Free Association 70
I’m told this is the hardest Free Association puzzle I’ve constructed so far. Those of you who are world-class speed solvers will no doubt still devour it in nothing flat, but I’ll be interested to hear feedback about whether this deserves its 5-couch rating. Thanks once again to Matt Gritzmacher and Shannon Rapp for test solving.
Thanks for continuing to visit and support my little corner of Crossworld. See you again next time with a cryptic.
About The Author
Trent Evans
I'm a husband, father, psychologist, musician, and crossword constructor living in Catonsville, MD. My puzzles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and its syndicates, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Andrews McMeel Universal Syndicate, the American Values Club Crossword, Spyscape Crossword, The Crosswords Club, and crossword apps such as the Redstone Crossword Puzzle App on iOS and Google Play. All of that means I've been published in every newspaper in the United States and many others around the world. Here at Grid Therapy, I can show a bit more of myself than the major publishers can allow. I hope you enjoy your time here on the crossword couch! I'd love to hear from you if you have comments or suggestions. If you're interested in having a custom crossword puzzle created for your event or organization, email me at drtrent (at) gmail.com.
Finished in 7:12 with a stupid typo. Definitely a bit harder than your usual, but fair, clean, and entertaining. I enjoyed seeing 15A and 36A in the same grid, and the 1A and 15A juxtaposition is fun also.
I’m always happy to see when Matt found it the same difficulty as me. That means something’s working right. 🙂 Another great puz !
Does this puzzle deserve its five-couch rating? It did for me! Aside from the cryptics, this was the hardest of your puzzles for me to solve. Took me much longer than it should have to get ADESTE, because I think of “Adeste Fidelis” as a carol, rather than a HYMN. No idea what a Choco Taco is, much less what’s in the filling; I figured it had to be icing or ganache or something. Nope! “Memory Alpha” and REDDIT? Clueless. But I finally got it done without looking anything up, and I feel pretty good about that. 15, 17, and 57A were my faves.
Comment
Whoo-hoo, another gem! ‘Course the down side is that now I’m absolutely craving a Choco Taco! Thanks, Trent!