Hi, my name is Rick. I was born and raised in central Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State back in the 80's. After grad school at UMass Amherst, I moved to Nahant, Massachusetts (smallest town in the state) and have been living here for the past 30+ years. I recently retired from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts where I worked as a Systems Analyst and Project Manager for the Division of Fisheries & Wildlife.
My wife and I own a boat - a 26' Seaswirl Striper WA - and we fish recreationally and commercially for striped bass and bluefish in and around Boston Harbor. The fishbones avatar is also my boat logo, and "WI-FI" is short for "Wicked Fishah!" - my boat name. I'm thinking about getting a Captain's license someday and possibly running small fishing charters.
I've been doing crosswords for several years now, and I used to construct them for our (now defunct) town newsletter - "Nahant Harbor Review". The meta puzzles take crosswords to a whole new level, and I began constructing them in January 2022. So far I've been having a lot of fun with them.
Below are the metas that I've published to date:
Tip Capn RickAll donations go directly to the constructor via PayPal
Hint 1: Did you notice that the grid is rectangular in shape - kinda like a painting?
Hint 2: Did you also notice the superfluous wording of some of the clues - particularly the ones containing "numbers"?
Hint 3: What about those numbers? What…
Hint 1: Hmm, if I remember my Latin correctly, "Ad Astra" means "to the stars".
Hint 2: Hey, wait a minute! I'm seeing "STARS" again in 51-Down, and the clue says there are seven of them.
Hint 3: 67-Across is a hint regarding the symmetrical…
Hint 1: Did you happen to solve ajk's meta on Sunday? Conspiracy theorists suspect there may have been some collusion.
Hint 2: The instructions for the first step to solving are actually spelled out in the grid.
Hint 3: Wendy Walker initially…
I See It!!
■ · By guest constructor Chris Barbee and Cap'n Rick · Published 2023-07-17T11:00:29.932Z
Hint 1: OMG! This morning has been very hectic and even a little frenetic.
Hint 2: I was rushing around and almost forgot to post the Hints. That would have been classic!
Hint 3: Fortunately I didn't panic, and now I am no longer frantic. LOL!
Hint…
Hint 1: What's up with those asterisks at the ends of some clues?
Hint 2: And that central entry must be hinting at something, right?
Hint 3: Aha! I've found one 6-letter word, but I can't find the other one in the grid.
Hint 4: Ah, the clues…
Hint 1: Around these parts, we're not sheepish when it comes to celebrating our independence!
Hint 2: Hmm, I wonder if that cross at 32D and 42A was a coincidence...
Hint 3: "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written after the British bombed Fort…
Hint 1: There's definitely something fishy about 48 Across.
Hint 2: Those entries at 20 Across and 69 Across are worth a million bucks.
Hint 3: Don't skip 11 Down!
Hint 4: 58 Across is pure genius!
Hint 5: 29 Down is also missing someone.
Here's…
Hint 1: While watching a plane flying over a beach in Aruba, I was nearly conked on the head by a falling coconut.
Hint 2: Does everyone know the difference between "palindromes" and "semordnilaps"?
Hint 3: Seven symmetrically-placed semordnilaps…
Hint 1: Did you know that a "Kite" can be a toy as well as a particular bird?
Hint 2: While I could have used "Kite" in this puzzle, I could not have used "Robin". I just couldn't find any information on "Robins" using my "EREADER".
Hint 3: In…
Hint 1: Sometimes meta titles need to be taken very literally - like "Man Overboard" for instance.
Hint 2: Do you happen to see any symmetrically-placed grid entries that can be a type of "BOARD"?
Hint 3: What do you notice about the grid entries…
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