16-wide grid today; even though it's oversized, it's still well above the usual
themeless word count, but uh, this isn't the usual themeless. You'll see.
We gridded this on-stream over on my
Twitch a while back; I let the viewers pick a seed entry from my wordlist for
the center slot, and we managed a really solid set of entries for the
stair-stack. I think the fill isn't the most solid, but it should be pretty
apparent why that is. Hopefully there aren't too many rough crossings, but
this is almost definitely gonna play on the intense side, I imagine. Hope it's
a good brain-scratcher.
[EDIT 6/22 12:08 AM] Looks like I didn't know how to spell "Jersey". The image above and the puzzle links have been updated to fix the typo in the clue for 59-Across. Do I need to make an apology video now?
Fair warning, this puzzle is gonna skew hella male. I was hoping to get some
longer answers that weren't dudes' names, but the cards were just not in my
favor this time. (I could've even had SOCIAL ACTIVISTS in this puzzle as a nice
relevant answer, but then I noticed an offensive entry and the fates were not
having it.)
That said, pretty happy with this one. Hopefully the central entry is still
relevant enough; it's a phenomenon that's made my month, and I'm sure it has
for others too. I recently gridded another themeless on my
Twitch stream, but I'm still debating whether it's passable enough to post here; chances
are it'll be the next puzzle here.
Also as a heads up, a week from today (on Thursday the 18th), I've got a
puzzle in the New York Times, so give that a shot if you can.
Lastly, I wanted to share a couple more BLM resources.
First is
the Racial Justice and Equality Game Bundle
on itch.io; for at least five dollars, you can get MORE THAN A THOUSAND
VIDEO GAMES. That's INSANE. Like "$9,000 worth of games for $5" insane.
This isn't even like those shoddy "1000-games-in-1" packages you get at
Walmart full of Bejeweled clones; a lot of these are legit games.
Honestly, let me just go to the site and list off some of the ones I've
heard great things about: A Short Hike, Night in the Woods, Celeste,
Nuclear Throne, Pikuniku, Quadrilateral Cowboy, GNOG, OneShot, Super
Hexagon, No Pineapple Left Behind, and way more. Also included are packs
of assets for game development (graphics, guides, etc.). It'd be
ridiculous not to drop $5 on this; all profits are being split 50/50
between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Community Bail
Fund. It's only available for the next 3-4 days, so if you want in, get it
soon.
Second is
another Carrd site, this one more focused on protester safety, black history, and mental
health resources. Go check that out, and share the link as well.
The Carrd I shared last time
is the one I've seen shared around the most, but I think I've only seen
this one once, which is pretty sad. Spread the word.
Solving Music: Childish Gambino - Feels Like Summer
It's a guest puzzle today! Will reached out to me about a guest spot here, and I
was more than happy to oblige. This one has a really nice theme with some
quality fill and cluing, Will has very much embraced both the vibe of the blog
and his own constructing voice. This was very fun to edit, and I look forward to
the opportunity to do so again. (You can go follow Will on Twitter
here.)
Will has asked me to use this space to promote the donation page for Unicorn Riot, an independent group of artists and journalists focusing on decentralized
reporting. It's not an organization I'm familiar with, but I'm more than happy
to share that donation link. Navigating the media space has been really rough
the past couple of weeks, and one of the most important things you can do is
keep yourself informed through a wide range of outlets and continually change
your opinion based on what you learn.
I've been very hesitant to promote different groups/funds/etc. because I'm not
competent enough to say I'm vigilant about checking which organizations are
worth promoting and which are less than ideal or flat-out hurt the BLM
movement. I've also been exploring my ideals about the most effective ways to
create change and push the BLM cause forward. The risk of promoting to an
audience a resource I'll realize a week later I shouldn't have is
ever-present, and honestly scares me more than it should.
That said, I've seen the link to
this Carrd site
shared around by people all over lately; it's regularly updated and has links
to tons of resources, including donation links to groups in all areas of the
BLM fight. Among the resources is, for those who can't comfortably donate, a
link to
this YouTube playlist
of videos whose monetization proceeds will go toward BLM-aligned
organizations. I've taken the route of leaving the video open in a muted
Chrome tab so the site doesn't devalue the pageview. (I've read that the
process might be hindered by viewing these vids in a playlist, so check for
the best way to use this resource. And don't take my word for anything. Check
if these organizations meet your standards, and act accordingly.)
This is probably as much as I'll say about the current movement in any social
space (continued sharing of links aside). The paragraphs above are absolutely
necessary in this cycle where an audience is an extremely valuable tool to
have, but I'd like this blog to primarily be a place where everyone who needs
it can take a mental break and solve some puzzles. So enjoy the break.
Thanks again to Will for reaching out and providing a guest puzzle. Happy
solving!
