Jill Singer author page
2 puzzles by Jill Singer
with Jeff Chen comments
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Half a themer at the start, half at the end? The revealer in the middle instead of at the end? Such things FLY IN THE FACE of convention!
It bugs me that it took an hour to think that up.
Great theme set; three phrases in the form of (type of bug) IN MY (body part). Three elements create buzz:
- Consistency. Never using anything but IN MY in the middle lends elegance.
- Completeness. Like a complete set of rare stamps, a Pokemon deck missing not even the most legendary of cards, or a database containing 100% of puzzles, there's something so satisfying about completeness. Can you think of another bug phrase that might work? I couldn't (as if that wasn't clear enough from my terrible joke above).
- Perfect revealer. WHAT'S BUGGING YOU so aptly describes these three phrases, each one expressing existential angst.
The themers miraculously pair up for symmetry? Praise the great goddess Cruciverba! But as always, she demands a sacrifice. 11/13/15/13/11 is Sisyphus-level torture, constructors doomed to fill the grid nearly to the end, only to discover a fatal flaw that unravels all their work, letter by letter, until they're back at square one.
The middle three themers create a devious challenge. It's smart to space them out as Jill did, but starting a puzzle fill with BUTI, leading to ENTO and then IONO is not a great kickoff. The B??I pattern is Hadean.
It's a tough challenge for a veteran constructor, and I give Jill a lot of credit for managing to cross the finish line. I'd like to see what she could do with the PAR of PARADED blacked out, though — it would open up some great possibilities cascading into an easier-to-fill middle.