Today's Washington Post Crossword is by me...
FYI 
Cheers,
-Puzzler (AKA: Martin Ashwood-Smith)
= new reply since forum marked as read
(Select Dec 4)
It's also in the actual printed newspaper.
Cheers
Cool puzzle - I liked 41 across in particular (I was thinking [div style="color:#ccc; background-color: #ccc; display: inline;"]"How the heck am I supposed to know the name of some office building in Juneau or wherever!?" 
)
, and thanks for the heads-up!
http://games.washingtonpost.com/games/daily-crossword/
... supposed to make you groan.
But hey, if for a few minutes (or even seconds) I took your mind off the current insanity that we are all facing right now (and I'm in Canada)... maybe it was worth it
Sincerely,
-Puzzler/Martin
... but that's a difficult question to answer without sounding like a bit of a jerk. That said, I guess the answer is pretty much "yes". However, this type of crossword is my specialty. If you look at the grid, you'll notice that the whole middle area has no black squares. So the crossword is constructed to look a little weird. So the answer is definitely "yes" for this style of crossword (known as a "triple-stack 15s"
.
(Warning: shameless self-promotion below)
If you google my name you can see I have a whole book consisting of this type of crossword.
But to be honest, one thing I hate about being a crossword constructor is that some people think that you are implying you're somehow smarter than them. However, anyone can be "smart" with an open dictionary in front of them! I'm quite sincere about this.
By the way, since I've contributed to the New York Times since 1991, if anyone has any questions about the NYT crossword, Will Shortz, or the previous editor... I'd be more than happy to answer them.
Fire away
-Puzzler
I love crosswords, though I have to admit my very favorite puzzles are called Codeword (or something like that). They're put out by Penny Dell and you're supposed to figure which numbered squares equal which letters of the alphabet. There are no clues, of course.
According to Penny Dell:
In this special crossword puzzle, conventional clues are omitted and answer words are represented by numbers in the diagram.
It's fun to do and takes my mind off... things.
Thanks, Puzzler!!
... to annoy and irritate solvers
Seriously, not much. But I am familiar with that word from movie reviews when Westerns were more popular. I think the term was coined by movie critics who got a little sick of the genre back in the 60s-70s. However, the term might be older.
-Puzzler/Martin Ashwood-Smith
... you proper reply later
-MAS
No? Well, too bad you're gonna "hear" one anyway
Before Will Shortz was the New York Times crossword editor (from 1993 on), he was a senior editor at (the then prestigious) "Games Magazine". Will Shortz, Merl Reagle, Henry Hook and a host of other pros, led the way in really trying to modernize crosswords. Will Shortz also organized the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), which is still going strong today.
During 1992, a certain Governor Clinton had just won the nomination, and word got out that he was a very fast Crossword solver.
So Games Magazine thought it might be interesting to interview him and give him a custom crossword of Mike Shenk's to solve (Mike Shenk now is the current editor of the Wall St. Journal crossword).
Bill Clinton had a good sense of fun, and was delighted to spend an hour with them (interrupting his campaign). After a short interview, Shortz presented Clinton with a customized 15x15 crossword. Clinton insisted on solving it immediately. So he took his PEN out and started solving and also chatted to Will and Mike while solving.
A few seconds later, he apologized and said he had to take a phone call. Both Will and Mike thought that they should leave. But Clinton insisted they stay.
Clinton had been on the phone for a couple of minutes, when Mike whispered to Will: "Hey, he's still solving!".
Indeed he was, because before the short phone call was over, he tossed the crossword back to them, saying "Done!".
Both Will and Mike stared and the pen-filled grid, only to discover that Clinton had solved it letter-perfect, in pen, while doing two other things!
If you can find that old copy of Games from 1992, you can confirm this incident. Also, you can see Clinton's pen-solved grid!
I remember Shortz being so incredibly impressed at how smart Clinton was, and how well he could hide it at times. Clinton was very adept at not being intimidating despite his MENSA-like intelligence.
Anyway, a little Clinton/crossword anecdote for you (100% true).
-MAS
