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Wow.

Some are probably too easy, others maybe less so. Where's Will Shortz when you need him?

Strangely enough, the hardest one was 16 across.

Steve, you've surpassed yourself!

Drew wrote: "Strangely enough, the hardest one was 16 across."

That's a lot to unscramble. Sounds like you got it, though, Drew.

Kris wrote: "Steve, you've surpassed yourself!"

Surpassing myself in an odd direction, I think. :-)

Wow that was fun. Brilliant.

I bet you enjoyed creating this more than you enjoyed reading that book. I know I had a better time with this.

Arah-Lynda wrote: "Wow that was fun. Brilliant."

Thanks for the feedback, Arah-Lynda!

Gary wrote: "I bet you enjoyed creating this more than you enjoyed reading that book. I know I had a better time with this."

Yes, Gary, the puzzle itself was fun. The technical issues getting it posted were more of a challenge, though. :-/

Glad to meet you here, Steve :)

I'm glad you were able to figure it out. Next time I'd prefer it if I could fill-in the answers on the screen, though! ;-)

Garima wrote: "Glad to meet you here, Steve :)"

Likewise, Garima!

Gary wrote: "I'm glad you were able to figure it out. Next time I'd prefer it if I could fill-in the answers on the screen, though! ;-)"

Gary, you're the type who'd come to the Taj Mahal and say, "What, no central air?"

I was happy with my comment when I posted it but now it looks like an incomplete goodbye message :o

Anyway, what you have done here is fantastic. There was a time when I had to study and solve a lot many logical reasoning questions and I used to wonder who the hell come up with all this and today I met one (virtually though), hence my previous comment. Respect.

Garima wrote: "I was happy with my comment when I posted it but now it looks like an incomplete goodbye message :o

Anyway, what you have done here is fantastic. There was a time when I had to study and solve a l..."

Ah, OK, I thought you were being a bit cryptic with your first comment (turn-about being fair play and all). Now I know what I'm thanking you for. And it goes both ways, that respect. :-)

Awesome, Steve! Yours is definitely the first crossword review I've come across. Did you invent that anagram? That in itself is genius.

Liked #16.

and you are generous with your stars...

Christopher wrote: "Awesome, Steve! Yours is definitely the first crossword review I've come across. Did you invent that anagram? That in itself is genius."

Thanks, Christopher! With the anagrams, there are online generators out there that help with the task. Then it's just a matter of sorting through the many combinations to see one that kinda fits.

Kalliope wrote: "Liked #16.

and you are generous with your stars..."

#16 seems like the most challenging one.

And yes, my stars may seem generous, but I had to give him credit for making me want to turn the next page. Besides, in 2003 I hadn't discovered as many better books as there are. :-)

I liked this book, too. I don't know why there is such strong anti-DB sentiment around here. The only thing I don't particularly like about him is that his stories are pretty much all the same, so if you've read one you've read them all.

But this was the first one I'd read and I definitely liked it.

This is great!

Jason wrote: "I liked this book, too. I don't know why there is such strong anti-DB sentiment around here. The only thing I don't particularly like about him is that his stories are pretty much all the same, so ..."

I doubt either one of us would say it's any kind of literary achievement or at all realistic, but for the kind of book it is, it's pretty engaging.

Sarah wrote: "This is great!"

Grazie mille, Sarah!

Ok it took me some time to get #16. I am really impressed with 'Addictive con eh?' though. I can decode anagrams but I can't make them up myself. Never.
This was genius, Steve. Please make more in the future for your reviews. :P
(And I'll make an honest confession that when I read this I was in my last year of high school and really, really enjoyed reading this.)

Samadrita wrote: "Ok it took me some time to get #16. I am really impressed with 'Addictive con eh?' though. I can decode anagrams but I can't make them up myself. Never.
This was genius, Steve. Please make more in ..."

Thank you, Samadrita! You're fully pardoned for liking this if you were still in high school. ;-)

Oh, and I should repeat, there's online software that helps a lot with the anagram constructions.

Everything's just a click away these days...even anagram-makers wow!!!! But you have to admit, using software kinda takes the fun out of these things.

Wow Steve!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again - You are the most innovative reviewer on GR. Thanks for the fun review, it made my day.

Samadrita wrote: "Everything's just a click away these days...even anagram-makers wow!!!! But you have to admit, using software kinda takes the fun out of these things."

Yes, the software is a cheat, but a useful one, I think. Left to my own devices, I unscrambled "Samadrita" to get "I'm a sad rat", but when I used the software, I got "Amid a star"! Which do you prefer? ;-)

Tania wrote: "Wow Steve!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again - You are the most innovative reviewer on GR. Thanks for the fun review, it made my day."

Thank you so much, Tania. Comments like this make my day!

I love this! You have outdone yourself once again! As a note to everyone else here, Steve once wrote a holiday letter in the form of a crossword puzzle, so this is his second effort. A second career as a puzzler would suit him, don't you think? I triple-dog-dare you to submit one to Will Shortz, Steve.

HAHA, genius. I'm going to solve it and mail it in. Will Shortz is jealous.

#16 was the easiest one! I actually had trouble with 5-down. Are you sure there aren't more boxes (heh) than needed?

Susan wrote: "I love this! You have outdone yourself once again! As a note to everyone else here, Steve once wrote a holiday letter in the form of a crossword puzzle, so this is his second effort. A second ca..."

Thanks, Susan! This one was a lot easier to make because it wasn't symmetric, nor did the across and down answers make complete blocks.

s.penkevich wrote: "HAHA, genius. I'm going to solve it and mail it in. Will Shortz is jealous."

Many thanks, Spenky! Something tells me, though, that Will won't be quite as impressed.

Jason wrote: "#16 was the easiest one! I actually had trouble with 5-down. Are you sure there aren't more boxes (heh) than needed?"

You might want to check your spelling on 5-down, Jason. I'm impressed you got 16-across so easily. Are you dyslexic?

16 was easiest for me too but took forever with 5-down. Now I can get on with my reading, phew.

Steve wrote: Gary, you're the type who'd come to the Taj Mahal and say, "What, no central air?"

If its true about TTM and AC then I'm scratching it off my bucket list. I'm too old to be hot. (view spoiler)[What a great set up for some wisecracks. (hide spoiler)] I agree with Susan, you should construct a puzzle for the NY Times. But before you do that, could help me with today's puzzle?

Garima wrote: "16 was easiest for me too but took forever with 5-down. Now I can get on with my reading, phew."

Well done, Garima! In the clue for 5-down, my intention was to spell out a-maze as a hyphenation, to make it stand out as a pun, but the way it was displayed made it seem like a line break continuation. Oh well, rookie mistake on my part.

Gary wrote: "Steve wrote: Gary, you're the type who'd come to the Taj Mahal and say, "What, no central air?"

If its true about TTM and AC then I'm scratching it off my bucket list. I'm too old to be hot. [spo..."

Haha, I won't take the bait (your spoiler), Gary, but I can't guarantee others will be so kind. As for the puzzle, you'll have far better luck asking my far better half for help. Susan is the ace solver in the family.

Oh, and thank you for not laughing derisively when I kinda likened this silly construction of mine to the Taj Mahal. It's evidence of the extremes to which I'll go to make even the lamest of jokes.

Oh ok, we figured out 5-down. I neglected to consider there might be a suffix.

Steve wrote: "Garima wrote: "16 was easiest for me too but took forever with 5-down. Now I can get on with my reading, phew."

Well done, Garima! In the clue for 5-down, my intention was to spell out a-maze as ..."

Ha! Now that you have told me, I can't help admiring the pun because I took it as a line break continuation only. I had to brainstorm with 4 letters I got by solving other words. Again, a great job Steve.

Jason wrote: "Oh ok, we figured out 5-down. I neglected to consider there might be a suffix."

Yup, we were going for the adjective there.

Garima wrote: "Ha! Now that you have told me, I can't help admiring the pun because I took it as a line break continuation only. I had to brainstorm with 4 letters I got by solving other words. Again, a great job Steve."

Sorry that messed you up, Garima. Thanks for being so gracious about the time I stole from you, figuring it out even without the clue's full meaning.

I went through the review and comments and was intrigued, and then I realized I hadn't even looked at the title of the work :P

Thanks for the lighter moments here,Steve!

Steve wrote: "Samadrita wrote: "Everything's just a click away these days...even anagram-makers wow!!!! But you have to admit, using software kinda takes the fun out of these things."

Yes, the software is a che..."

Okay I wouldn't mind 'I'm a sad rat' at the moment since that accurately sums up my current mood. Although, 'Amid a star' will be great, thank you. :D Hooray for anagram-making software!

U da man!

Rakhi wrote: "I went through the review and comments and was intrigued, and then I realized I hadn't even looked at the title of the work :P

Thanks for the lighter moments here,Steve!"

Haha, it probably didn't matter much then, if you didn't notice.

Thanks to you, too, Rakhi, for the very welcome words!

Samadrita wrote: "Okay I wouldn't mind 'I'm a sad rat' at the moment since that accurately sums up my current mood. Although, 'Amid a star' will be great, thank you. :D Hooray for anagram-making software!"

Sorry to hear about your day, Samadrita. BTW, just so we're perfectly clear, you're about as far from a rat as it's possible to be.

Will wrote: "U da man!"

Thank U, Will. U 2!