"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!
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)
ReplyDeleteThanks 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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