Sunday, January 12, 2014

Alternatives to Paddling - Crossword Puzzles

I've been working on building a crossword puzzle, related to kayaking.  It seemed like an easy enough idea to start; kayak, canoe, lake - they have so many letters in common.   But, like all of life it turned out to be far more difficult.  Sure, it would start easily enough, but then I'd need a word that started with dk and ended with zt.   Anyway I preserved, (lots of ice and below zero days makes that easier to do) and now I have this:


It''s not perfect.  There are two two-letter words (rules require three letter words); one square does not have a secondary clue at all, and several clues are obscure.  But it contains a lesson I learned, so I thought I'd post it here.  Enjoy!

The clues:


Across
1.  Not weak or soft
5.  VW model
10.  Western Hemisphere Org., initially
13.  Dull, continuous pain
14. Archaic wanderer
15.  Apple seed
16.  Part one of lesson learned while making this
18. Wrath
19.  New in Bonn
20.  Compass dir.
21.  Oft thought while creating this
22.  Part two of lesson
25.  What Sting did with Edin Karamazov
26.  The desire for this ruins many kayak rolls
27.  “Monic” and “thin” follower
28.  Large, dark birds
29.  1947 Dennis O’Keefe movie
31.  Moved quickly
33.  Employ
34.  State not to mess with
36. Low light level
38. Not to be left unturned
42.  Part three of lesson
44.  Part four of lesson
45.  Discovered on a Scrabble word site.  Also a Roman cloak
48. Poor paddling alternative, initially
50. Baffinpaddler’s lake
51.  Enlist for a third time?
52.  Part five of lesson
55.  Father of Aoris
56.  One paid to kayak
58.  Glee’s Michele
59.  Part five of lesson
60.  Prophet
61.  Can’t do it
65.  Zorba recites the alphabet?
66.  Laud
68.  Iranian currency
69.  An aid to golfing
70.  Final part of lesson

Down
1.  60’s awesome
2.  Ward for the very ill, initially
3.  King snout-horned beast?
4.  Homer’s River
5.  Middle Brady girl
6.  A kind of moth
7.  Elf stunt double Ty
8.  A distinct pitch
9.  Adams or Poehler
10.  Drug containing opium
11.  USAF guys
12.  Disburses
14.  One who sees
17.  Period toward evening
21.  Fancy bedspreads
22.  American suffragette
23.  Of the ancient Mariner
24.  Two words which can finish this sentence:  “To shape a dugout wood you could use an ax --”
25.  Beverage made of yogurt
28.  Symbol for Ruthenium
30.  Italian city
32.  Zero
35.  Takei’s memorable role
37.  Allot
39.  Just one
40.  US Ocean Org., initially
41.  Abbrev. list enders
43.  Electric bug killers
45.  Former PLO chief
46.  NHL Flyer’s coach
47.  A fruit and a color
49.  Put a price on
52.  A type of waterwheel
53.  Fair type favored by the SCA
54.  Maldives money unit
57.  As ye sow, so shall ye …
60.  Luxurious retreat
62.  Storage container
63.  Fall behind
64.  Spanish article
67.  Neighbor to WY

2 comments:

  1. OMG! We'll have to give this a try. I can't do this one alone! What a cool idea for the paddling obsessed! Now . . . where can we find the cheat sheet! Cheers from Canada.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully you can get 50 across! Look for the answer later today!

      Delete