"Find three entries from a word list that, between them, include every consonant exactly once." That's an interesting software challenge. If I were still conducting interviews at Microsoft, I'd use it as a whiteboard design problem.
Of course, I had to try myself, looking for sets of three such entries from Jeff's list, counting Y as a vowel. (Daniel Bodily counted it as a consonant.) Most results include weird words like pyrzqxgl or six-pack bezique, but here are a few I found:
fax equipment • glazed over • whack jobs
flapjack • TV quiz show • mixing board
have a good trip • Wolfman Jack • squeeze box
privatized • qualifying exam • whack jobs
Because I loved I Claudius and I got to see the star in person in a play at the Barbican, I also like:
exemplifying • TV quiz show • Derek Jacobi.
As you can see, TV quiz show and whack jobs are nearly as useful as six-pack bezique. (That's a sentence that has never before been written in the history of the English language.)
Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, aka "Pastoral," is written in (which means it at least starts in) the key of F Major. That fact comes up in crosswords a lot. F Major is abbreviated here for the first time as FMAJ, but if a musician says it's "in F" that means the same thing. (Keys can also append "MINOR" or "FLAT". "SHARP" in a key name is extremely rare.)
Short crossword answers about keys can only be INA, INB, INC, IND, INE, INF or ING. All but INF can be clued in better ways. INF demands a musical clue, and the go-to F Major work is Beethoven's Sixth.
Why that particular work? I don't think it's because you're expected to hum the famous opening melody in your head and then go, "oh, that sounds like F Major." I suspect it's because of inertia. If you've done enough puzzles, you've probably seen that before, and the easiest way to clue it is to remind you of previous instances. More difficult later-week puzzles sometimes reference other works.
– puzzle by David Karp
Sun 9/22/2024 Breakout Performance
B
A
T
H
E
R
U
M
P
S
S
S
N
S
T
O
D
A
T
E
U
P
H
E
R
E
K
E
E
P
S
O
P
E
N
I
R
O
N
E
D
S
L
E
W
E
D
U
T
T
E
R
F
O
O
L
M
A
N
D
M
S
T
O
S
S
E
E
L
E
X
I
T
S
H
E
R
T
Y
P
E
S
M
H
B
M
X
E
R
S
E
M
O
P
O
P
D
O
L
B
A
D
A
P
P
L
E
P
U
T
A
S
A
B
O
N
U
S
W
O
N
T
E
S
C
A
P
E
A
C
T
B
E
E
F
F
I
S
H
F
I
N
T
O
R
N
A
D
O
H
I
T
A
R
U
T
U
G
H
F
O
O
T
S
P
A
M
E
N
S
A
N
S
E
N
O
S
L
A
V
N
W
A
A
C
R
E
S
I
M
S
P
S
S
T
S
O
N
I
C
A
R
T
H
O
V
E
M
U
W
A
N
E
S
O
K
T
O
Y
O
U
T
U
B
E
C
L
I
P
A
L
E
E
A
M
C
T
N
U
T
N
A
S
A
S
T
E
S
A
F
E
P
A
S
S
A
G
E
T
R
E
N
C
H
C
O
A
T
S
E
R
R
U
N
O
H
A
H
G
O
P
P
O
O
R
T
A
S
T
E
D
O
E
A
S
I
F
I
C
A
R
E
T
U
N
N
E
L
O
U
T
I
N
D
D
U
C
T
T
A
P
E
D
E
N
D
S
S
O
F
A
R
U
N
A
C
H
E
B
E
A
U
T
D
S
T
N
T
T
S
A
K
I
D
S
T
P
Andy Dufresne starts in the 4x3 prison cell at the bottom of the grid, carves out a hole with the letter Y (look behind the poster of Rita Hayworth), and tunnels through various gray shafts to escape.
– puzzle by Jeremy Newton and Tracy Gray
Mon 9/23/2024
H
I
A
L
L
M
E
T
A
S
K
Y
A
D
I
E
U
A
N
O
D
E
L
I
E
D
I
R
E
C
T
T
O
D
V
D
I
L
L
T
O
E
K
I
R
D
E
I
M
O
P
O
M
S
Y
E
O
W
N
T
S
B
B
O
R
N
I
N
T
H
E
U
S
A
G
R
E
E
N
S
S
I
S
L
I
A
R
N
O
T
R
E
B
E
T
H
E
L
L
O
A
T
T
A
T
I
S
B
O
N
D
E
D
W
H
A
T
S
Y
O
U
R
E
T
A
J
E
E
P
P
O
T
S
T
A
P
B
R
A
D
E
W
U
S
E
I
R
A
R
I
M
A
S
E
A
S
Y
A
S
A
B
C
A
C
E
N
E
R
V
E
T
A
R
O
T
Y
E
S
T
E
E
S
S
P
A
R
S
Tue 9/24/2024
P
I
T
A
A
C
C
E
D
E
B
A
T
A
M
A
S
N
A
R
R
O
W
R
U
E
V
A
L
L
E
Y
F
O
R
G
E
A
T
E
E
M
C
E
E
P
A
D
A
T
O
M
E
L
M
S
N
A
I
R
C
H
A
P
F
O
R
T
Y
N
I
N
E
R
L
E
D
P
A
P
A
S
E
S
A
M
E
A
L
I
C
E
S
I
C
P
E
C
A
N
S
L
E
E
T
S
S
A
L
T
H
I
T
P
A
U
L
R
E
V
E
R
E
P
O
L
S
L
A
V
A
D
A
T
A
C
U
E
S
E
C
O
S
C
A
N
S
A
N
T
T
R
A
V
I
S
K
E
L
C
E
P
I
N
L
A
T
E
N
T
R
E
A
R
E
T
A
C
L
E
R
G
Y
S
C
A
B
The Post, The Examiner, The Herald, and The Star are all newspapers.
– puzzle by Kevin L. Shellito
Wed 9/25/2024
R
E
D
O
S
O
F
A
F
A
L
A
E
L
A
N
U
N
I
X
R
U
E
S
T
I
V
O
M
E
T
E
A
T
E
A
M
I
C
I
M
O
O
S
N
O
R
R
I
R
I
D
G
E
F
R
E
A
K
S
U
R
E
T
H
O
S
F
U
L
L
S
C
A
L
E
S
O
U
S
A
S
K
I
A
T
E
R
I
N
G
T
O
N
E
S
B
E
D
Y
U
L
E
X
P
A
T
S
I
D
E
N
O
T
E
S
L
E
V
E
L
O
S
U
A
L
E
R
T
A
R
O
M
A
S
T
A
T
E
D
R
E
X
C
P
R
O
R
R
I
N
O
W
E
S
R
A
T
E
O
D
E
A
H
I
S
S
I
D
E
D
S
O
R
E
M
I
S
O
D
O
D
O
The gray "ring tones" are all composed of consecutive solfège bigrams: DO, RE, MI, FA, SO, LA, TI, and that brings us back to DO. Yes, SO is sometimes spelled SOL. Not here.
– puzzle by Peter Gordon
Thu 9/26/2024
C
R
U
E
L
L
A
G
L
O
A
T
S
R
E
P
R
O
O
F
H
A
I
R
B
O
W
A
S
S
A
N
G
E
I
M
P
A
S
S
E
Z
I
T
S
S
W
A
R
M
L
A
T
E
I
D
A
P
E
A
K
L
A
T
E
U
R
O
S
A
I
D
I
P
O
D
S
S
E
T
P
O
I
N
T
D
R
A
M
A
T
A
R
N
A
T
I
O
N
H
A
I
T
I
L
A
S
V
E
G
A
S
F
E
N
C
E
G
I
G
S
L
E
V
Y
O
R
G
S
A
R
A
N
A
N
R
E
E
K
R
U
N
U
P
E
T
T
A
K
I
L
O
T
O
N
B
E
L
L
L
A
P
E
G
O
T
I
S
T
E
R
A
S
E
R
S
D
O
U
B
L
E
R
E
V
E
R
S
E
DOUBLE REVERSE here means that both sets of grayed letters in each theme answer must be reversed to match the clue. So, CRUELLA becomes CURE-ALL, GLOATS becomes GO LAST, etc. Answers below the grid have been fixed up.
– puzzle by Jesse Guzman
Fri 9/27/2024
B
A
D
B
E
A
T
Z
E
S
T
Y
G
O
T
E
A
M
G
O
I
G
L
O
O
S
U
N
T
E
S
T
E
D
L
O
A
D
U
P
S
E
I
S
M
G
O
A
L
M
I
R
O
T
I
L
A
M
A
D
I
S
S
E
C
T
O
N
A
U
T
O
P
I
L
O
T
F
A
A
G
I
S
W
I
N
S
G
O
L
D
M
I
L
L
Q
D
O
B
A
U
R
L
S
A
R
E
Y
O
U
I
N
I
L
L
N
O
T
V
I
C
T
O
R
Y
L
A
P
S
I
N
S
T
A
T
E
H
E
R
L
A
A
A
C
R
E
O
R
B
S
I
C
E
R
S
C
H
O
P
I
N
C
U
P
C
A
K
E
S
S
E
L
E
N
E
C
R
E
A
M
E
R
Y
F
L
E
E
T
S
E
A
L
E
G
S
Sat 9/28/2024
A
G
A
T
H
A
R
E
C
A
S
T
F
U
N
R
U
N
S
E
X
A
C
T
O
T
E
C
U
M
S
E
H
A
O
R
T
A
E
A
S
H
E
W
E
I
R
D
I
N
N
S
T
O
T
E
D
G
E
S
B
O
T
H
H
O
R
C
H
A
T
A
R
H
O
B
L
A
U
A
L
C
O
A
M
O
E
P
E
E
T
S
P
A
T
R
O
A
N
S
L
E
T
T
R
I
N
I
O
N
L
Y
U
P
S
S
I
T
D
O
W
N
S
M
O
D
E
B
A
C
N
E
C
B
S
B
L
A
B
B
L
O
G
S
R
U
M
P
E
L
N
I
N
O
W
I
S
T
E
R
I
A
R
E
C
K
O
N
F
O
R
E
S
T
S
S
N
E
E
R
S
N
I
N
T
H
S
I happen to be unreasonably fond of highland cattle.
Euler's formula F + V − E = 2 notes that, for any polyhedron, the number of Faces plus the number of Vertices (corner points) minus the number of Edges will always be 2. Some examples.
Not to be confused with that other Euler's Formula that sometimes shows up in crosswords: eiπ + 1 = 0.
– puzzle by Margaret Seikel
Sun 9/29/2024 The Ayes Have It
C
A
T
C
A
F
E
U
N
C
A
G
E
Z
E
S
T
S
A
D
A
S
T
R
A
S
E
A
S
O
N
P
A
N
E
R
A
C
O
R
N
I
E
R
S
T
O
R
I
E
S
U
N
S
E
A
L
A
R
G
Y
L
E
W
E
P
T
R
U
G
B
Y
W
V
A
O
N
E
T
W
E
E
N
E
R
S
E
E
L
S
H
E
D
S
T
P
I
D
A
T
I
R
A
D
E
I
D
E
A
L
S
S
A
F
A
R
I
P
O
L
C
E
N
T
S
W
I
R
Y
S
I
M
I
L
E
P
H
A
R
A
O
H
H
O
H
O
S
N
I
X
S
O
U
S
A
R
A
G
A
N
A
P
E
S
T
U
P
D
O
L
S
D
A
P
E
D
L
I
P
S
T
E
A
M
I
E
R
C
L
A
I
M
P
O
O
E
A
S
E
A
E
R
R
E
B
A
D
O
O
M
E
R
S
N
O
G
G
U
I
S
E
E
R
E
B
I
N
G
E
D
R
I
P
P
A
N
T
A
X
I
B
I
A
S
E
S
H
Y
E
N
A
I
D
S
T
U
M
U
L
T
W
A
I
T
E
R
M
E
T
I
E
R
D
O
T
A
P
P
H
U
N
S
T
O
P
G
R
E
W
I
N
T
O
O
O
F
A
L
B
K
I
W
I
S
R
I
A
N
O
P
T
I
M
A
T
A
L
K
I
E
P
L
I
A
N
T
G
E
N
I
U
S
E
S
I
G
U
E
S
S
E
A
R
N
I
T
S
U
N
B
E
L
T
F
E
E
L
S
N
Y
L
O
N
S
S
P
E
E
D
O
S
You'll recognize Rhapsody in Blue with its famous opening clarinet glissando. Lang Lang is a fantastic pianist, and this is a beautiful video:
