Brian Kulman author page
1 puzzle by Brian Kulman
with Constructor comments
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| T | E | D | D | R | O | O | L | S | F | U | N | D | S | K | O | N | G |
I'm a Silicon Valley computer programmer and business founder, currently trying out a new gig — early retirement.
When I was a kid, I made simple puzzles for my sister and neighbors. For years, I wanted to construct a puzzle for the Times, but I needed a uniquely special concept. When my son Caleb went off to study Film, we frequently texted back and forth about movies. We realized that the "horse face" emoji is evocative of a certain scene in The Godfather, and when The Emoji Movie was released, our idea took hold. Still, it took about two years to finish.
I tried to follow these rules:
- Represent each movie title with exactly three emojis. [Note: the single artist emoji at 38-across displays on some systems as two emojis — JH]
- Only use emojis that are part of the current Unicode standard. For example, Raiders of the Lost Ark would be difficult since there are no emojis (yet) for whips, fedoras, or boulders.
- Don't reuse any emoji.
- Reference films that are classic, or widely known.
- Include a variety of different genres.
- Represent memorable plot elements or characters.
- Include as many theme answers as possible because guessing movie titles from emojis is fun!
After a ton of reworking and polishing, I was thrilled to (mostly) meet all the rules while including 16 movies and 48 different emojis. I hope solvers love the concept and perhaps even smile and laugh with the recognition of some favorites movie moments.