Puzzle Notes
"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity" ~Charles Mingus
Dear Friends,
When it comes to puzzlemaking, consider this paradox: creating a simple Monday/Tuesday crossword is much more difficult than making a Saturday-level brain-busting themeless. The early-in-the-week puzzle writer must develop a theme and execute it in an entertaining and accessible way.
Contrast that with the Saturday-level themeless: no theme is required and the writer has more words to work with. In my other day job at The New Yorker, I'm assigned to write two types of puzzles -- very easy and very hard. Let me tell you -- the easy ones are the hardest to make!
Athletes, writers and performers are familiar with the concept of grit -- through years of practice, they make the most difficult football plays, prose and arias seem effortless.
A glorious example is: Jessye Norman's "Ave Maria."
I often hear from solvers who complete these puzzles in a matter of minutes -- in far less time than I could solve them myself! Through years of practice, they've created their own art of puzzle-solving. I'm here for it!
Welcome to Week 647 of Crossword Nation. We cordially invite you to draw on your inner artist and solve "Finding One's Inner Artist." Happy solving and thank you for subscribing to our weekly puzzle.
Cruciverbally yours and with respect,
Liz
P.S. If you enjoy our puzzles, please give them a good rating on Amy Reynaldo's blog, "Diary of a Crossword Fiend" (see below for details). We appreciate your positive ratings which help keep our woman-owned business strong and independent. Thank you!
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Solvers of The New Yorker puzzles: Please check out my latest crossword, a "lightly challenging" affair.
Mini Crossword Aficionados: For a quick solve, please try the Daily Mini Crossword in the L. A. Times. It's free! Simply bookmark and visit daily for a new puzzle.
Recovering Lost Puzzles: If, for some reason, our weekly puzzle email doesn't appear in your mailbox on Monday evenings, no worries -- you can always "re-send" the puzzle to yourself.
But first ....
- Please check the Spam folder. Sometimes the Crossword Nation emails are redirected to Spam folders. This can happen after a software or system update. If it's not in the Spam folder, then try Step 2.
- Visit the Subscriber Portal and Re-send the Puzzle To Your Mailbox. You can always send the latest puzzle (or any puzzle from our archive) to yourself. Visit here:
https://xwnation.puzzleanywhere.com/enable-account/
Choose the "Resend Puzzle" link at the bottom right of the page. From there, you can choose which puzzle to send to your mailbox!
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If you enjoy our 'indie' Crossword Nation puzzles, please give them a positive rating on Amy Reynaldo's blog, Diary of a Crossword Fiend. Your ratings help keep our little puzzle shop independent and strong!
Ade Koiki blogs our puzzle every Tuesday. Simply page through Amy's blog to find the Tuesday blog posts. http://crosswordfiend.com/
Happy solving and be well!
Liz Gorski
