Probably the best diagramless in a long time for me. Great theme, great picture and incredible fill - two 17 letter entries crossing two 8 letter, two 10 letter and two 12 letter entries. Amazing construction, in my opinion. Thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. Will - please consider more frequent diagramless puzzles. Thanks!
Thank you for the diagramless. I wish diagramless puzzles were still in the regular rotation, as they are my favorite type.
1
Cryptics are my favorite puzzles but the Diagramless can be a close second if the grid rewards me with a clever shape. This one was a total blast. After a few false starts everything quickly fell into place. I loved it. Now if we could only get a Diagramless with cryptic clues ....
Success! Yay me.
This is my first stab a NYT Diagramless and – if memory serves – the first such puzzle anywhere that I have ever completed. It took me well over two hours to solve, but it was worth every minute. I can understand Deb’s comment about deadlines. I have none.
The triad of three-letter entries in the stem of the pumpkin – if I interpret the shape of the grid correctly – was very helpful, as was the twofold symmetry. The clues were appropriately easy or, in the case of unknown names, easily “googleable”. The solve kept getting easier as I went along: The JACK O in the circled squares gave me LANTERN. Placement of O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN was determined by the two long down clues, JACOBS LADDER and QUCK AS A WINK.
My main difficulty was technical: squeezing the numbers legibly into the squares. I didn’t have the sense to print out an enlarged copy of the grid. Live and learn.
This is my first stab a NYT Diagramless and – if memory serves – the first such puzzle anywhere that I have ever completed. It took me well over two hours to solve, but it was worth every minute. I can understand Deb’s comment about deadlines. I have none.
The triad of three-letter entries in the stem of the pumpkin – if I interpret the shape of the grid correctly – was very helpful, as was the twofold symmetry. The clues were appropriately easy or, in the case of unknown names, easily “googleable”. The solve kept getting easier as I went along: The JACK O in the circled squares gave me LANTERN. Placement of O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN was determined by the two long down clues, JACOBS LADDER and QUCK AS A WINK.
My main difficulty was technical: squeezing the numbers legibly into the squares. I didn’t have the sense to print out an enlarged copy of the grid. Live and learn.
I enjoy diagramless puzzles, and this was a good one. And there was an extra bonus: the solved grid was a picture. I also didn't know Jack Murphy Stadium. I could see that that entry took the entire row. I got Murphy from the downs pretty quickly and then realized the next part must be stadium. Jack didn't materialize until the end.
Loved the left/right symmetry (which is easier when you are counting) and the long downs for a change.
Loved the left/right symmetry (which is easier when you are counting) and the long downs for a change.
I also enjoy diagramless but need the starting position. Usually, these puzzles come easily but I had to google San Diego venue in order to make any progress. But the words were great and so was the jack o'lantern. Great job.
I'm a little surprised to read Deb's post - I thought it was way too easy to start with and then made impossibly easy by the prominent inclusion (online at least) of the circled letters and the information about the starting square. As a diagramless fan (I know we are in the minority...) I would really love for there to be a place for the people who want help (this kind of symmetry, this starting square, these circles) to click so they can get help - but save the fun of true diagramless for the fans. It didn't ruin it - and I know we're all about winning over converts - but couldn't we find a way to keep the already converted fully invested?
Interesting. The AcrossLite version I downloaded didn't have circles, so nothing was spoiled for me. I didn't notice the theme entries until after I'd finished and looked over the grid, which is why I pointed them out in my CFC. Looks like the circles were in the dead tree edition and in the PDF, but not in the AcrossLite version.
What about the starting square and the type of symmetry? I would really like those to appear somewhere easy to find for people who want them and easy to ignore for people who don't (which front and center does not qualify for...).
Sometimes I solve on graph paper and don't want to know the starting square. Usually I print out the grid and clues from the Times site, and I see that there I have a choice of whether to see the starting square, but either option will give me the symmetry. I like knowing the symmetry, but I can see that others might not want to know. I was wondering if any of the printout versions omitted the circles, but I forgot that the icon for Across Lite is that little skinny arrow, so I didn't look at that. Now I know. I would like to be able to look at the Notepad in AL before I print out the puzzle in AL. Certainly seeing the circles in the Times version gave me a leg up once I had JACK, and guessing that it was probably a Halloween theme.
I started out well but bogged down briefly, but then I remembered JACK MURPHY STADIUM and it was a smooth solve all the way down. Once I had the JACK I looked at the next to the last across clue and figured it had to start with LANTERN. It was nice to have that base for the diagram! & nice to have a Halloween-y diagram.
I completely missed the stadium's iteration as Snapdragon Stadium--I see that according to Wikipedia it was only for 10 days as a marketing ploy, so that's a relief. I liked the two 17-letter long entries. And for a diagramless, it felt like it had a lot of longer, interesting words--AUTOBAHN, SYNAPSE, FOOTRACES, QUICK AS A WINK, JACOB'S LADDER, etc. Also GALETTES, yum. So this was fun, and I liked it.
I completely missed the stadium's iteration as Snapdragon Stadium--I see that according to Wikipedia it was only for 10 days as a marketing ploy, so that's a relief. I liked the two 17-letter long entries. And for a diagramless, it felt like it had a lot of longer, interesting words--AUTOBAHN, SYNAPSE, FOOTRACES, QUICK AS A WINK, JACOB'S LADDER, etc. Also GALETTES, yum. So this was fun, and I liked it.
1
Yay! Diagramless!
Note that the theme answers begin with JACK, O, and LANTERN.
How long is an instant? Definitions and usage seem to vary, but in some contexts, an instant is a point in time, infinitessimal in duration, i.e., it has no length in time. Other contexts call it a short amount of time, imprecisely defined. So a NANOSECOND might or might not be shorter than an instant. (I was convinced it didn't, as I considered an instant to have no duration.)
I enjoyed this puzzle, as I pretty much always do with Diagramlesses. Good use of mirror symmetry for picture drawing.
Note that the theme answers begin with JACK, O, and LANTERN.
How long is an instant? Definitions and usage seem to vary, but in some contexts, an instant is a point in time, infinitessimal in duration, i.e., it has no length in time. Other contexts call it a short amount of time, imprecisely defined. So a NANOSECOND might or might not be shorter than an instant. (I was convinced it didn't, as I considered an instant to have no duration.)
I enjoyed this puzzle, as I pretty much always do with Diagramlesses. Good use of mirror symmetry for picture drawing.