Beekeeper Crosswords Themed Puzzles from Beekeeper Labs

August 27, 2009

Puzzle #111: “All of the Above”

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 12:15 am


When you are trying to come up with themes on a regular basis, you’ll take your ideas anywhere that you can get them. This one was very straightforward. I spotted a much-repeated topical phrase in the news which was exactly 15 letters long. Perfect! All I needed was three more phrases that were somehow similar, 68 other interesting words and 36 black squares to fill in the rest of the white space in the grid, and I was set. Really, once you have the first 15 letters, it’s all clean sailing from there. 🙂 Well, in actually, the two of similar phrases ended up being thirteen letters long, which meant that the black squares didn’t fall into place as neatly as they should; the third similar phrase started playing hide-and-seek for a while; and then all the other words started getting uppity — so it was more like clear sailing through a piranha infested swamp. But still, in principle it was all nice and easy. And principles are important.

Title: All of the Above
Difficulty: Thursday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

August 20, 2009

Puzzle #110: “Tender Streak”

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 1:29 am


Well, the result (sic) of last weeks survey are in, and tentatively support my conclusion that nobody much likes clues in the form of “see 593 down”. (I’ll definitely agree with the summary of “too clever by half”. They’re hard to resist for a constructor, but really they’re for his benefit rather than the solvers.) Thus, I’m giving them a rest for the foreseeable future. What you’ll see instead (and perhaps still find to be overused) are parallel constructions in clues, which can often be used in the same places as those annoying cross-references. Thus, this puzzle gives you closely linked pairs of clues such as ‘”Found it!”‘/'”No, I didn’t find it after all”‘ or ‘Marks for señoras and niños’/’Capital filled with señoras and niños’. Your mileage may vary on these sorts of clues, but they’re at least a variety that I know I enjoy when I’m solving other folks’ puzzles.

Title: Tender Streak
Difficulty: Wednesday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

August 13, 2009

Puzzle #109: “Appreciation”

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 12:31 am


There are some conventions that show up in crosswords that vary in popularity. For example, in this puzzle there are four pairs of clues that explicitly refer to each other in various ways. I’ve found that some people like this sort of thing, since it unifies different parts of the puzzle. Others describe might it as simply annoying or even lazy. Obviously I lean towards the former view, or I wouldn’t keep using the technique, but here’s your chance to express your opinion: do you like these sorts of clues, hate them, or just contentedly take whatever we throw at you without worrying about it much?

Title: Appreciation
Difficulty: Thursday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

August 6, 2009

Puzzle #108: “Making Your Mark”

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 12:35 am


Title: Making Your Mark
Difficulty: Wednesday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

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