Puzzle #20: “Capture the Flag”

July 8, 2020November 6, 2021 Posted in themed crosswords

Greetings, puzzle campers!

This summer, it’s no secret that there’s not a whole lot of summer camp going on, and that’s why I decided to make this themed puzzle for you folks. The grid, which is a bit bigger than usual, was inspired by this wonderful crossword by Paolo Pasco and Ria Dhull over at Grids These Days. You should go give it a try if you haven’t had a chance yet!

In other news, there’s a fantastic set of puzzles called Grids For Good that’s available to those who donate to a COVID-19 or racial justice-related charity. It was put together by some of the top people in the business, and while I’m not involved personally, I’ve been enjoying blowing through them as a solver. Really prime stuff!

Don’t forget your bug spray! Enjoy the grid, and I’ll return with a themeless offering next Wednesday, in addition to a bonus surprise dropping soon!

2 thoughts on “Puzzle #20: “Capture the Flag””

chmjff says:

July 9, 2020 at 4:14 pm

Why do the theme entries have unchecked squares? What’s the rationale for this? The Pasco/Rhull puzzle had a reveal which made clear the rationale for the unchecked squares. Is this an artistic depiction of a flag? If so, not one that is familiar to me. I had to reveal the grid to get SOMALIA, what with its 2 unchecked squares along with RANMA and MIELE, whose crossing letters with SOMALIA could have been any consonant, and ISSET, which is a tortured entry. Not much I could do with _O_A_ _ _.

Also, “extreme beer” in quotes returns precisely 10 results in Google. Not 10 million or 10 thousand, ten.

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1. Steve says:
  
  July 9, 2020 at 4:51 pm
  
  Thanks for solving and taking such a close look at the workings of my puzzle! Sorry that corner was so rough on you — I’ve been in the same situation before when solving, and it’s no fun to get stuck like that. I hope there was some fun elsewhere in the grid for you. Regarding the theme and the unchecked squares, I often try to do all the revealing in the title itself.
  
  I just did the same search as you on 18A and only got 6 hits! If you remove the quotes, however, there’s a lot on a topic which I find fascinating, if not at all appetizing. 🙂 Cheers!
  
  (edited for succinctness, punctuation and maximum helpfulness)
  
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