by Ross Trudeau
[.puz][PDF][Solution] Difficulty: 3.5/5
First and foremost, a big thank you to test solver and friend of the blog David Harris. He went so above-and-beyond this week that I might as well list him as a co-writer. (And, in fact, he *did* write the gem at 54D – what a mensch!)
Also, crossword tournament director extraordinaire (and another confirmed mensch) John Lieb recently announced dates and constructors for the Boswords Fall Themeless League. A veritable murderer’s row!
I’m going to leave off constructor notes for today’s puzzle (as I did last week) for similar reasons. I’m still working on a *project* that I’ve yet to announce. All will be made clear soon…
Happy solving, friends!
-Ross
Multiple letters in one box aren’t so bad. Actually their kinda cool. Except when you can’t do that on a computer, so you can’t complete the puzzle.
use the .puz file and you can enter multiple letters
Hi, Jane! There’s actually a button on the top of the solving window that says “rebus” which you can toggle to allow yourself to type multiple letters in the same box. Ditto in AcrossLite if you’re solving the .puz, as Steven mentions below. Thanks for solving!
Jane – As someone who struggles with puzzles and computers, I can suggest how to add multiple letters in one box on a computer machine: Tap on the circled box, then tap on ‘Rebus’ located just above the puzzle. You should then be able to enter multiple letters into the single box. The letters (or box?) lights up when the letters are correct. Hope that works for you!
Nice work, deserving of a NOBLE prize.
Fun fact: Julia Roberts, clued into 21A, is from 4D, which crosses it. I’m sure that was intentional poetry! Remember what your writing teacher said.
I’m not sure what’s more impressive, Rich: you seeing these little bits of serendipity or having the relevant trivia stored away… er, I mean… thank you for noticing 😉
this was a fun puzzle, thanks
I appreciate you saying so, Steven. Thanks for stopping by!
‘Crown Jewels’ is certainly a title/theme befitting royalty. Costume jewelry is nowhere to be found in today’s puzzle. I really appreciate and enjoy solving your Rebus imbedded puzzles. Thanks!
Roger that, Dom! I’m trying to abide a ~1 rebus puzzle per quarter diet…
Fun puzzle Ross. You got me on HERNAN. I thought for sure we had outside grid fill since my brain insisted on adding DO to the given name. Well done.
Thanks, John! In truth, HERNAN is always only ever on the periphery of my working trivia vocabulary, so I feel you…
I really like the cluing for ELFOWL. Thanks for a fun puzzle!