12 Post Magazine variety puzzle
Canada Goose Jackets Today's puzzle marks a first for me at The Washington Post: a variety puzzle! It exists because I like to throw you curveballs every now and then. And this one has a meta to boot. Canada Goose Jackets
The puzzle is an expanded version of a "From A to Z" variety type; if that's completely new to you, Brendan Emmett Quigley has written a handful of these over the years that you can download and print from his website (here, here, here, here, here, and here). I wrote one canada goose outlet location for my old website. Usually they're themeless puzzles, or at least theme light, but that's not the case today.
The first part of the instructions read: "There are 25 answers in each of these variety crosswords, all beginning with a different letter. Fill in the missing first letter for each clue and transfer the letters to the corresponding numbered spaces for each canada goose outlet ottawa puzzle. Note that the answers are not in the same order as the clues since no answer starts with the same letter as its clue."
Canada Goose Outlet The meta instructions read: "The canada goose outlet black friday sale unused starting letters will spell a word that completes a set. That set hides a two word device used in spelling out some words." We'll keep the meta in mind but for now, just look at Puzzle 1. Canada Goose Outlet
The first clue reads [__uwaiti export]. The blanked out letter is a K, so fill in a K so that it reads [Kuwaiti export] and transfer that K to the box with the number 1. (2 wds.)]. Well, a couple of letters could fit in that space, like T or X, so skip that one and come back to it. The third clue is [__artridge cousins]; a C or a P could fit in that blank, although [Cartridge cousins] would be a pretty strange clue, so P is the more logical option it's certainly easier to imagine [Partridge cousins] as being a group of birds, or if this were a tougher clue, cousins of the Partridge Family on TV. But put a P in that blank space and transfer it to the box with the number 3.
Canada Goose online When you have filled in the blanks for all clues canada goose outlet toronto factory and transferred them to the appropriate spaces in the grid, you should have used every letter except for one. The starting grid should look like this: Canada Goose online
buy canada goose jacket "Spell It Out," unfilled Puzzle canada goose outlet online uk 1 buy canada goose jacket
canada goose coats Now, use the clues to figure out the answers and where each answer goes, keeping in mind that no canada goose jacket outlet toronto clue starts with the same letter as its answer. The six letter answer GN???Y beginning at box 11 seems like a good starting point since not many words have that letter pattern. It could be GNARLY. In fact, buy canada goose uk it is GNARLY. The clue [Very cool, in '80s slang] matches that. Now maybe look at the six letter answer Q??I?S beginning at box 7. There aren't many words that fit that letter pattern either; there's QUAILS, and the ring toss game QUOITS, but after that you're getting into pretty obscure territory. Looking back at the clues, QUAILS would fit the clue [Partridge cousins]. canada goose coats
canada goose deals It may take some trial and error, but the full grid for Puzzle 1 should look like this: canada goose deals
cheap Canada Goose "Spell It Out," Puzzle 1 solution cheap Canada Goose
canada goose store And that missing first letter appears to be a Z. So hold onto that. canada goose store
buy canada goose jacket cheap Puzzle 2 may be a bit trickier than Puzzle 1 just because it has one answer where all you're given is the first letter and nothing else crosses it, starting box 15. The 15 clue reads [__ame on photocopiers], and though there are theoretically many four letter words that end with ame, the most logical word to make a coherent clue is "Name." So you have an N at box 15, but nothing else. When every other answer is filled in, the clue that matches the answer starting with N is [Xylophone score mark]. Well, it's a four letter word starting with N canada goose outlet belgium and has to do with music scores, so a canada goose outlet orlando reasonable guess there is NOTE. Indeed, that is the answer, though I can understand if that clue caused you to trip up a little. That was a lesson I learned the hard way: Never write a "From A to Z" puzzle without a clear plan for the clues canada goose outlet germany beginning with high value Scrabble letters such as X, Z, Q, and J. You can maybe get away with stretching some clues for the latter three letters, but the X really doesn't give you much wiggle room. Here's hoping you could still nail that one. buy canada goose jacket cheap
canada goose clearance sale The solution canada goose outlet new york to Puzzle 2 is below: canada goose clearance sale
"Spell It Out," Puzzle 2 solution
The unused starting letter is U. So we have Z U?? as the first step in the meta hmm.
In Puzzle 3, after filling in the clues' starting letters, the grid gives you a pretty good starting point at the top with a six letter answer with the pattern QU?B?C. Has to be QUEBEC, right? It is, and it matches the clue [Trois Riviere's province]. Puzzle 3 also features a rather unusual answer with a more obscure reference in the clues than anywhere else in the puzzle. Clue 18 reads [__oviet submarine class, or an ill fated lover with an extra T]. That clearly begins with an S, but canada goose outlet canada Soviet submarine classes are likely to be a less canada goose outlet michigan familiar subject canada goose outlet uk than all other answers in the puzzle. The answer to that clue is JULIETT. We'll come back to that, but my hope is that the added info made that clue easier.
Canada Goose sale Here's the solution to Puzzle 3: Canada Goose sale
canadian goose jacket "Spell It Out," Puzzle 3 solution canadian goose jacket
canada goose black friday sale The unused starting letter is L, so through the first three puzzles we have Z U L? for the first part of the meta. By now you can maybe predict what the next unused letter is, and perhaps what the overall meta is hinting at. canada goose black friday sale
Puzzle 4 is the most wide open of the four grids and features a clue that's directly relevant to the meta. Clue 12 reads [__rossings, and where to find the meta answer]. That clue begins with a C. Now, look at the grid spanning answer running down the middle of the puzzle that begins with canada goose outlet edmonton an I. That's likely to be thematic. What's a 13 letter term that means crossings? INTERSECTIONS. Soyou need to focus on crossing answers to get to the meta answer.
canada goose coats on sale Here's Puzzle 4's solution: canada goose coats on sale
"Spell It Out," Puzzle 4 solution
The unused starting letter is U.
canada goose That means the unused starting letters for all puzzles spell out ZULU, which "completes a set" per the instructions. Where does ZULU complete a set that might be relevant to a canada goose outlet canada goose outlet niagara falls "From A to Z" puzzle? It may canada goose jacket outlet uk have taken some Googling if you're not sure or maybe you began sniffing it out based on the answers to the four puzzles but ZULU is the last code word of the NATO phonetic alphabet. All of the other 25 code words of that alphabet can be found in the four grids, intersecting each other at specific places: canada goose
Solution to Aug. 12 variety metapuzzle, "Spell It Out: A Meta Hunt From A to Z"
Take all of the intersecting code letters in order from Puzzle 1 to Puzzle 4, and you getRADIO RECEIVER. That is something people use when they're spelling out words using the NATO phonetic alphabet. That's the answer to the meta.
This was one of the biggest constructing challenges of my puzzle writing life, from initial idea to final clue. I spent several days just trying to find something relevant that would yield a usable phrase while crossing 25 NATO phonetic alphabet code words. It couldn't have a W canada goose outlet in usa since WHISKEY is the only word in that alphabet with a W, so anything with WORDS was out. It couldn't have a P since PAPA is the only word in that alphabet with a P, so a phrase with ALPHABET couldn't work. Well, that's mostly true. In some cases people spell the first word as ALPHA rather than ALFA, but the latter spelling is meant to help out Spanish speakers since "alpha" would not be pronounced https://www.canadagooseisverige.com the same way in Spanish as "alfa." It's the same situation with JULIETT. My initial grid for Puzzle 3 used JULIET, which English speakers would canada goose outlet official pronounce as "joo lee canada goose outlet store montreal ett," but French speakers would pronounce it as "joo lee ay." I did canada goose outlet miami agonize for a while whether I should leave that answer as JULIET, but I felt to be consistent with the canada goose outlet boston alphabet's standards I should use both ALFA and JULIETT. Don't let anyone say there isn't a method to my madness.