Steven E. Atwood author page
5 puzzles by Steven E. Atwood
with Jeff Chen comments
| R | O | Y | S | S | N | S | B | A | R | B | S | |||
| E | W | E | I | C | O | N | S | T | A | R | T | S | ||
| F | L | A | T | R | A | T | E | A | T | T | I | R | E | |
| A | I | M | S | A | T | A | C | T | I | I | ||||
| T | A | L | C | P | O | K | E | R | C | H | I | P | S | |
| E | N | O | K | I | M | A | K | E | S | |||||
| N | N | W | S | L | O | P | P | Y | T | H | A | W | ||
| T | I | C | M | A | C | B | O | O | K | I | L | E | ||
| H | E | A | D | C | E | S | S | N | A | S | I | N | ||
| R | E | P | E | L | N | O | M | A | D | |||||
| B | O | B | B | Y | S | O | C | K | S | P | S | S | T | |
| E | N | D | O | R | T | O | A | T | E | E | ||||
| S | T | I | R | I | N | S | H | O | P | L | I | F | T | |
| S | H | E | A | T | H | E | L | M | O | C | U | E | ||
| E | T | H | E | L | C | O | P | S | E | N | D |
BRITISHISMS! Having just finished the latest season of "The Great British Bake-off," having all these American words Britishized tickled me. FLAT RATE, with FLAT Britishly defined as "apartment," POKER CHIPS, with CHIPS Britishificated into "fries," etc.
I wasn't sure what MACBOOK was meant to be. Took a little thinking to remember that a raincoat gets Britishagated into MAC.
(BOBBY = policeman and LIFT = elevator.)
Nice to have BRITISHISMS in the grid as a revealer, although it's in an odd place, up in the NE corner. One trouble with this sort of placement is that the game gets given away too quickly.
(Although it does stymie "clever" solvers who skip down to the bottom to where the revealer usually is.)
Not only did it feel out of place, but not having a symmetrical partner — LOW CARB DIET is a nice entry, but not thematic — gave the grid a wonky feel. Like tea without a scone. Or unrisen dough without a proving drawer.
Perhaps I've been watching too much GBBO…
Even given the relatively high theme density, I thought there was too much crossword glue. BSA, SEIS, ILE, NNW, ON THE, KAN, EPOS, and the duped ISM / BRITISHISMS. That's more than 10% of the entries in the grid; a bit SLOPPY. I would have preferred something like just five themers, with the first one 10 or 11 letters long to match BRITISHISM(S). Would have allowed for a more elegant final product.
Overall though, fun for me to get my Anglophilic fix. Now, back to my crisps and puddings…
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| C | A | P | O | A | L | I | B | A | B | A | E | N | C | L | O | S | E | S | ||
| T | H | E | L | O | X | F | A | C | T | O | R | A | T | R | A | N | D | O | M | |
| S | U | C | K | L | E | R | V | A | N | L | O | I | N | J | O | K | E | |||
| H | I | D | E | B | I | T | E | O | N | D | E | |||||||||
| A | S | H | E | N | C | L | A | S | S | I | F | I | E | D | L | O | A | D | ||
| S | H | A | R | L | S | A | T | A | F | O | R | E | L | K | E | |||||
| F | A | V | O | R | I | T | E | S | O | L | O | N | D | W | A | R | F | |||
| A | M | E | A | V | O | N | Y | E | W | M | A | R | I | F | O | O | ||||
| R | U | N | S | F | O | R | S | L | A | L | O | M | D | A | N | C | I | N | G | |
| S | T | R | A | T | A | H | E | A | V | E | D | |||||||||
| S | L | O | W | I | N | G | V | O | T | E | R | S | M | I | D | S | I | Z | E | |
| W | E | N | N | O | E | S | I | N | C | S | A | N | A | M | A | V | ||||
| O | R | A | N | G | G | L | O | A | M | I | N | G | T | A | B | L | E | |||
| R | O | I | L | A | P | P | T | A | F | T | S | P | U | E | R | |||||
| D | I | R | E | C | T | O | R | S | C | L | O | U | T | A | P | E | S | T | ||
| A | L | I | E | R | I | N | D | C | A | N | E | |||||||||
| B | L | O | B | G | U | N | S | O | E | D | O | B | T | A | I | N | S | |||
| C | A | L | I | E | N | T | E | F | L | O | A | T | T | U | E | S | D | A | Y | |
| U | N | D | E | R | C | U | T | T | O | P | H | A | T | S | E | A | R | N | ||
| P | I | E | R | H | P | S | S | W | E | A | R | A | T | D | S | C | S |
| A | F | F | I | X | A | H | E | A | D | D | H | S | ||
| S | T | O | R | K | B | A | S | I | E | E | E | L | ||
| P | R | O | V | E | R | B | I | A | G | E | T | R | E | |
| H | I | T | S | O | A | F | P | E | R | O | N | |||
| A | L | I | D | I | S | A | S | T | E | R | O | I | D | |
| L | E | N | T | I | L | M | O | R | A | I | N | E | ||
| T | Y | G | E | R | W | O | O | F | S | T | E | R | ||
| R | E | P | A | S | T | U | R | E | ||||||
| A | C | H | S | R | I | S | E | U | R | G | E | S | ||
| P | H | O | E | B | E | S | A | B | S | E | N | T | ||
| P | E | R | S | I | S | T | E | R | L | Y | R | D | A | |
| E | D | I | T | S | S | O | P | O | M | N | I | |||
| A | D | Z | C | O | N | Q | U | E | S | T | I | O | N | |
| S | A | O | A | L | E | U | T | A | R | E | T | E | ||
| E | R | N | Y | A | T | E | S | G | O | R | E | D |
| S | H | I | L | O | H | D | O | S | A | S | I | A | ||
| C | A | S | A | B | A | A | S | P | U | R | N | S | ||
| T | R | O | V | E | S | F | L | O | U | R | I | S | H | |
| V | A | N | I | S | H | T | O | N | T | O | ||||
| S | E | A | R | G | A | R | I | S | H | |||||
| B | A | C | H | N | A | S | T | Y | A | M | I | E | ||
| U | S | A | C | A | R | T | A | A | S | P | E | N | ||
| M | I | R | C | H | E | R | I | S | H | U | S | N | ||
| R | A | M | O | S | F | I | L | C | H | R | T | E | ||
| A | G | E | R | T | Y | P | E | O | F | E | A | R | ||
| P | O | L | I | S | H | D | O | D | I | |||||
| E | A | R | P | S | P | U | N | I | S | H | ||||
| B | R | A | N | D | I | S | H | E | L | I | S | H | A | |
| A | U | N | T | L | I | E | R | A | S | H | E | R | ||
| M | E | T | S | L | S | D | S | C | H | E | M | E |
| S | W | A | P | S | K | I | U | S | M | I | N | T | ||
| H | I | L | O | N | O | N | S | P | A | C | E | R | ||
| O | S | L | O | O | N | S | D | E | N | O | T | E | ||
| W | H | E | R | E | W | I | T | H | A | L | S | W | E | |
| L | Y | C | R | A | L | S | A | T | S | |||||
| E | Q | U | A | L | A | U | G | U | S | T | ||||
| V | U | L | G | A | R | M | A | R | I | D | L | E | ||
| E | I | N | E | O | V | E | R | S | N | C | A | A | ||
| S | P | A | N | M | O | N | A | U | G | U | R | S | ||
| C | A | P | I | T | A | G | Y | P | S | Y | ||||
| S | L | A | Y | S | L | A | B | E | L | |||||
| A | I | M | S | M | A | L | L | M | I | N | D | E | D | |
| M | E | A | G | E | R | I | A | M | E | R | N | E | ||
| O | N | S | I | T | E | T | R | Y | W | A | Y | S | ||
| A | S | S | E | S | S | Y | E | S | S | T | A | C |