Episode #334 Contest: House Issue

[bcimmet]

There's a new contest puzzle from Fill Me In. I'll rate this one 2.1 bananas on a scale of 5 bananas. (Bananas has nothing to do with the puzzle, it's just a 1-to-5 scale we made up.)

The puzzle is called "House Issue" and was constructed by me (Brian Cimmet). The solution to the puzzle is the name of a video game franchise.

The crossword can be downloaded from here. You're welcome to solve, you're even welcome to join in the chat about the puzzle -- but if you want to be eligible for a prize, you have to listen to the podcast for this week's password. The podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, our own website, or wherever you collect your podcasts.

Once you've solved the puzzle, submit your answer and this week's password by email to fmi@bemoresmarter.com. You can also contact us with any suggestions, questions, comments, or ideas. Thanks for playing along!

[Schmeel]

Banana's peeled, I think.
Fun puzzle!

[boharr]

Got it.

[oldjudge]

Banana split

[ChrisKochmanski]

Split. The banana, that is. Though it took a text to my boys, ages 35 and 32, to get the answer. I know nothing, nada, nil, zip, zilch about video games. These $&@#%*! young meta puzzle constructors!

[bcimmet]

These $&@#%*! young meta puzzle constructors!

YOUNG?!

While I may be youngER than some people, I have more than crossed the halfway point of life - which seems enough evidence to decry "young" as an apt descriptor of me.

It's my kid - he keeps me young.

[lbray53]

Split the banana! It took a second look to realize how clever the title was.

[BarbaraK]

I did the grid last week. No idea about the meta. I don’t play video games, and I don’t have any kids to keep me young.

So I set it aside and forgot about it until listening to this week’s podcast.

Just took another look and noticed something that lead me to something video gamey that I’ve actually heard of. So I guess I’ve split the banana.

[Abide]

I thought this one was great. A-plus Brian!

[benchen71]

I made it to the answer, but I had help from my year 11 Applied Computing class to get me across the finish line!

[bcimmet]

I thought this one was great. A-plus Brian!

Thank you. (And I see what you did there.)

[bcimmet]

Hello solvers,

The (intended) solution to this contest was ANGRY BIRDS.

The title of the puzzle (HOUSE ISSUE) and six theme entries (GRAND HOTEL, FIRST GRADE, ERROL FLYNN, DEATH EATER, CRIME DRAMA, and BARON COHEN) follow a pattern of consecutive-letter initials working backward through the alphabet. They're also all two 5-letter-word pairs. Following the sequence, the next entry would have the initials A.B., which yields ANGRY BIRDS.

It turns out there were a few other video games that satisfy the same demands (though none as famous), so we accepted other answers like ALIEN BREED, for example.

Thanks for playing! There's another contest puzzle and another post in the forum for it. I hope you give it a try!