#13 - "Lingo for Bards"

Published weekly by expert constructor Peter Gordon, the Fireball crossword is famous for being hard. How hard? Well, in the words of Peter Gordon, if you need to ask, too hard for you! It is not regularly a meta crossword, but does feature a contest or meta puzzle several times throughout the year. Available here for a subscription: http://www.fireballcrosswords.com
Locked
User avatar
Al Sisti
Posts: 2037
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Whitesboro NY

#13 - "Lingo for Bards"

#1

Post by Al Sisti »

New Fireball Contest by Lewis Dean Hyatt

What writer is a key figure in this puzzle?
User avatar
BrianMac
Site Admin
Posts: 787
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:45 pm
Location: Connecticut

#2

Post by BrianMac »

Fun one! Pretty amazing construction.
Tina
Posts: 391
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:56 pm

#3

Post by Tina »

Ugh! I think I have step one, but can't move past that!
Tina
Posts: 391
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:56 pm

#4

Post by Tina »

OK I got it, after trying absolutely everything!
User avatar
ChrisKochmanski
Posts: 2157
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:51 pm
Location: Saline, Michigan

#5

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Got it!

Really liked this one.
User avatar
Toby
Posts: 332
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:00 pm
Location: New York City

#6

Post by Toby »

Brilliant puzzle. Completely worth the entire evening it took me.
User avatar
Abide
Moderator
Posts: 1273
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
Location: Biloxi
Contact:

#7

Post by Abide »

Great work from a virtual unknown. I see only one NYT in Mr. Hyatt’s portfolio.

For now I’m stuck at the crossroads, but if you guys can get to step two, then I can too!
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
docison
Posts: 404
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 1:18 pm
Location: Brookline, MA

#8

Post by docison »

Agree with those who gave this 2 thumbs up! For all meta and crossword fans, this is a terrific time to subscribe to Fireball!
User avatar
bhamren
Posts: 243
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:15 pm
Location: Urbana, Ohio

#9

Post by bhamren »

This was really fun. Took longer than I would like for the grid because of all the strange clue answers. But the final result and meta was amazing!
User avatar
Al Sisti
Posts: 2037
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Whitesboro NY

#10

Post by Al Sisti »

I got step one fairly quickly, but then overshot the next step with a promising start at a result... but it died. And a bridge 90% across a river is not a bridge at all, so I stepped back and realized I had overshot the correct path. Great construction; I'd love to sit down with a cup of coffee with Mr. Hyatt and hear the steps he took in his construction.
User avatar
Abide
Moderator
Posts: 1273
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
Location: Biloxi
Contact:

#11

Post by Abide »

Finally got there after a few more looks. 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ !
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
User avatar
Beth Tyrpin
Posts: 512
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:11 pm

#12

Post by Beth Tyrpin »

Finally found the answer. Even if I had failed I would give this five stars. So much fun to solve!
Dplass
Posts: 1739
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am

#13

Post by Dplass »

Can't even finish the grid... devious
markhr
Posts: 342
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:56 pm

#14

Post by markhr »

Had a heck of a time completing the final step. I was on Al's bridge to nowhere for a day or two.
Went back to it today and the light dawned.

This was a very fun puzzle to work out. Highly rated.
User avatar
anjhinz
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:35 am
Location: Dallas, TX

#15

Post by anjhinz »

I loved this one! So much fun, was half disappointed when I got to the correct answer because I was enjoying trying out all the different ideas I had
User avatar
Joe
Posts: 546
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 12:45 pm
Location: New Hampshire

#16

Post by Joe »

I spent forever on Al's bridge to nowhere. I had the first part but couldn't do anything with it. Then I finally looked at it a different way, and there it was!
Happy to give nudges. If you notice I've solved, please tell me about avenues you've explored so I can nudge you in the right direction and not off a cliff.
User avatar
Hector
Posts: 1297
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:15 pm
Location: San Francisco
Contact:

#17

Post by Hector »



I don't feel too badly about whiffing on this one, because the last step was something I wrongly thought I'd tried. I also (actually) tried encoding/decoding ONESTAR on the theory that it might count as one of "the entries with the character *."

Very cool puzzle.
Locked