I’m back from a fun if not-so-relaxing vacation in Spain. Here’s a puzzle!
Also, for those who follow #crypticclueaday on Twitter, that will be moving to Instagram starting (most likely) on Friday of this week. Follow me on Instagram to keep getting your clue fix.
This puzzle was rejected and I still think it’s very good! The seed entry, 65A, is very on-brand for me, at least in terms of things I watch and not things I do. (I CANNOT do what 65A do!)
The genesis of this puzzle is a conversation I had with the lovely Matt Gritzmacher at Crossword Con, in which he mentioned that he’s noticed my shift away from heavy fashion, art, and classical music-based trivia toward more wordplay and accessibility on Tough as Nails. It’s true, I have; I’ve had a bit of a mind shift about how I want people to find themelesses hard, and I no longer feel the need to be, all, “Here is somebody amazing whom I bet you haven’t heard of!” in my puzzles.
But…I decided on the basis of that conversation that it’s been too long since I did that, so here is somebody amazing whom I bet you haven’t heard of. Enjoy!
Also, watch Matt, ACPT god Tyler Hinman, 2024 ACPT champ Paolo Pasco, and me talk speed solving here if you haven’t already.
Here she is! Between the 2024 season of Wie Is de Mol and the currently airing season of The Amazing Race, I’ve been getting a decent amount of this puzzle’s seed entry in reality TV. Can you guess which one it is?
6-Down was the seed, and I’d like to get it into a mainstream puzzle soon.
Although 11D was not my seed, I think it’s an interesting fact that I wish more people knew!
The seed here was a word that doesn’t feel that interesting on its own, but that I think I came up with a good clue for. Have fun!
1-Across is there just in case anyone forgot that I like to watch Drag Race.
This one’s NSFW, and it’s also very me. Have fun!
I, for one, am delighted that 2023 is over. Here’s to a new year (albeit an election year, bleah) and new puzzles!
Crosswords and Trivia by Stella Zawistowski 