PUZZLE 173

Puzzle 173 – “Moviegoing”

puz here / pdf here / solution here

Once again this week, I get to announce another upcoming puzzle elsewhere first thing! This Monday, I’ll be making my debut over at Puzzmo, where you can see a collaborative midi-sized puzzle co-constructed with Shannon Rapp. We brainstormed puzzle concepts back in April at the end of ACPT, and some months later, we’re excited to share this one with you. Check it out early next week!

This week’s themeless above came out of experimenting with intersecting spanners (15-letter entries), which I used to play around with more often. I’m happy with this set of four, though I’ll admit some of the fill is not the cleanest I’ve ever constructed. Still, the title is fun. It refers quite clearly to 56-Across, in a kinda punny way to 17-Across, and–if we extend the title to refer to one of my favorite novels, Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer–then it can refer to 8-Down too. Sorta.

Favorite clues here: 14-Across for the absolutely wild fun fact; 5-Down because it’s just a fun term; and 3-Down for the kind of lateral thinking it requires.

As ever, hope you enjoy, yall. Comments welcomed. Happy solving, friends.