Giveaway Are you good at crossword puzzles? Win a poker mystery box! (1 Viewer)

[Pinesol13]

Ok, so here's the story. I've been trying to make my own crossword puzzle for a custom newspaper that I'm making to be part of my Halloween party invitation. It turns out, making a crossword puzzle from scratch is not easy. This is my first attempt. I know I didn't follow some of the basic rules of making a crossword puzzle, like symmetry, and I have a lot of two letter words... I wanted to post it here because I figured with so many members, there's got to be a few that can give me knowledgeable feedback. Then I thought let's make it fun and turn it in to a giveaway.

Mystery Box will include, but not limited to:
14 buttery smooth leaded paulsons
Cut cards
Dealer button(s)
Other buttons
KEM or similar quality playing cards
Other goodies


The crossword puzzle is below. The puzzle has a secret message in it which, hopefully, is revealed once completed. First person to post the completed puzzle and say the secret message wins! And remember any feedback on the puzzle is much appreciated.

 

[BamaT8ter]

You’re not safe.

 

[Jonesey07]

Damnit.

This was as far as I got while working:

 

[moechar]

You’re not safe.
View attachment 711618

Damn it I was too late nice job man

 

[jbriod]

@BamaT8ter ...holy, Rainman in the house! Lol

 

[ktran]

Well I just learn a bunch of useless info

 

[Pinesol13]

You’re not safe.
View attachment 711618

DAMN! Did not expect this to go that fast, Congratulations!

 

[Stufflymcstuff]

asdfasdf

oh well :'(

 

[Pinesol13]

asdfasdf

oh well :'(

While your #33 down is technically incorrect, I may switch to your answer and adjust the clue so this one is not so obscure. "sounds" works, and doesn't affect any other words.

*EDIT: Nope, just realized it affects the "secret message"

 

[Stufflymcstuff]

i googled so many times for that band and there's no mention of a "stnng"

https://www.allmusic.com/birthplace/minneapolis-mn-mz0000000488/asc/5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Minnesota

is this a band that people would know off the top of their heads?

 

[BamaT8ter]

3 n’s

 

[Pinesol13]

i googled so many times for that band and there's no mention of a "stnng"

https://www.allmusic.com/birthplace/minneapolis-mn-mz0000000488/asc/5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Minnesota

is this a band that people would know off the top of their heads?

No, I don't think so . I think I ended up with that word early on in the process, as I was trying to make other words work into the area. For some reason I thought I was committed to that word in order to keep Arachnophobia and the secret message in there. But I see now that I can change it.

Also I'm unsure about Oarsweed and Eider.

I thought RedCat would be a little tricky for anyone not familiar with the Finger Lakes.

 

[The Nuts]

We're all slow

Where is the you're not safe?

 

[BamaT8ter]

We're all slow

Where is the you're not safe?

Diagonal from top left to bottom right.

 

[moechar]

We're all slow

Where is the you're not safe?

View attachment 711650

Look diagonally from top left to bottom right.

 

[Stufflymcstuff]

3 n’s

i meant before knowing what it is. did anyone google this to find out the answer? i tried about ten links about "noise rock bands", a few that even listed off ones from minneapolis and no mention of them.

 

[The Nuts]

i meant before knowing what it is. did anyone google this to find out the answer? i tried about ten links about "noise rock bands", a few that even listed off ones from minneapolis and no mention of them.

Definitely, know nothing of Minneapolis bands or even what noise rock is.

Was right there in the results from google before even clicking on any links

 

[wmaddix]

Fun puzzle. Thank you.

Regarding edits, I absolutely love the edits Will Shortz adds to the NYT to make it more fun for the reader. Specifically, I love how he uses the answers that have multiple definitions and then rewrites the clues to support puns. This will be fun for you to write and more importantly it's very pleasing for the solver to uncover those puns.

At a quick glance, some immediate ideas:

Across
7. Hockey infraction at the GNR concert? Slashing.
16. Wolverine's favorite precipitation? Hail.
18. Letter from Norman? Mailer.

etc.

Good luck. It's already A+, but adding puns would elevate it to chef's kiss.

 

[buffalojim]

Pretty sure 1 across is wrong.

 

[THRA5H3R]

I'm also at work, and all I managed to do was print the damn thing out. Nice work!

 

[mnebesny]

Sorry, I guess I'm a bit late to the party, but I started trying to construct crosswords about a year ago so I definitely wanted to take a stab at this.

Spoiler: Comments/spoilers

Imo the hardest part about a crossword is figuring out where to put the black squares in order to be able to get a nice fill...so kudos to you for fitting the diagonal theme word in and also getting a lot of nice words in the grid like EXORCIST, ARACHNOPHOBIA, JEEPERS CREEPERS, etc. You had some sweet clues too; I especially liked 41-Across and 16-Across. The diagonal theme word was fresh and unexcepted, although I suspect it may go unnoticed by some people, depending on what your audience is. Some puzzles have circles placed in the grid to indicate (a) hidden word(s) so I guess that's an option.

Regardless, congrats on your first crossword, quite an achievement.

 

[Pinesol13]

Sorry, I guess I'm a bit late to the party, but I started trying to construct crosswords about a year ago so I definitely wanted to take a stab at this.

View attachment 717952

Spoiler: Comments/spoilers

Imo the hardest part about a crossword is figuring out where to put the black squares in order to be able to get a nice fill...so kudos to you for fitting the diagonal theme word in and also getting a lot of nice words in the grid like EXORCIST, ARACHNOPHOBIA, JEEPERS CREEPERS, etc. You had some sweet clues too; I especially liked 41-Across and 16-Across. The diagonal theme word was fresh and unexcepted, although I suspect it may go unnoticed by some people, depending on what your audience is. Some puzzles have circles placed in the grid to indicate (a) hidden word(s) so I guess that's an option.

Regardless, congrats on your first crossword, quite an achievement.

Thanks! Regarding the secret phrase, it's fine if not everyone gets it. In fact, I kinda like that. It's like an Easter egg. For my last Halloween party invite it also had a secret "Easter egg" in it, and literally only one out of 50 people got it, which I thought was hilarious.

I'm not sure if the secret phrase will have any purpose. I'm also making a website that's related to the invitation/party. Maybe I'll make one page password protected, and the phrase is the password...?