This is the crossword puzzle thread

oh yeah that was fun. i think i finished them after the contest had ended though

i have never heard of 'ol' red' OR 'violet hill' and so i did not get this MMMM

also was led astray by the ten-letter words and at one point went down a weird rabbit hole based on not-super-famous songwriters (e.g. abe OLMAN)

I had not heard of them either but I still got it. "crush" in the second position gave it away for me.

The month-end Gaffney (#278) on the other hand, I had no clue about.

Gaffney has new blog: http://gaffneyoncrosswords.com/ You can go there and hear a young Merle Reagle singing in psychedelic rock band if you want.

crosswords LA was on saturday, but i didn't compete

Saw that. One guy won a trip to the ACPT.

Muller Monthly Music Meta finally defeated me.

I didn't see any unusual fill at all.

Does that mean you solved it easily?

Or that you couldn't find a way in?

Read Gaffney's blog post and he got it right away based on unusual fill , maybe that's what you refer to.

Didn't solve it.

tbh, I kinda hate when he repeats artists within a given series, feel like I've already dealt with and dispensed with them for the given year.

solved the puzzle, didn't immediately get the meta, forgot about it. that's a nice meta

in unusual situation of having got an answer - i guessed it was this early on and every clue filled in just confirmed it - but NO idea how to parse it

"one intriguing old spanish gentleman" = caballero

but WHY? whyyyy? i can't even begin to see how to parse it

This is the American crossword puzzle thread, lex.

But perhaps we can help you anyway.
Cabal = intrigue, maybe there is a bad joke that "caballero" is one who is involved in an intrigue.

one intriguing = caballer
old = o

Of course.

OHHHHH

i knew "cabal" but never made the connection, "caballer" is a v odd word

Thought so too but, as expected, it is in Chambers.

Who up in this borad is doing LearnedLeague, apart from me and jaymc?

good lord, this last MMMM

he's wrong in the explanation btw - ESTELLA isn't in "ironic", it's in "all i really want", which was like the sixth single from 'jagged little pill' that probably nobody remembers unless they owned the album

and no disrespect to the indigo girls but c'mon, RASPUTIN belongs to boney m forever and ever

I gave up on MMMM on the previous one. At least on the metas.

There is a thin line between a cool meta that you can sort of figure out and one that will turn you into the guy in Dark City in his room painting spirals on everything in sight if you let it. Or maybe not so thin.

And it's hard to complain about the thing being too hard, because "Well, these guys got it. It was supposed to be hard"

Anyone coming to the ACPT in 2014? Not really feeling it this year. I know jaymc's friend and single-time poster Beyond will be attending.

Is anyone working on the MMMM mega-meta, and would you like to trade notes? PM me.

Only one person has solved Gaffney's week 5 puzzle so far. The edited clue befuddles me.

Didn't try it this week. MMMM that just came out is one or yr easier puzzuzzles.

i HAW'ed at this: http://the-toast.net/2014/02/12/crossword-fanfic-erotica-say/

Ha. Working on something like that, although not as ribald, more G-Rated really, as a mnemonic to help me prepare for the contest next month.

ARRRRGGGHHH DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!!!!

End of an era

Will Shortz playing ping pong with the cartoon editor of the NYer: http://vimeo.com/93017091

http://www.fastcompany.com/3031792/most-creative-people/the-23-year-old-wordsmith-behind-the-hip-new-voice-of-the-times-crosswo

Did not attend the ACPT this year, results are just in: http://www.crosswordtournament.com/2015/standings/rank.htm. The champ successfully defended.

Hm. B and C finalists currently transposed on web page.

Anyone for Lollapuzzoola 8, aka Lollapuzzocho?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/08/19/the_new_york_times_mini_crossword_replied_to_slate_s_takedown_by_ruth_graham.html

RIP Merl Reagle.

http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/merl-reagle-january-5-1950-august-22-2015/?_r=0

http://www.crosswordfiend.com/blog/2015/08/22/merl-reagle-1950-2015/

http://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/crossword-creator-merl-reagle-dies-in-tampa-at-age-65/2242415
http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/will-shortz-on-merl-reagle/

So WSJ now has a daily puzzle, with a meta every Friday!

RIP Henry Hook.

http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/remembering-henry-hook/

Enjoyed theme of today's times. Any takers for this year's ACPT?