Contest Prize That's a Real Diehl

by Mark Diehl / Edited by George Barany

This "late-week level" puzzle was constructed as a prize for the Winter 2016 Eliminating the Competition metapuzzle contest. As his debut offering for our pages, Mark offered to create a freestyle puzzle containing the name of the prize winner as 1-Across [pictorial hint, taken at the 2015 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, to the right; name tags have been electronically altered to avoid spoilers], and rose wonderfully to the challenge [we have chosen the best among three grids that Mark filled and clued]. After completing the puzzle (spoiler), click here (name tags readable this time), here, here, and here for additional photos of 1-Across with assorted crossworld luminaries.

Click here to view or download the puzzle in PDF format; here to download it as a puz file; here to download it as an ipuz file [requires the free Puzzazz app to solve]; here to solve the puzzle interactively (thanks to Jim Horne); here for the solution. We thank Christopher Adams, Howard Barkin, Todd Gross, Brent Hartzell, and 1-Across [who had a slight advantage over other solvers] for beta testing the puzzle and helping to calibrate its level of difficulty [1-Across later contributed a few specific clue suggestions and choices that especially resonated with her]. Mark notes, "The winner's name was a nice challenge, and I felt fortunate to push the envelope with an apt grid-spanning crosser to open the flow, as well as sprinkling in a few other topical entries."

If you want to tell others about this particular page, refer them to
http://tinyurl.com/realdiehlpuz

More puzzles here (all) and here (tributes).

E-mail barany@umn.edu to be added to a bcc distribution list.