BEFORE CLICKING CROSSWORD: The timer starts when you open the link below, so make sure you’re mentally prepared 🙂
http://crossword.info/llod/Melee_Mini_1
Welcome to my new blog! As the Summer of Smash is quickly approaching, I figured I’d create a new space to compile my thoughts and content, so here we are!
I’ve loved puzzles and puzzle games since as long as I can remember: Sudoku, Kakuro, Tetris, etc. My favorite part about these puzzles was that you didn’t need any external knowledge; you only needed to follow the puzzle’s rules and figure out the answer yourself. In that train of thought, I never really got into crossword puzzles, because I’ve never been much of a trivia person, and crossword puzzles require external information to solve. Growing up in an Indian American family, my childhood was erratically split between the American pop culture scene and the Bollywood scene. I never really became familiar with a lot of the “famous” actors, or athletes, or musicians, or politicians, or any of those random-facts/people you’d need to know to be good at Trivial Pursuit. (Another good comparison is that I’m much more of a Wheel-of-Fortune fellow than a Jeopardy guy).
About a year ago, however, I downloaded the NYT Crossword Puzzle app on my phone, just to give it a whirl, as crosswords were something I had never really dabbled in before. Starting out was hard, especially because there were so many things I didn’t know, but soon enough I was able to solve an entire puzzle without any help. This was stressful, however, as each puzzle would take ~20-30 minutes, which was way too much of a commitment, so I started getting into the NYT Mini-Puzzles, which were ~5×5 grids instead of 15×15. I realized quickly that these much better suited my vocabulary, as these puzzles were much more intuitive, and required less external information. They were also quick and easy, and very satisfying to complete them. Since then, I’ve probably completed hundreds of these mini-crosswords (and even maxed out the mini-puzzles on the app, so I need to find a new source of them…). I’ve been so in love with these that I wanted to try making my own!
Turns out making a crossword puzzle is infinitely harder than solving one. I wanted to try making a smash-themed crossword puzzle, as I’m immersed in smash culture and figured I’d have an audience for my creation. Limiting the puzzle to such a constricted theme was really difficult, however, as the pool of words is minuscule. After many many attempts, I was finally able to create one that is cute, quirky, and entire smash-themed, which I have to say makes me really proud, as I was expecting to have to use 2-3 non-smash-related clues just to make all of the ends meet. Even though this mini-crossword does require external knowledge, I think the pool of knowledge is pretty universal among smash folks, so it hopefully isn’t too difficult for the average smash fan.
So, I present to you lloD’s Melee Mini #1, which is hopefully the first of a series of mini-crosswords. This puzzle does have a theme within smash, though I won’t give it away (or else it’d be way too easy!). Good luck, and send me a screenshot of your finished puzzle! Maybe I’ll give a prize to whoever finishes it the fastest (but no cheating!!!!!!).
Enjoy!
~lloD
A lloD's House 