Pretty vanilla compared to the much more interesting takes on the theme I've seen, and I suspect you will agree that my black square placement was problematic at best. To top it off, Theoken noticed (as I did not) that I misspelled 1A (it’s missing an “E”). But I hope it's still fun! Photo by Allan Nygren on Unsplash.
6 themed entries is impressive--the clue for SANDTRAPS made me laugh!
i do think some of the fill was a bit hard, with MONAE and DANAE crossing. i'm not entirely sure if ESPS fits its clue? ESPS is plural (does it exist as a plural?) but the clue isn't. i think ON is clued in a pretty tough way, especially crossing ROIL (which could also be RAIL--had to check puzzle to find where my mistake was haha)
for future puzzles, i recommend making sure your grid is all "connected"--in this grid, there's two sections that are blocked off from each other, which basically make two separate puzzles.
i did enjoy some of the cluing: especially the angle on EH and the misdirection on RANCH (was thinking it was going to be about clashing colors or something before the crosses gave me RANCH)! thanks for the puzzle :)
Thanks so much for all the detailed feedback! I fixed the singular/plural issue and simplified the 33D clue.
Yup, the overall grid design is bad… I did some experimenting but it’s a weak point of mine so I gave up and just published. Hope my next one is better… I’m trying to learn from others’ 11x11s!
What's an "E" between friends? Thanks for solving!
An Ephemeral Collation 4:32 · 2024-04-29T15:33:08.669Z
Some structural misses at the top of the grid but it's challenging to make a grid like this worth. The fact that the rest of the grid functions as well as it does is a testament to your skills!
Thanks! I definitely "shipped this one before it was ready". Let me know what stood out besides the misspelled theme entry and the unchecked squares!
An Ephemeral Collation 4:32 · 2024-04-29T21:32:58.162Z
I mean, the rest of it was pretty solid! Unchecked squares are tricky to navigate, but I've seen constructors find neat ways of justifying them thematically. You're a million times better than I am at construction, though, so please don't take any of this as an insult!