Puzzle #20: All Bottled Up

 

This is another puzzle of mine that I made quite some time ago. Like the one from two weeks ago, it's probably one of the first puzzles that I made on my own. As usual, I touched up some of the clues but the grid has largely remained unchanged. Upon revisiting it, I noticed that it doesn't have the long down slots that I image I would have included had I made the grid now, but overall I don't have as many nits to pick with it as I usually do with some of my older puzzles. One of the strangest thing about constructing puzzles for the major outlets with significant queue times is that, by the time you get to see your work in print, a year or more has gone by and you're a much different constructor. It's almost like digging up a time capsule, which is both really cool and also a really unusual thing to experience in the "public eye". I have no complaints, but it is a funny thing that I think about sometimes that feels (perhaps) unique to the world of constructing crossword puzzles. I hope you enjoy today's simple (and hopefully fun) theme. Cheers! 🧩

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Guest Midi by Brooke Husic

I am so ridiculously excited to be featuring constructor, human, and friend extraordinaire Brooke Husic today on Brain Candy. I became an uber fan basically as soon as she arrived on the constructing scene, and the more I get to know her as a human, the more of a fan I become! She's wickedly smart and talented and is also a totally great friend, which is basically the ultimate hat trick of being a person. If you don't already, you can keep up with her on Twitter at @brookehus (for science-related stuff) and @xandraladee (for crossword-related stuff). I especially recommend this right now since she has a very exciting announcement coming tomorrow. Huge thanks to Brooke for gifting me/us with this puzzle, and I'm endlessly excited to see and enjoy all the things that are coming next for her!

Here's Brooke: Thanks so much to Amanda for running this! Brain Candy is amazing/trailblazing and I'm in awe of Amanda and her wordplay/cluing skillz. I really was trying to cram a lot of stuff in here so my low points are a little lower than usual (I'm looking at you, 5-D, 22-A, and 35-A. But I loved the chance to mention The Resistance in the 35-A clue, which is a terrible game to play with me if you want to ever be friends/enjoy my company), but hopefully aren't disruptive to the experience. Thanks a ton to Matthew for test solving.

P.S. I'm super here for woman rappers who mention their height. 18-Down does it in "Morning" and Missy Elliott does it in the "theme song" of my puzzle the other week @ Grids These Days. If you know any other instances of this please @ me.

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Theatre Thursday #20

 

I cannot believe that this is already the 20th Theatre Thursday puzzle! How on earth...!? If you came late to the party, you can find all of the older puzzles in the "archive" in the sidebar; if you've been with me from the start, I hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as I have! Today's puzzle was built around my second favorite human of all time after Julie Andrews: 21-Across. Even if it did take a Disney movie to do it, I'm so glad she's seen a very well-deserved move into the "household name" sphere of pop culture. (The one downside is that now I have to fight a trillion people to go see her, whereas before I only had to fight other musical theater maniacs like myself)! But what are you going to do? Talent deserves to be recognized, so here we are. After the Wicked ship had sailed, I thought I had perhaps missed my opportunity to ever see her live in a Broadway musical...but then along came If/Then, resurrecting all my hopes and dreams. In total, over the past 15 years I've seen this glorious human four or five times in concert, twice in a musical, twice in a play, and again at her Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony. Suffice it to say, I think she's the best. Maybe you do too. If so, enjoy today's puzzle. And if not, maybe do a little more research 😉🧩

Amanda

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Midi Puzzle

 

If you've never heard of the Nevis Swing (as featured in 11-Across and in the above GIF), give it a Google. Ideally with video, to really capture the nightmare that it is. I can barely complete this post because that image alone is making me woozy. (I very much do not care for heights). Similarly to how I feel about skydiving, I am 100% certain that I would die of a heart attack if I tried this. But god bless anyone who is capable of indulging in such adventures. I am the exact opposite of an adrenaline freak, which I guess would make me a...GABA freak? (the neurotransmitter that reduces neuronal excitability). Anyhow...this puzzle started off with 12-Across. A different and equally valid phrase starting with the same word showed up as a fill option when I was working on a puzzle for a mainstream outlet, and I found myself discouraged by the fact that I felt I couldn't include this phrase in the puzzle. While I didn't include that exact phrase here because I couldn't figure out exactly how I'd want to clue it (perhaps some other time), I was happy to include something related since it is, after all, a perfectly normal and real element of life. Happy solving! 🧩

Amanda

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Puzzle #19: "Try This Coat!" by Thomas J. Heins, Will Eisenberg, and Olivia Mitra Framke

 

I'm super excited to be posting Brain Candy's first ever three-way collaboration -- a puzzle by Thomas J. Heins, Will Eisenberg, and Olivia Mitra Framke! When they pitched the idea to me, it brought a big smile to my face and I think all of you fellow crossword lovers will find yourselves equally amused! Big thanks to these three lovely people for giving me the pleasure of running this puzzle. Now I'll turn things over to your constructors:

Will: This theme emerged out of a discussion (okay, out of me strong-arming Thomas and Liv into making a puzzle with me) on the Crossword Discord server, aka Crosscord, which can be joined here: http://discord.gg/zHnQtGG. I can be found on Twitter at @TLMBERWOLVES, and on Discord as Lebronswanson.

 

T.J.: Thanks to Will and Liv for having me on; I'm thankful to have had the opportunity for my first collab.

 

Olivia: The second I saw the idea for this theme being discussed in Crosscord I absolutely loved it. I hope you will too!  

 

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Variety Crossword: Get The Picture?

 

Today's puzzle was born out of a crazy idea I had when I learned that the Amuse Labs platform allowed you to include photos with your clues. Because I'm a little bit of a nut, I asked myself whether or not I thought it was possible to clue an entire puzzle using only photos and no words. Because I imagine the novelty would wear off pretty quickly (plus there's no room for fun word play), I decided to give it a go in the format of a mini puzzle. So...here we are! Some of the photos are very direct and are pictures of what the word is, other photos have something in them that's described by the word in the grid. So keep your eyes peeled and, hopefully, have fun! Back tomorrow with an awesome 3-way-collab guest grid that should give a good laugh to all you folks in the puzzle community.

Amanda

Theatre Thursday #19

Today's puzzle focuses on a show that I'm currently having some deep-seated FOMO around -- The Band's Visit. I had been dying to see this show since it opened on Broadway, and it was supposed to finally be in LA in May. I think at this point we all know what the outcome of that was. The Band's Visit is a very unusual musical by many standards: where many of the shows that come through Broadway are large and extravagant, The Band's Visit is quiet and subdued; the style of music is wildly unique and unlike most anything else you'll hear from a Broadway cast album; and the level of intimacy is extraordinarily high. Despite it's departure from the norm, The Band's Visit is one of only four musicals in history to win the unofficial "Big Six" Tony awards (Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical). It also won the 2019 Grammy award for Best Musical Theater Album.

The story itself takes place in an Israeli town where every day feels the same. Local cafe owner Dina has long given up her dreams of finding romance and spends her days daydreaming. But when a band of Egyptian musicians show up lost, she and her fellow locals must take them in. This results in a magical night in which all are able to overcome their cultural differences and find companionship through an undercurrent of shared melancholy, leading to a permanent change in the town and its people. Watch the cast of The Band's Visit perform a Tiny Desk Concert here. The music is truly beautiful, with a beloved classic being Omar Sharif. Give the album (or these videos) a listen if you're not already familiar. I think you'll find yourself enchanted 🎭🧩

PS: There is a picture in one of the clues, so take a peek here in-browser first if you're planning to solve the .puz file.

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Midi Puzzle

Happy to be back here after a couple days off! Though I didn't have any puzzles here over the last couple of days, I did have the USA Today puzzle on Monday and the NYT puzzle yesterday, so you weren't quite rid of me despite your best efforts ;) Today's puzzle is mostly solvable in the .puz file, but I tried something new here that's a really cool feature of the PuzzleMe platform: attaching images to certain clues. There are 3 in this puzzle, and these images will not be accessible in the .puz file so if you can, I'd suggest solving here in the browser today. Hope you enjoy! 🧩

Amanda

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Puzzle #18: "Toys Are Us"

Ahh toys. For those of you with kids, these are certainly not a thing of the past. But for folks like me, there's a sense of nostalgia to places like Toys "R" Us and FAO Schwartz. An upsetting and irrelevant fact about me is that I still have the FAO Schwartz Friendship Tree's little poem memorized from when I was a child. You know...the one that he says with his rubbery little mouth when you push the button on his side. Woof. ANYWAY, this puzzle is actually quite old -- one of the first I ever made on my own! The theme is silly, but the revealer is deeply on brand for this site. I ended up re-doing quite a bit of the fill around the edges and wrote a bunch of new clues as well, which I had a lot of fun with. Hope you enjoy! 😄🧩

Amanda

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Guest Midi by Paolo Pasco

I couldn't be happier to be hosting a midi puzzle today from the incomparable Paolo Pasco, whose constructing and solving chops are both to be envied. He's also just a genuinely nice human, which is always a supremely exceptional bonus to talent. I won't ruin the puzzle by saying more here, but I will say that if you aren't familiar with 26-Across, definitely click this link after solving! Enjoy!

Here's Paolo: As a longtime Brain Candy fan, I’m very grateful to Amanda for the opportunity to have a puzzle on the site! I think this is the first anniversary puzzle I’ve made—they’re not normally my bag, but the event in this puzzle is too close to my heart to not commemorate. Many of the clues were attempts to hit the high high cluing bar Amanda’s set in terms of fun/quality (and, for 6A and 10A, hit the Broadway tone I love on this site). Hope you enjoy!

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Theatre Thursday #18

Hello everyone -- please step aside, for your queen has arrived! (See above). The show that is the subject of today's puzzle is in the puzzle itself, so I won't be referring to it by name below.

As mentioned in the puzzle, this show was the final collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein (Hammerstein sadly died of stomach cancer nine months after its Broadway opening). While the stage version of this show was certainly successful in its own right, the award-winning film version truly put this show on the map as the beloved classic it is. In fact, I will go on record as saying that this might be the one and only show I can think of that I think actually worked better as a film (full disclosure: I am completely blinded by my love for Julie Andrews and everything she does). There were two songs written specifically for the film ("I Have Confidence" and "Something Good"), and since Oscar Hammerstein had died a number of years before the film went into production, Richard Rodgers was tasked with writing these two songs in full -- both music and lyrics. The film soundtrack is one of the most successful soundtrack albums in history (again...Julie Andrews), and the original Broadway cast album (starring Mary Martin) spent 16 weeks as the Billboard #1 album. The Carrie Underwood television version never happened, and you cannot convince me otherwise. I'd better stop talking or I will find ways to keep circling back to how much I love Julie Andrews. I hope you enjoy the puzzle! 🧩

PS: I really missed the annual sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl this year. Picture 18,500 fellow fans singing along to this film under the stars (often in costume)...😍

Amanda

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Midi Puzzle

Back today with a midi puzzle, and I had a lot of fun making this one. I don't always experiment with grid design as much as I could, so I really enjoyed creating this funky-looking one and trying to squeeze as much good stuff into it as possible. The clue for 20-Across is one I've been waiting to use for quite a while now :) I hope you had a nice relaxing long weekend! 🧩

Amanda

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Puzzle #17: "That's A Stretch" by Ricky Cruz

Happy Sunday, everyone! I'm very excited to get to run this guest puzzle by Ricky Cruz today -- the concept is really fun and the revealer is certainly right at home here on this site! He's got his own puzzle site Cruzzles as well, so head on over there and check out some of his other stuff after you're done solving here! And if your Sunday is anywhere near as relaxing as my Saturday was, then I couldn't be happier for you. Enjoy!! 😄🧩

Here's Ricky: Very happy to be running a guest puzzle here! I always like to tailor guest puzzles for the blogs they’ll be on, so hopefully it fits right in. Thanks Amanda! Also, I’d like to plug the Crossword Discord Server here; if you’re into solving or constructing, come and join us to talk puzzles! https://discord.gg/zHnQtGG

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Saturday Midi

Happy to be back with another midi, with some clues that I hope you'll find entertaining! The clue for 37-Across comes courtesy of a realization I had about a year ago while watching Scooby Doo with my 3-year-old niece...there's always one random person in addition to the gang in each episode, and that's always the culprit! So glad to have made heads and tails of that enigma in my 30's. Tomorrow will bring another guest puzzle that I'm very excited to feature. Have a great Saturday! 🧩

Amanda

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Theatre Thursday #17

It's that time again, and this week's show choice is Kitt & Yorkey's 2014 musical "If/Then", starring my second favorite human after Julie Andrews. If you didn't get a chance to see it, there's a pretty good recording of it on Youtube starring the one-and-only Jackie Burns. The show opens in a park, where the protagonist is faced with a choice: go hang out with her friend Kate (who wants her to open herself up to new experiences and new people) or go with her friend Lucas (who thinks she should focus on her career). The remainder of the show then depicts the two paths that the protagonist's life could take if she made either decision. The ultimate message: while the choices we make do affect our future, if something is truly meant to be then it will come to pass. The show was met with mixed reviews -- many people found it confusing and hard to follow (this writer disagrees) -- but the score is truly incredible and was actually the highest-charting Broadway cast recording since "The Book of Mormon". I recommend giving it a listen! It's good, and also...you know...10-Across. Enjoy! 🎭🧩

Amanda

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Midi Puzzle

Back again with a midi puzzle, and today's marquee entries are both drink mascots. Why? I honestly couldn't tell you. I saw 9-Across on Twitter (I have no idea how/why) and then just ran with it. Decided to have a little fun with the black squares today too. Hope you enjoy! 😊🧩

Amanda

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