Puzzle 95 – “Important Things”
puz here / pdf here / solution here
So, before I say a word about this puzzle, I gotta talk about this past weekend: my first in-person American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which was an absolute blast. I was fortunate enough to wind up the C division champion (and second place rookie), which meant I got to do Puzzle 8 onstage.
Not gonna lie, yall: doing a tournament finals onstage puzzle had been a bucket list item for a little bit. Always looked both super fun and super scary–a powerful combination–and I can confirm that it was both. Who knows if I’ll ever get to do one again, but I’m thrilled I got to do it and that it went well. It was rad.
And if you’ve ever considered going to ACPT but haven’t, you should. Great puzzles, welcoming people, good times, and a truly iconic welcome banner in the Marriott lobby.
This week’s puzzle is themeless. The two 15-letter entries were the seed entries. I like the fun facts at 30-Down and 57-Down. Ambrose Bierce shows up again. And 10-Down is among my favorite punny clues I’ve written.
As always, comments welcome. Happy solving, yall. Hope you enjoy!
Nice, thank you. I like “GOON IN”. And congratulations!
You’re very welcome!
30-Down! Who knew? Love little nuggets like that in the puzzles.
Nice shout-out in the Saints newsletter this week.
I’m a sucker for a fun fact, it’s true.
I’m glad that you had fun at the ACPT, and hope that you keep climbing up the “competition ladder”. And thx for the smallest national park clue, because I didn’t know that it was the Gateway Arch park.
It was a blast, for sure! I’ll be in B division next year, so we’ll see what happens…