"Garden Plot": WSJ, HEX, 07/17/21

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ChrisKochmanski
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"Garden Plot": WSJ, HEX, 07/17/21

#1

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Lovely! The usual Cox and Rathvon fun. Lots going on, but not too hard. Just challenging enough. For me, anyway.
Last edited by ChrisKochmanski on Fri Jul 16, 2021 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Meg
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#2

Post by Meg »

It was more of a medium difficulty for me, but still very clever. Thanks, HEX.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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RPardoe
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#3

Post by RPardoe »

Fun diversion.
Usual pattern of slow, slow - then it breaks and a quick wrap up.
(For me it was getting the "baskets" at the bottom early enough to allow for more of the vertical fill.)
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KayW
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#4

Post by KayW »

Yikes. Not too hard? Medium? I really liked this one, but I found it VERY challenging - at least until I could get enough answers to be able to start filling in the grid. I got the dropped baskets and all the unclued "labels" but I still have an issue with either the wordplay or answers to 4 of the "bed" clues. I'm not asking for help - yet. Willing to let it sit and see if something occurs to me in the next day or so.

EDIT: Almost instant post-enlightenment on one of those 4. Three more to go!
EDIT: 30 seconds later, one more down. I should have posted my frustrations earlier in the day ;)
EDIT: Another minute, another answer. Only one left.
EDIT: Wow. That was insane. All done!

...now back to MGWCC week 3.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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ChrisKochmanski
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#5

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Well, let me qualify. I didn't mean to characterize this one as easy, if that's how it sounded. In fact, I got off to a slow start on this one; as I said, there's lots going on here. But then I seemed to hit a tipping point and I rolled from there. So, yes, it’s probably harder than I made it sound. (But nothing like some of those Kevin Wald mind-benders in Cryptic All-Stars. Yowsers!)
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Annabelle
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#6

Post by Annabelle »

I'm finding this a challenge, but am still whacking away at it! So many construction gimmicks: dropped letters, no numbers, no clues, no word lengths in any direction, baskets of fun! HEX strikes again!
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Richard B.
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#7

Post by Richard B. »

Enjoyed! Always challenging and always worth it.
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