I had a lovely interaction at Lollapuzzoola (in which I took second place) this past weekend with an Inteltainment solver who looked into the artist Phil Shaw after I plugged him in a clue and fell in love with his work, just as I did. Given that his work is a mixture of art and wordplay, I think the overlap in the Venn diagram of “people who solve my puzzles” and “people who would like Phil Shaw’s art” is almost total. So I’m plugging him again, and thank you, dear solver whose name I have unfortunately already forgotten, for our lovely chat about what we each see in his work!
After about three years of longingly visiting the Affordable Art Fair booth belonging to the London gallery that represents him, but not buying anything (because I’ve already filled all the wall space in my husband’s and my apartment that is exclusively “mine,” and any large art purchases have to be agreed on by both of us), at last year’s fall show, the gallery brought a number of pieces that were a smaller size than the one I originally fell in love with, but big enough still to be satisfying to me. I snapped one up without discussing it with my spouse, and it looks great in a tiny hallway visible from our living rom. I love looking at it every day (perhaps the best part about Phil Shaw’s pieces is that they’re delightful with repeated viewings!).
Anyway, on to this week’s puzzle, which might feel easier than usual. I filled it, was like, “ooh, I like how this filled! Maybe I should submit it to a mainstream market!” Then I looked at it and was like, “oh…I like how this filled because it has 74 words.” Including an awful lot of short words. Oops. Anyway, here she is, because my mom taught me never to waste things.