernice Gordon, Elizabeth C. Gorski, Jeff Chen, Matt Jones, Timothy Polin | 18 Comments

Monday, December 1, 2014

Posted on November 30, 2014 by pannonica

NYT 3:47 (pannonica) 5*: 3 | 4.5*: 17 | 4*: 17 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 3 (4.16 avg; 43 ratings)
LAT 3:33 (pannonica) 5*: 4 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 7 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 2 | 1*: 1 (3.33 avg; 21 ratings)
CS 7:06 (Ade) 4*: 1 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 4 (2.88 avg; 8 ratings)
BEQ 5:16 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 5 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 4 | 2*: 1 (3.79 avg; 14 ratings)
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, C.C. Burnikel, John Guzzetta, Martin Ashwood-Smith, Zhouqin Burnikel | 10 Comments

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

NYT 11:53 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 10 | 3.5*: 6 | 3*: 7 | 2.5*: 6 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 (3.39 avg; 35 ratings)
Reagle 7:46 (Amy) 5*: 3 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 5 | 3*: 2 (4.19 avg; 13 ratings)
LAT 7:41 (Amy) 3*: 6 (3.00 avg; 6 ratings)
Hex/Hook 10:55 (pannonica) 3.5*: 1 (3.50 avg; 1 rating)
WaPo 9:23 (Sam) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 7 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 (4.03 avg; 16 ratings)
CS 22:01 (Ade) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 4 | 1*: 1 (3.41 avg; 11 ratings)
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Angela Olson Halsted, Bruce Venzke, Emily Cox, Erik Agard, Henry Rathvon, Matt Ginsberg, Merl Reagle, Michele Kane | 21 Comments

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

Newsday 9:41 (Amy) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 7 | 3*: 1 (4.00 avg; 10 ratings)
NYT ~6 minutes (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 5 | 4*: 8 | 3.5*: 5 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 3 | 1*: 1 (3.63 avg; 26 ratings)
LAT 3:00 (Andy) 4.5*: 7 | 4*: 6 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 (3.88 avg; 17 ratings)
CS 12:22 (Ade) 4.5*: 1 | 3*: 4 (3.30 avg; 5 ratings)

Have you checked out Hayley Gold’s Across and Down site lately? Hayley essentially blogs an NYT crossword about once a week—whenever a puzzle inspires her creativity—in webcomic form. She often unearths an angle I hadn’t considered. Hayley’s also looking to raise funds via Kickstarter to print up some giveaways to hand out at the ACPT. (I’m hoping to pick up a magnet there myself.)
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Donna S. Levin, Doug Peterson, Elizabeth C. Gorski, Jeff Chen | 8 Comments

Friday, November 28, 2014

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Amy Reynaldo

NYT 5:49 (Amy) 4.5*: 8 | 4*: 6 | 3.5*: 5 | 3*: 4 | 2.5*: 4 | 2*: 5 (3.42 avg; 32 ratings)
LAT 4:11 (Gareth) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 (3.27 avg; 11 ratings)
CS 7:35 (Ade) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 3 | 2.5*: 2 (3.36 avg; 7 ratings)
CHE 6:33 (pannonica) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 (3.80 avg; 5 ratings)
WSJ (Friday) 10:52 (pannonica) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 (3.70 avg; 5 ratings)
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Gail Grabowski, Marie Kelly, Mark Feldman, Mike Peluso, Mike Shenk, Tracy Gray | 27 Comments

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Friday, December 5, 2014

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

MGWCC #339

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Monday, December 1, 2014

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Friday, November 28, 2014

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