Even if you go up past the usual maximum of 78 words, which Peter did (81), you usually end up with (at least) a pair of big corners that becomes hand-wringingly difficult to fill smoothly. The 16-column crossword is surprisingly difficult to execute on. It'd be horribly unsightly at best, and at worst, it would net a request for complete redo. That, in combination with the black squares at the end of ZEBRA CROSSING, would force a huge number of black squares at the sides of the puzzle. With the normal 15 columns, there must be three black squares at the end of SKUNK CABBAGE. But a-ha! What happens to SKUNK CABBAGE then? With long themers, that sort of compression is rarely easy to fill around.Ĭouldn't he have kept PUFFIN BOOKS in row 3? ZEBRA CROSSING in the singular would have forced all the themers to be squished into rows 4 6 8 10 12. He could have made ZEBRA CROSSINGS singular, which would have also made the themers more consistent (so that every themer was singular), right? You might have wondered why Peter went to 16 columns, instead of the usual 15. What other animals? Maybe … husky (the dog)? Dalmatian? There is the orca - Peter's note refers to the great Sam Donaldson's annual crossword awards, which unfortunately don't quite have the cachet of the Oscars. I could barely think of another black-and-white animal. Today's puzzle illustrates the concept so much more clearly than I ever could - can you think of any other phrase in the form of (black and white animal) + (one other word) = in-the-language-phrase? Not me. I often fail in trying to explain what "tightness" means when applied to crossword themes.
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