This precursor grid containing about 60% of the same fill is instructive because I myself rejected it as having inadequate fill. The movement of a couple black squares to produce the final grid is somewhat surprising feature, IMO.
This grid, with only 17 blocks, holds the most famous record in crosswords.
1 P | 2 E | 3 P | 4 C | 5 I | 6 D | 7 L | 8 A | 9 C | 10 E | 11 R | 12 A | 13 T | 14 E |
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15 A | P | A | S | S | A | 16 G | E | T | O | I | N | D | I | A |
17 D | I | S | P | U | T | E | D | B | O | R | D | E | R | S |
18 U | S | T | A | 19 A | R | I | A | N | E | 20 L | E | E |
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21 A | T | O | N | 22 E | M | E | N | T | S | 23 S | A | M | I |
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24 N | E | R | 25 M | I | N | T | S | 26 I | C | I | A | N |
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27 M | A | 28 P | O | N | T | O | 29 C | R | E | D | I | T |
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30 S | O | L | A | T | E | S | 31 P | H | O | N | E | N | O |
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32 I | L | E | N | E | S | 33 S | O | O | N | E | S | T | ||
34 D | O | P | E | D | 35 D | E | N | S | E | 36 L | E | 37 T |
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38 E | G | I | S | 39 C | E | N | T | E | R | 40 L | A | N | E |
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41 W | I | S | 42 L | E | A | D | I | N | 43 O | M | A | N |
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44 A | C | T | 45 S | I | N | D | I | F | F | 46 E | R | E | N | T |
47 Y | A | L | T | A | C | O | N | F | E | R | E | N | C | E |
48 S | L | E | E | T | I | N | G | 49 W | A | S | T | E | D |
Answer summary: 6 unique to this puzzle, 7 unique to Shortz Era but used previously.
Found bugs or have suggestions?
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