Down by the Bay
◆◆ · By Holly McFarland · Published 2024-09-19T21:48:26.123Z
Yeah, I don't know. Sorry.
This one goes out to Dob and Momes from Crossweird, a crossword stream I've been watching for the past few months. Something they've been doing recently is solving hard puzzles with the help of chat, after using this tool to remove all the across clues, leaving them with only downs... and then using it again to replace about a third of the words with "turtle". So I got the idea in my head of constructing a puzzle where the word turtle really does appear in each down clue at least once. I think it's a fun idea because most people do the acrosses first, so hiding a gimmick in the downs feels like a punchline.
Yes, obviously, I would have LOVED to call this puzzle "Turtles All the Way Down". God, what a good title. I'm actually a little angry with myself that I'm not using it. Unfortunately, it makes the joke a little obvious. I don't want to mention turtles in the title directly because I'm afraid of the jig being up when you read your first down clue. By only alluding to turtles (I checked, you can find them at the bay) I hope it'll take at least two :3
Checking for previous play data...
1A
(A) blast, a joy, a delight
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Across
- 1A(A) blast, a joy, a delight
- 5AGovernment organization that, according to a complaint by one Mr. Mathers, "won't let [him] be"
- 8AOnion-like movie hero
- 10AAmerican firearms manufacturer, briefly
- 11AAptly named MOBA where you play as deities
- 12ARelatively uncommon nonbinary pronoun ime (I think it's pretty)
- 13AAlert
- 15ASchoolchildren's storage bags worn behind the torso
- 18AStereotypical Australian attention-getter
- 19AWord that's often replaced with "you"
- 20AMetal Gear Solid character who's physic powers were activated by fallout from the 1957 Kyshtym disaster. I guess.
- 24AComfy clothes for sleeping, or for going to the convenience store if you're brave enough
- 25AExpands, as bread
- 26ARemote batteries
- 27A___-hop, rap parody genre where artists rhyme about tea and cricket
Down
- 1DStandard for staying up to date with reptile blogs (never miss turtle news again!)
- 2DUnit of a different kind of resistance than a stubborn turtle might put up
- 3DType of scan you may have done for your turtle at a veterinary hospital, maybe (I didn't do any research for this clue (except to spell check "veterinary"))
- 4DRelaxing place to take your turtle
- 5DCurrency that, when converted to CAD, you can buy a turtle near me for 156 of
- 6DScary house noise that sounds like where you might find a turtle
- 7DWith "Jr", fast-food joint name reminiscent of a once-beloved Discord turtle
- 9D"Move your ___", possible exclamation by someone stuck behind a turtle
- 14DLanguage in which "turtar" is the word for turtle
- 15DTurtle enemy found across the Mushroom Kingdom
- 16DPotential occupation for an underage turtle
- 17DWhat a turtle apparently loooves to make
- 21DTurtle-esque, reminiscent of turtles, turtle-___
- 22DWord at the start of the Minecraft turtle mob's name, if you're playing on Bedrock
- 23DMonster of greek myth so large as to be mistaken for an island, the ___-turtle