Greg Johnson author page
8 puzzles by Greg Johnson
with Constructor comments
| Total | Debut | Latest |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 12/16/2013 | 6/19/2020 |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Rebus | Circle | Scrab | Debut | Fresh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1.63 | 24 | 68% |
| R | O | A | S | T | P | I | G | O | P | T | F | O | R | |
| A | N | S | W | E | R | T | O | P | A | U | L | I | E | |
| B | E | T | A | T | E | S | T | E | N | R | O | L | L | |
| B | L | A | D | E | S | M | O | N | T | R | O | S | E | |
| L | E | N | D | S | M | I | R | S | E | R | T | A | ||
| E | G | A | L | G | I | L | D | S | T | W | O | S | ||
| E | V | E | N | K | E | E | L | A | N | E | ||||
| R | O | S | S | I | N | I | R | E | B | O | X | E | D | |
| O | V | A | P | U | M | P | I | R | O | N | ||||
| P | E | T | A | S | I | G | N | S | C | I | R | C | ||
| E | R | I | N | S | Z | A | G | M | A | C | A | O | ||
| S | T | A | G | E | S | E | T | R | E | M | E | D | Y | |
| O | U | T | L | I | E | O | S | O | L | E | M | I | O | |
| F | R | E | E | Z | E | U | N | D | E | R | E | A | T | |
| F | E | S | S | E | D | R | O | S | E | A | N | N | E |
| G | H | O | S | T | G | U | N | S | B | O | I | S | E | |
| R | E | H | E | A | R | S | A | L | E | A | S | E | L | |
| O | R | G | A | N | I | C | M | A | T | E | R | I | A | L |
| C | E | O | S | P | E | E | K | I | N | T | O | E | ||
| E | S | O | M | E | N | D | E | L | D | S | T | |||
| R | Y | D | E | R | S | A | D | M | E | A | T | Y | ||
| I | T | G | U | Y | P | I | L | F | E | R | ||||
| D | O | G | T | O | Y | S | V | E | S | P | E | R | S | |
| D | U | R | H | A | M | M | I | C | A | H | ||||
| S | T | E | E | D | D | A | N | D | I | V | O | T | ||
| D | A | R | S | Y | N | C | E | D | I | K | E | |||
| M | A | T | P | A | N | G | E | A | R | A | T | S | ||
| I | T | J | U | S | T | A | I | N | T | R | I | G | H | T |
| N | E | O | N | S | S | E | T | M | E | F | R | E | E | |
| I | D | B | E | T | T | R | E | E | S | T | A | N | D |
| S | H | O | O | S | O | F | I | A | J | A | D | A | ||
| K | E | R | R | A | W | A | S | H | E | X | I | T | ||
| I | M | A | C | W | I | T | H | C | H | E | E | S | E | |
| M | E | T | H | A | N | E | H | O | P | |||||
| S | N | E | E | R | S | C | O | T | S | M | E | N | ||
| S | E | E | B | E | L | O | W | O | M | G | ||||
| E | M | T | T | A | T | A | A | M | O | C | O | |||
| C | A | R | B | O | N | D | I | O | X | I | D | E | ||
| M | O | L | A | R | I | A | M | B | L | Y | E | |||
| A | N | A | E | A | S | T | S | I | D | E | ||||
| J | O | R | D | A | C | H | E | I | P | A | D | S | ||
| O | T | C | A | M | M | O | N | I | A | |||||
| J | O | H | N | H | U | G | H | E | S | S | T | A | T | |
| U | H | U | H | S | T | A | R | R | T | I | N | A | ||
| G | O | G | O | E | S | T | O | P | S | C | A | N |
| S | O | B | P | D | A | A | S | T | H | M | A | |||
| T | H | E | S | E | U | S | T | H | R | E | A | D | ||
| I | N | T | E | A | R | S | S | H | O | U | L | D | A | |
| R | O | S | A | A | A | R | P | U | T | L | E | Y | ||
| L | A | B | Y | R | I | N | T | H | ||||||
| I | S | H | C | L | E | R | K | S | S | C | I | |||
| T | W | E | E | T | E | D | Y | A | M | M | E | R | S | |
| S | O | A | M | I | M | A | R | I | E | L | ||||
| A | R | R | I | V | A | L | A | R | T | I | S | T | E | |
| T | D | S | N | E | W | B | I | E | M | E | T | |||
| K | I | N | G | M | I | N | O | S | ||||||
| A | P | R | O | N | O | D | D | S | O | O | P | S | ||
| L | O | A | D | E | R | S | J | E | T | B | L | U | E | |
| E | S | C | A | P | E | A | R | I | A | D | N | E | ||
| S | E | E | K | T | O | N | S | C | S | T | P |
My original submission for this puzzle included a maze drawn with black bars (see right). That did not survive, unfortunately. The maze began at the top of the grid and ended at the center, spelling M-I-N-O-T-A-U-R along the correct path. Will changed the circles and the cross-referenced clues — dare I say . . .
A-MAZE-INGLY.
| P | O | R | S | C | H | E | S | P | A | C | E | L | Y | |
| C | R | O | Q | U | E | T | C | A | N | A | S | T | A | |
| S | E | C | U | R | E | D | O | N | E | T | E | R | M | |
| A | L | L | G | N | A | W | S | |||||||
| P | S | A | T | S | L | A | C | Y | C | A | R | S | ||
| A | N | D | S | C | O | M | E | V | A | L | E | T | ||
| N | O | D | S | A | K | E | G | E | N | E | V | A | ||
| D | O | S | T | W | I | S | T | E | R | R | E | T | ||
| O | K | A | P | I | S | E | E | L | Y | T | R | I | ||
| R | E | L | A | X | T | V | A | D | A | L | S | O | ||
| A | R | T | S | C | H | E | R | K | E | Y | I | N | ||
| S | A | L | O | N | H | E | R | |||||||
| C | H | E | A | T | E | R | H | E | R | O | I | C | S | |
| H | A | N | G | M | A | N | M | A | R | B | L | E | S | |
| I | N | V | E | S | T | S | S | P | I | E | S | O | N |
Coming up with suitable 7-letter games to fit this theme left me some interesting choices. I left out YAHTZEE because the surrounding fill was not what I wanted ... SCRABBLE, because it seemed obvious ... and OLD MAID for consistency's sake. Also, I wanted to include a variety of options, not just board games or card games.
It's not the usual theme density, but 7-letter games (and the fact there are 7 of them) seemed like a good idea after thinking of TWISTER to accompany the center revealer. I don't have my old notes, but I'm hard pressed to think of another option with an S in the middle at this moment. All those 7s forced me to down to 34 blocks and that was a challenge in itself.
Hope you enjoy...
| S | T | E | M | A | S | S | T | P | A | B | S | T | ||
| T | O | T | E | P | O | L | O | R | O | U | T | E | ||
| A | L | T | A | P | R | O | F | E | L | M | O | S | ||
| B | L | U | N | D | E | R | B | U | S | S | B | L | T | |
| T | R | A | Y | S | T | E | T | L | E | Y | ||||
| Z | E | S | T | E | R | T | E | N | S | E | ||||
| I | N | T | O | W | G | A | M | E | T | A | B | L | E | |
| N | Y | U | M | Y | B | A | D | E | A | T | ||||
| C | A | M | E | R | A | M | A | N | U | P | E | N | D | |
| B | E | A | M | S | P | H | A | S | E | S | ||||
| A | P | L | O | M | B | A | K | R | O | N | ||||
| L | I | E | B | O | B | B | L | E | H | E | A | D | S | |
| L | A | B | E | L | O | N | U | S | L | E | A | K | ||
| I | N | U | S | E | L | E | T | T | E | R | I | E | ||
| N | O | M | A | D | O | R | Z | O | D | O | S | E |
This puzzle was pretty straightforward ... I ran across the word BLUNDERBUSS and soon found suitable matches and just went for it. The placement of the main entries led to SORRY, MYBAD and KLUTZ symmetrically. I like using those "extra" themers, as was the case in my Monday debut last year. No revealer, but this one turned out pretty well. See ya next time.
| F | L | E | W | B | Y | G | E | S | T | A | T | E | S | |
| R | E | D | H | O | T | A | L | T | E | R | A | N | T | |
| I | N | W | A | R | D | Z | I | P | D | R | I | V | E | |
| E | N | O | L | A | T | E | X | A | S | L | I | T | ||
| Z | O | O | E | X | H | I | B | I | T | T | O | S | S | |
| E | N | D | S | O | D | O | R | M | A | R | I | O | ||
| P | R | E | S | S | E | X | T | O | N | |||||
| H | E | R | A | L | D | S | L | E | G | I | O | N | S | |
| O | P | A | Q | U | E | L | E | E | S | |||||
| M | I | N | U | S | T | E | A | M | S | A | S | S | ||
| E | S | A | I | G | R | A | P | E | J | E | L | L | Y | |
| P | O | L | G | R | I | F | T | U | P | P | E | D | ||
| O | D | O | N | N | E | L | L | O | M | A | H | A | N | |
| R | E | N | T | A | B | L | E | A | B | L | A | Z | E | |
| T | I | G | H | T | E | S | T | F | O | S | S | E | Y |
I've been constructing seriously now for about two years and this is one of my first themeless attempts. I learned a lot making this one ... which was done mostly on my cell phone during work breaks.
I like ZOO EXHIBIT and HOME PORT, and even though my favorite clues were rejected, I'm still pleased overall. The clue for GRAPE JELLY was originally about meatballs.
Thanks to Will and Jeff and everyone else in the cru community. The comments provided have been most helpful.
| L | A | P | I | S | C | I | A | O | Y | A | P | S | ||
| P | R | I | M | E | R | O | M | E | O | R | E | L | ||
| S | E | E | Y | A | L | A | T | E | R | U | R | S | A | |
| O | N | E | M | A | N | S | L | I | C | K | ||||
| A | C | D | U | C | T | S | B | M | O | V | I | E | ||
| S | H | O | R | E | S | C | H | A | I | S | E | |||
| H | I | S | S | D | O | U | B | L | E | D | U | P | ||
| E | N | V | G | O | O | D | B | Y | E | E | N | O | ||
| S | K | I | S | L | O | P | E | S | E | R | I | E | ||
| D | I | A | P | E | R | M | A | S | C | O | T | |||
| S | T | A | N | D | S | T | E | N | P | I | N | S | ||
| L | O | N | G | E | L | I | E | S | T | O | ||||
| U | T | I | L | H | A | S | T | A | L | U | E | G | O | |
| G | A | Y | E | E | M | I | R | E | S | S | E | X | ||
| S | L | A | T | T | A | T | A | R | E | P | L | Y |
I wasn't sure of the spelling of DO SVIDANIYA so I looked it up one day ... and one thing led to another. Two 11's and two 10's matched perfectly although the grid was shaky with all horizontal entries so I put a revealer in the center of a windmill. I wasn't a fan of the relatively closed grid but the 74 word count seemed to balance that. I wanted to include AU REVOIR and SAYONARA but settled for CIAO and TATA.
The W was problematic because INDUCES, REDUCES and INDUCTS brought partials and other nasty fill ... but I chanced on AC DUCTS after seeing an ad mailer and decided to run with it. I spent of lot of free time toying with this puzzle this past spring and I am pretty pleased overall.