A new post… about an old crossword puzzle. It appeared four years ago in the Los Angeles Times (June 8, 2004). It’s probably the most peculiar theme I’ve had for a puzzle, and one which has elements that might not all be entirely apparent at first. Download a pdf HERE or click on this LINK to download it in Across Lite from my website. I’ll include a few notes about the puzzle after the cut…
The theme I had in mind is blended into a more apparent one. 17-Across contains the pertinent information: Rick Monday was chosen as baseball’s first-ever #1 draft pick on Tuesday, June 8. The last words of the three long Across answers, TUESDAY JUNE EIGHTH, reflect that. So it’s a Tuesday, June 8th theme appearing on Tuesday, June 8th. To make the theme a little more symmetrical, I decided to also acknowledge the first words in those same three answers, MONDAY MAY SEVENTH, by including events that happened on that date in the last three Across clues and answers. As I say, a peculiar puzzle, but I’ve always kind of liked it because of that.
By the way, Ashen and Noir will make a return appearance… sometime.
Neat little meta-theme there. Can’t be easy to come up with something that hasn’t quite been done before, or at least in a novel way.