,

puzzle #71: too little, too late (themed)

Ada Nicolle

test-solved by sam (frisco)

PUZ / PDF / SOLUTION

Hello! It’s me again! Today’s puzzle is a goofy themed puzzle I’m happy to put out, mainly because my girlfriend Thea loves it. I’ve been working on my theme brain recently and I wanna post more themed stuff on here. It’s been a fair amount of time since I’ve posted here, which also means I have things to write about. I got three bullet points I want to cover:

1) Lollapuzzoola – I won Locals Division!

It was a JOY going to my first in-person puzzle tournament, solving such incredible puzzles, and seeing so many friends in person for the first time. The love I felt from all of y’all was truly uplifting, and I’m so happy to be a part of this loving and creative and cool community. The applause I received from the crowd upon being announced as the winner of the Local Division is now an all-time favourite memory, so thank you 🙂
I don’t have much more to say about the experience overall other than “do this when you get the chance.”
Here’s to the next in-person puzzle tournament! Okay, onto bullet point #2.

2) I am causing the death of the cryptic

Okay, we can’t ignore this forever: I am killing the cryptic puzzle. It was never my intention, but unfortunately it’s too late and my actions cannot be reversed.
Multiple people have pointed out to me that Games Magazine recently ran an article about the recent renaissance in cryptic crosswords, and included was this quote:
 
“When there’s an editor, someone’s checking [the quality of cryptic clues], but indies continue to run wild, sometimes publishing puzzles that are self-admittedly bad. These can range from constructors’ “first attempts” to mere larks. One recent cryptic was even accompanied by a warning from the setter: “Am I good at writing cryptics? No.” This “half-baked and proud of it” stance doesn’t bode well for the continued health of the scene”

“Am I good at writing cryptics? No.” is a direct quote from my Cryptoland post. My only wish is that they went into more detail about my puzzle:

“Indies continue to run wild, forcing solvers to watch unskippable videos of cryptocurrency scam advertisements before solving, and making them interact with the content in order to solve. Such indies even label such puzzles as ‘shitpost’ with the title ‘puzzle #69,’ not-so-subtly referencing the sex number. Indie puzzles, to the chagrin of mainstream editors, are test-solved by drunk Paolo Pasco.”

In all honestly, aside from the subject matter, I don’t think my puzzle was bad? I don’t know if the author solved my puzzle. Nevertheless, I’m glad I could write a puzzle that foreboded the future of said puzzle’s genre. Is this my legacy? Will time forgive me? Will they ever know I only made it a cryptic puzzle so that I could call it “Crypticland”? The answers to these questions are for fate to decide.

(This all being said, I bear no ill will against Games Magazine. I understand how stuff like this happens and they didn’t even name me explicitly. Also, I got a gift sub from them for winning Lollapuzzoola’s Local Division, and I’m excited to receive their magazines!)

And now, my final point…

3) I’m moving!

That’s right! I’ve been moving, which explains why my schedule is kinda wack. I recently saw my lovely Thea in Vermont, and now I’m staying at a friend’s place in Toronto. I am just constantly travelling until September 16th, at which point I’ll be moving into a new space in Toronto with a bedroom and home office!
I have a lot of plans for the soon-to-be THIRD YEAR of Luckystreak Xwords+, and that involves posting on this blog more. I’ll also be making some changes to my Patreon tiers, but that will all be explained when I’m done finalizing them. I’m going full-speed ahead on full-time puzzling, y’all!!
Enjoy the puz!
– Ada

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

about me

I’m Ada Nicolle (she/her)!
I’m a trans crossword constructor based in Toronto, Canada. I’m the author of “A-to-Gen Z Crosswords,” and my crosswords have been published in Xtra, USA Today, and Believer Magazine, among other outlets.

Click the links below to support my work!

weekly puzzles
buy my book

subscribe to the patreon

For $3 CAD/month (approx. $2.20 USD/month), you get access to an exclusive themeless once a week!

receive updates

recent posts

Discover more from luckystreak xwords

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading