Happy MLK weekend, and welcome to Sunday Puzzle Warm-Up!
Sunday Puzzle Warm-up is a companion to the regular Sunday Puzzle series. The aim is to introduce people to the kind of puzzles featured in the regular Sunday Puzzle diaries and to provide introductory-level puzzles for folks to practice on.
To celebrate the holiday, tonight's diary features a two-for-one special.
If you'd like to solve the acrostics on your own, set comments to shrink or to hide so you won't see what others have said. If you'd like to be part of the solving team, set comments to expand so you can see what other people are saying.
And if you enjoy this warm-up puzzle, please drop by tomorrow morning (9:30 am Eastern time) for the regular Sunday Puzzle diary, with a 30-clue acrostic, a mini-crossword, and the answers to the previous weeks' Spoonerism puzzles.
What's the theme of tomorrow's acrostic puzzle? The verticals to tonight's puzzles will give you a hint.
Yes: puzzles, plural.
First up is an acrostic clued the way I usually do for these warm-up puzzles. All the answers are familiar words, and the clues are mainly straightforward definitions and synonyms.
But when you've finished that, you might enjoy trying the second puzzle. The verticals are the same -- but the answers are different, and the clues are a little less straightforward.
If you're familiar with JulieCrostics, jump right in. If you're not, an explanation of how these puzzles work (along with an example of a completed puzzle) are included a little lower down the page.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
JulieCrostic, version 1:
1. site of a May primary
2. scrap
3. boring event
4. alumni
5. 550
6. long-standing
7. shape
8. cramp reliever
9. trust buster
10. synonym for 7
11. travel
12. woo
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
JulieCrostic, version 2:
1. naked
2. large boat
3. second rate
4. wisconsin residents
5. huey
6. get started
7. large empire
8. imminent
9. tiny thing
10. words of agreement
11. reveal stooge is gay
12. result
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
how to solve JulieCrostics
Here's a quick explanation of how JulieCrostics work, followed by the clues and answers to last week's puzzle.
Read the clues provided, then fill in answers to match the clues in the appropriately numbered spaces in the diagram.
Each word in a row has all the letters of the previous word in that row, plus one new letter. Write the new letter in the space between the answers. For example, if the answers in a row were CRAG, CARGO and COUGAR, you'd place an "O" in the space between CRAG and CARGO, a "U" in the space between CARGO and COUGAR.
When you have filled in all the spaces correctly, the columns formed by the added letters should spell out related words. It might be a person's name, such as CHARLES DICKENS (spelled out in two columns). It might be the title of a book or movie, such as GONEW ITHTH EWIND (spelled out in three columns). It might be almost anything. Your challenge is to figure out what the verticals say and what they mean.
Example of a solved acrostic: the clues and answers for last week's puzzle
I. The clues:
1. February primary state
2. name of a Republican candidate who dropped out
3. name of a Republican candidate who's still running
4. man
5. chop
6. sigh of relief
7. March primary state
8. grow up
9. former CIA agent who wrote a tell-all-some book
10. commercial
11. Brown
12. territory
13. May primary state
14. capture
15. let off steam
16. vinyl disk
17. give alcoholic drinks to
18. cry out like someone in pain
II. The answers:
1. MI T 2. Tim T 3. Mitt
4. he W 5. hew W 6. whew!
7. GA E 8. age E 9. Agee
10. ad N 11. Dan L 12. land
13. NE T 11. net V 12. vent
16. LP Y 17. ply E 18. yelp
The verticals read TWENTY TWELVE. Happy new year, Sunday Puzzlers!
PS: some quick DKU notes
Row 1: Michigan (MI) holds its primary February 28th this year; Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race early, but Mitt Romney is still in the running.
Row 3: Georgia (GA) holds its primary March 6th this year; Philip Agee is the author of Inside The Company, about his experiences in the CIA.
Row 4: Dan Brown is the author of The DaVinci Code and other novels.
Row 5: Nebraska (NE) holds its primary May 15th this year.