Crossword Report: July '07

Ho, man.

I hit a new low in July, solving a scant 25 crosswords. Back in April I started to think I might be able to solve 1,000 puzzles in 2007; now that goal seems way beyond my reach. However, I'm still set on my initial goal of solving every New York Times crossword published in 2007, which is entirely reachable. However, it probably won't happen 'til sometime after 2008 is rung in. Right now I have a backlog of 29 unfinished 2007 NYT puzzles -- mostly Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays -- many of which are un-begun. And, truth be told, I have to get outside help on about a third of 'em -- my favorite resource is Rex Parker's blog.

Crosswords in Pop Culture:

On Monday's Late Show, there was a quick opening skit with Dave Letterman trying to solve a crossword. He asked his producer Barbara Gaines for help, and her response was something like, "That's a sudoku puzzle, dumbass."

A few weeks ago I impulse-bought this New York Times crossword baseball at Half-Price Books for $6.98. I thought I'd be able to solve the puzzle on the ball, using a Sharpie or something -- that would've been killer. Unforch, the puzzle didn't even fit on the ball, and instead it was printed on a sheet of paper enclosed in the box with the ball, along with a separate sheet of answers. Not what I hoped for. However, the puzzle itself was a unique baseball-themed puzzle, edited by Will Shortz's sure hand (the best bit was 53 Across: "Safeco Field player", answer: "MARINER").

Crossword Report: January '07
Crossword Report: February '07
Crossword Report: March '07
Crossword Report: April '07
Crossword Report: May '07
Crossword Report: June '07
Total crosswords solved in June 2007: 25
Total crosswords solved in 2007: 422
On pace to solve in 2007: 727