Puzzling Asked on November 30, 2020
****A big one to celebrate my half-century (50th puzzle)!****
I work as a puzzle setter at FakePuzz (not a real magazine). This morning I burst into the office of Eddie Tor (not a real editor) so fast that I bumped against – and smashed – an expensive vase (a real one, unfortunately).
"I’ve finished compiling this month’s $100 prize crossword at last!" I exclaimed. "Let me tell you how it works…"
The puzzle is actually a combination of four different puzzle types in one grid: a criss-cross, a quizword, a codeword, and a three-to-one.
All four sub-puzzles need to be solved to find the answer to the contest question, "Whose grave am I visiting?"
"The coloured cells are obviously important…?" Eddie ventured, uncertainly.
"The letters within them are, yes," I replied. "And in addition to those, each ‘coloured zone’ within the puzzle contains a further concealed clue, hidden somehow within it. The first person to solve the puzzle and send in the correct name wins the $100!"
"Which is absolutely, definitely NOT A REAL PRIZE," stated Eddie.
"Indeed," I said. "Maybe we can send them one of our souvenir green checkmarks in the post instead…"
TASK: Solve the full puzzle (collaboration permitted) and give me the answer to the question, "Whose grave am I visiting?" The answer is the name of a person of historical interest.
Oh, and just in case it wasn’t obvious from the tongue-in-cheek flavourtext, THERE IS NO ACTUAL $100 PRIZE! (Sorry…)
ACCESSIBILITY
Colour-blind-friendly version available here. B=Blue, G=Green, O=Orange, R=Red and Y=Yellow. Two different shades (black/grey) have been used for the blank spaces alternately across the four quadrants to aid differentiation between the four sub-puzzles (puzzles do invade each other slightly – this can be used to your advantage…).
A .xlsx version of the blank puzzle grid is available via filedropper.com to make it more convenient to solve (nobody wants to copy out a puzzle this large manually…).
Top-left puzzle: CRISS-CROSS
ACE ATOM BEEPS BREATH AWESOME ACCRUING BLUEBELLS APPEARANCE ASH BLOC BLITZ IMPART DESIGNS EGGHEADS DOWNRIGHT ASS BLUR COSTA PUBLIC HIGHEST FLOUNDER GIBRALTAR ATE COLT DEALT REPEAL MASSAGE GUSTAVUS HOMOPHONE BRA DEEP EERIE SCAMPI PARAGON SPACEBAR PNEUMONIA CRY EFIT EMOJI SIMPLE SHAKEUP DIM FEUD FOXES SLURPS TUMULTS EGO FREE LEANS FLU LUTE LEMON GNU MENU OFTEN HID OEUF PANIC IRE PATE SPAIN MOM REAL SPASM NAB SOUL TRIPE NEE TALC WIDOW NIL VERB OWN WASP SEA WEED SOT WHET SPY TAU USE
Top-right puzzle: QUIZWORD
ACROSS
#1. Capital city of Ghana (5)
4. Nocturnal birds, Strix aluco (5,4)
9. Protagonist of The Color Purple, by Alice Walker (5)
12. Mole, metre, or second? (4)
13. Highest active volcano in Europe (4)
14. Brand of plastic construction toy, originally from Denmark (4)
16. Seven _______, 1954 Akira Kurosawa movie (7)
17. First name of former Arsenal goalkeeper, Lehmann (4)
19. Special forces unit of the British Army (1,1,1)
21. The White Stripes, The Carpenters, or Tenacious D, perhaps? (3)
22. Planet of snow and ice in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (4)
23. Capital city of Iran (6)
24. Kiss from a Rose singer (4)
25. My ____ Foot, 1989 Daniel Day-Lewis movie (4)
27. Muslim prayer leader (4)
30. Music genre originating in Jamaica in the late 1950s (3)
31. 1993 UK Singles Chart topper for Take That (4)
34. Currency of Argentina (4)
36. Seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (3)
37. French word for ‘water’ (3)
38. Tablet computer first released in 2010 (4)
41. Fagin’s gang, or the Baker Street Irregulars, perhaps? (7)
44. Portrayed a title character in 2008’s Frost/Nixon (5)
45. Biblical region east of the Jordan River (6)
50. Qatar’s continent (4)
53. Lawman involved in ‘the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’ (4)
55. ___ whale – second-largest animal species on Earth (3)
61. Come ________, 1969 Beatles song (8)
62. The ____ Tower, Stephen King book series (4)
68. Placeholder for an undefined value in computing (1,1,1)
71. Cult mystery TV series by Mark Frost and David Lynch, ____ Peaks (4)
73. Series of wars fought between Rome and Carthage, 264-146 BC (5)
74. John Carney film of 2007, later a stage musical (4)DOWN
#1. Ancient Greek lyric poet from the city of Mytilene (7)
2. Item of sporting equipment used in snooker and pool (3)
3. Country sharing a land border with the United Kingdom (1,1,1)
5. Major Italian river (4)
6. ______ Fillion, star of Firefly and Castle (6)
7. Species of the animal named ‘Ratty’ in The Wind in the Willows (5,4)
8. Language of Chile, Costa Rica and Cuba (7)
10. Stage name shared by rappers Kim, Wayne and Xan (3)
11. ______ Wood, star of The Lord of the Rings movies (6)
12. African country led by Idi Amin, 1971-79 (6)
15. ___ Lovelace, 19th century English mathematician (3)
18. Device for time-telling comprising a flat plate and a gnomon (7)
20. Bouillabaisse, goulash, or beef Stroganoff, perhaps? (4)
22. ___ 9000, antagonist of 2001: A Space Odyssey (3)
24. Witheringly harsh (8)
26. Italian automobile manufacturer, founded in Turin (4)
28. Exits from a building (8)
29. Sir Christopher ___ , portrayer of Dracula, Saruman and Scaramanga (3)
30. ‘____ grapes’ – disdain for something one does not have (4)
32. Little ___ Corvette, song by Prince (3)
33. Domesticated bovid found in the Himalayas (3)
35. Finnish steam bath (5)
39. Twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet (3)
40. _____ of Glass, 1979 chart hit for Blondie (5)
42. Informal term for an executive search firm (10)
43. Opacifications of the lens of the eye (9)
46. Vesper ____, character in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale (4)
51. What a somnambulist might do (9)
54. Sixteen ounces (5)
55. Result of sunlight exposure (7)
63. Frozen character voiced by Kristen Bell (4)
64. Location of the patella (4)
67. A Prayer For ____ Meany, John Irving novel (4)
71. Object placed beneath a serving dish to avoid heat damage (6)
72. Antagonist in Shakespeare’s Othello (4)
74. Winner of the 2013 Kentucky Derby (3)
Bottom-right puzzle: CODEWORD
Solution grid provided directly below the puzzle for your use.
Bottom-left puzzle: THREE-TO-ONE
ACROSS 47. OBEY / OBOE / PREY 48. CLEAR / SHEER / SHINE 49. ETCH / ETUI / SPUR 52. ARE / URN / USE 56. BARB / LAUD / LOUD 58. MARIGOLD / MACHETES / PREQUELS 65. EYE / GYM / RYE 66. PASS / TORN / TORS 69. NATO / NOTE / TOGO 75. CAGOUL / EARFUL / RECALL 78. NOTED / VITAL / WONKA 79. ISRAELI / LORELEI / PARABLE 81. OVERRIDES / SKEWERING / SPIRITING 83. OMEN / PEEL / OPEL 84. AND / RNA / ROD 86. NOW / SEA / SPA 89. IGGY / INTO / NONE 90. EGGPLANT / ITERATED / OPTIONAL 91. AILS / KILO / NOPE 92. DOE / DUD / HID 93. KNOW / USED / WEED 94. APIA / JULY / RHEA 97. ASTI / HYPE / KEPT 99. HOLE / IRON / PROP 100. EVEN / REAP / REIN 101. LUGOSI / MALAWI / MURDER 104. LARA / TOOL / TORN 105. BAN / NAB / PIN 106. VAT / VIE / VIM 110. CHIC / ERIC / LOUT 111. CATS / COWL / NEWS 112. RABBITS / RACCOON / SECTION 113. TEMP / TURF / ZERO 114. BLUR / CLUB / CRAB 115. BESTOWERS / MANSPLAIN / POSITRONS 116. EPIC / THIN / TONE 117. EROS / PLOY / TRAY 118. RHONE / SCOWL / SHOAL 121. CUR / DEN / DUE 122. OSTENTATE / OVERSTAYS / TREADMILL 123. BEADS / ETHOS / INCOG DOWN 57. BRAE / CIAO / DEAF 59. DOWNY / ROUND / SALTY 60. ASBESTOS / ASSASSIN / UNBROKEN 70. EVENT / ONION / OWING 76. LIE / ULE / USE 77. LENGTHEN / LOLLIPOP / LONGJUMP 80. ERIE / ERNE / LAID 82. ASK / INK / INN 83. OWL / OWN / PAL 85. AGO / AND / EGG 87. EONS / OILY / PILE 88. ABYSMAL / CHARLIE / IDYLLIC 95. KIEV / SHIV / SPIV 97. PERSONNEL / PROACTIVE / TROMBONES 98. EEL / INN / TEA 102. ABHORS / UNHOLY / UNRULY 103. ARCHER / OCCURS / ORDERS 104. LESOTHO / TORMENT / TORPEDO 107. ACE / ICE / INN 108. EARPLUG / MARBLES / TOBYJUG 109. COWPAT / SOFTEN / STREET 113. BIO / TOO / ZOO 114. BALL / BODY / COAT 119. CAT / ERE / HEN 120. ADD / ADO / WHO
The solved grid is below:
The logic for the left side portions was relatively straightforward. There were no particularly difficult steps - just searching for the next place progress can be made, like solving a jigsaw puzzle.
A few sections had extra information that seems important:
Correct answer by Deusovi on November 30, 2020
(There are three letters missing to the right of ‘Three to one’ that I can’t yet place without solving the bottom right area)
Three to one:
Criss cross:
However I know that Deus has all four parts and is looking at the next steps so I expect this to become obsolete :) Still very fun to solve!!!
Edit: congrats Deus as expected!
Quick bit of logic for how to get these grids:
Three to one:
Criss cross:
Answered by Beastly Gerbil on November 30, 2020
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