never should've accepted this puzzle, and b. The fault, once again, lies entirely with the editor, who a. And to think, I kept telling people this past weekend, 'You know, last week's Times' puzzles were almost all really solid … I think things might be looking up.' LOL. You'd think the self-described 'Best Puzzle in the World' (!?) could at least come close to meeting that kind of quality standard. My fellow crossword critics (the two who were in attendance) agreed-almost zero scowling. Every single puzzle at the Indie 500 Crossword Tournament this past Saturday put the average NYT puzzle to shame-difficulty levels varied, but conceptual brilliance and overall polish did *not*. Mostly, I resent that the position of editor of the NYT Crossword puzzle has become such a sinecure that stuff like this gets published, and will continue to get published, with absolutely no repercussions. I rue that I solved this at all, rue that I had to write about it. I nearly made RUER the Word of the Day because that is what I am.

Probably a dozen Bad, another dozen Less-Than-Good. I could list many, many more total bummer answers.

Here … dear lord, Why? And then there's EZIO over EZER, which is like some kind of terrible crosswordese joke. Last time this constructor published a puzzle, the fill was also terrible, but there, at least, there was a thematic reason (severely limited letter bank). Why is the fill this bad? It must be theme-related. This is where I thought the puzzle was trolling me. Did you see the NW corner? Did you? Here, let me refresh: It's the shamelessly terrible fill that's the real issue here. Unacceptable for a puzzle of the NYT's stature, but not, in and of itself, a crime against humanity. Or like a piece of fluff that really doesn't belong on a sandwich at all and isn't really edible. In the others, BEER and LEARN just stick out there on the ends of their respective answers, like one of those colored toothpicks that sometimes get stuck in sandwiches. Only one of the themers does this ( BEACH EROSION). So for the theme to work, you need two-word phrases, with letter string 'HERO' shared between them. Sandwiches have two pieces of bread, and the filling touches the bread. The theme might have worked if the execution had been anything like interesting or competent, but it is neither. The fill is a 1 out of 10 (if we exclude the longer fill, it's a 0). No, I see your face, and it is decidedly not straight. Even if your favorite thing is disagreeing with me, I don't believe you can defend this puzzle with a straight face. None of you think this is good enough for the NYT. In fact … is it a parody? … … I don't see parody. It's like someone set out to write a bad puzzle.

Will either of these games be discounted during the sale? No idea, but one can hope.This isn't just bad, it's comically bad. Opus Magnum, meanwhile, makes me feel as if I've attained some higher level of consciousness, one on which I can understand and play a game by Zachtronics. Hexcells is the sort of puzzle game that puts me into a flow state - or perhaps a fugue state - and I have played it for dozens of hours without being at all conscious of the passing of time. I debated whether to illustrate this post with Hexcells Infinite or Opus Magnum, so I've gone with both. Inclusion, in this case, means getting highlighted on the Puzzle Fest page and streams, and eligibility applies to released and unreleased games, and demos, as long as they have 'solving puzzles as the primary game mechanic.' If you're the maker of a puzzle game, you can check the eligibility criteria and submit your game for inclusion. Featuring discounts and demos on current and upcoming games, this event is for games focused on the spirit of solving puzzles.'Īs always, the announcement is more for developers than us eager shoppers. 'Join us as we break the code, find the missing piece, and align the elements during Steam Puzzle Fest. Opus Magnum, by Zachtronics Watch on YouTubeĪpril 24th until May 1st, according to the announcement.

Opus magnum hex edit puzzles