Sunday, May 27, 2018

"Sunday Freestyle XIII," by Harvey Estes



Editor's Comments

Harvey's original grid had an extra pair of black squares where the C in SWISS CHALET and the D in COEUR D'ALENE are.  The fill was smooth, though it bugged me a little that the grid felt so sectioned off, so I challenged Harvey to turn what was originally ILENE into COEUR D'ALENE.  You usually just see ALENE in crossword grids (clued as [Coeur d'___]), so having the city's full name seemed like a nice change of pace.  Elsewhere in the puzzle, my favorite entries are DOG WHISTLE, with its contemporary clue; HUMBLEBRAG; TWEET CRED; MOOT POINT; SWISS CHALET; and the wackily spelled NASTASSJA at 1-Across.  That's one way to start a puzzle in style!

2 comments:

  1. Very nice. Great assortment of long entries, and I agree with David, it has an appealingly current vibe. I also like how the easy clueing in this venue makes a nice change of pace with other late week themeless grids. (Though the spelling of Nastassja slowed me down this time)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Paul, and so glad you enjoyed this puzzle! Publishing medium-level themelesses has been a fun experiment for me, so I'm especially happy to hear you're enjoying them as a solver.

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