Sunday, October 14, 2018

"Sunday Freestyle XXXIII," by Mark Diehl

Constructor's Comments

Since I am fortunate to have two consecutive Sundays in a row, it seems a perfect time to touch on two contrasting freestyle approaches.  This week's effort is on the opposite end of the freestyle spectrum from last week.  Today's puzzle has 70 entries (max allowable is usually 72), while last week's count was a terse 62.  Working in the 70 range allows for more flexibility in selecting fill.  Using all the letters of the alphabet (a pangram) is much easier to attain in a 70-entry creation because you can pack in Scrabbly stuff like FEDEX FIELD, BBQ JOINTS, LOVITZ, and AQUAZUMBA.  The 62er was a J, Q, and Z short of being a pangram, and the predominance of common letters feels higher.  I enjoy using new (yet familiar) entries when freestyling and, according to Matt Ginsberg's clue database, today's puzzle debuts 7 new entries, while last week's puzzle had only 4.  I leave it up to you to decide if you have a solving preference.


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