Billy Ouska author page
2 puzzles by Billy Ouska
with Jeff Chen comments
| M | C | A | T | O | L | G | A | S | T | A | S | H | ||
| E | L | L | A | P | E | R | U | E | A | G | L | E | ||
| C | E | E | S | E | D | I | T | L | I | R | A | S | ||
| C | A | P | T | U | R | E | T | H | E | F | L | A | G | |
| A | T | H | E | N | A | O | T | I | S | |||||
| S | I | T | F | O | R | A | S | P | E | L | L | |||
| A | O | L | T | E | R | M | S | H | I | N | E | S | ||
| C | H | A | T | Y | E | S | N | O | V | A | ||||
| I | N | W | I | T | H | G | A | M | E | L | I | T | ||
| D | O | N | T | S | A | Y | A | W | O | R | D | |||
| A | U | R | A | S | T | A | T | U | E | |||||
| C | O | N | N | E | C | T | T | H | E | D | O | T | S | |
| N | O | K | I | A | H | O | O | P | B | R | A | T | ||
| S | T | R | U | M | T | O | R | I | O | S | H | A | ||
| A | S | A | M | I | S | L | O | T | D | O | N | S |
Such a fun visual, a GenCon attendee spotting a CONNECT THE DOTS sign, thinking sure, I'll go form some pictures … wait … this is a punny description of dominoes?
Ah, the games we play!
Considering CONNECT THE DOTS was such a fun themer, it's sad that it took me such a long time to connect the dots on this theme. The first one, CAPTURE THE FLAG, confused me because that is the stated goal of Stratego — I couldn't figure out why the clue would have a question mark at its end.
Thinking about my GenCon visual though, it is funny to imagine quiet Stratego players getting ambushed by people in camo gear, stealing that critical piece off their board.
I appreciated that a few clues exhibited the same playfulness as the theme; uncommon in an early-week puzzle. [Work of art that goes to waist?] is a perfect example of wordplay accessible to newer solvers. Not only is there a telltale question mark, but "goes to waist" screams to be noticed. Such a wicked way to hint at TORSO.
[Cadillac rims?] might go over noob heads, though, as it's a trick commonly employed in later-week puzzles. The "rims" of "Cadillac" are its outer Cs, or in crosswordese, CEES.
Neat idea, repurposing phrases in a punny way to describe a game. It'd have been an easy POW! pick if all of them had been "clever misdirections from one game to another," like CONNECT THE DOTS and dominoes.
| B | A | S | H | A | M | B | E | R | S | P | I | N | ||
| A | R | I | A | L | U | I | G | I | U | R | D | U | ||
| L | E | T | T | H | E | G | O | O | D | S | R | O | L | L |
| M | A | S | T | E | R | S | D | I | E | S | E | L | ||
| R | A | T | B | A | L | D | ||||||||
| W | A | I | T | S | F | O | R | N | O | O | N | E | ||
| C | A | T | C | H | E | P | I | C | S | O | R | E | ||
| R | I | S | K | S | L | I | D | E | P | L | U | S | ||
| U | S | E | S | T | O | N | E | T | R | I | P | S | ||
| T | A | K | E | O | N | E | S | S | W | E | E | T | ||
| I | R | I | S | A | I | D | ||||||||
| S | T | A | T | I | C | E | S | C | A | P | E | S | ||
| C | A | N | T | F | I | N | D | T | H | E | T | I | M | E |
| A | C | N | E | S | E | I | N | E | O | N | M | E | ||
| M | O | A | N | M | A | M | A | S | R | E | A | D |
Billy did so many things well in his debut. Drilling down:
Great revealer. CAN'T FIND THE TIME is a snappy phrase, and it describes the theme concept well. It's not perfect since TIME isn't as much "misplaced" as "lost" or "canceled," but it does the job.
Variety. Note how Billy picked three positions for his lost TIME. Middle of LET THE GOOD TIME ROLL, beginning of TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE, and TAKES ONES SWEET TIME. A bit of everything not only helps keep the idea fresh, but it makes for a less predictable, more fun challenge.
Humor in results. Bowling ball avalanche, a bored server, and a date. It's not Cedric the Entertainer, but it does entertain.
Quality of fill. Billy starts behind the eight-ball, using Matt Ginsberg's list as his master. I love Matt's comprehensive database and use it all the time, but only for specific searches, not for grid-level testing. It contains everything under the sun — including a whole lot of junk — so many new constructors who use this as their master show me unpublishable work. Billy's is far from that, some nice bonuses in HAT TRICK, STOICISM and PREDATOR, with little glue. All in a 72-word grid — few experienced constructors could do that!
I did hitch on a few minor points, like RIDDANCE running through GOOD, which threw me off. Will Shortz doesn't care about duplicating grid entries in clues, and I usually don't either, but GOOD crossing RIDDANCE (with "good" in the clue) felt confusingly thematic.
If the theme had tickled my desire for a Thursday trick — and that's not everyone's preference, as Will has rightfully pointed out in the past — this could have been in POW! territory. Excellent debut.