Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

Okay, who has gone and switched around Fridays and Saturdays on me? This is the third time in the last four weeks that I’ve been able to complete the Saturday and not the Friday puzzle. Confounding this further, today’s puzzle was co-created by Mike Nothnagel, Penpal Extraordinaire and Constructor of the Friday Puzzle (along with Byron Walden, who has not yet been given a nickname). I credit Mike’s nickname with all the clues I was able to get easily.

Oh, yeah — no-Google, baby. No-Google.

The big obstacle for me, and the last part to fall, was the top left. I had four clues (three downs and one across) that all collaborated at keeping me at bay:

• 1D. Hindu musician’s source material for improvisation : RAGAS
• 2D. Methyl orange or Congo red : AZODYE
• 3D. Woman’s name meaning “peace” : ZULEMA. Okay, this is ridiculous. Who the hello is Zulema? I have 978 friends on Facebook (most of whom I haven’t spoken to in years), and none of them is named Zulema, as far as I know. Perhaps I would know more if I spoke to my friends occasionally.
• 17A. “Haw” : GO LEFT. I’m going to use this on Ryan. Just wait.

The big standout feature of this grid is that it does not have crossword’s standard 180-degree rotational symmetry. Instead, it has a self-referential design, mildly clued as follows:

• 5D. They may be seen on a lake’s surface : REFLECTED IMAGES
• 23A. Rectangular array that’s identical when its rows and columns are transposed, as this puzzle’s grid : SYMMETRIC MATRIX

This only confirms for us that Mike Nothnagel knows everything about all levels of math, pie-thagorean squares be damned.

It’s late, and I’m tired. But I finished the damn thing. And my no-Google streak is now back at one. Hooray.

Go register for the ACPT. Come see me and Ryan on a panel. We’ll say something witty. Just for you. Also, even sooner than that, episode 42 of Fill Me In will happen in the next couple days, featuring an interview with four-time ACPT champion, Tyler Hinman [insert kickass nickname here].

See you Sunday!