Crossword #1: Gourmet Freestyle
Hello, my name is Graeme. You most likely know me as Gizmo Thwomp. One year ago today, I took on that mantle and started publishing satirical crosswords, mostly of a Something Different variety. I've been a puzzler since I was a young child. I have fond memories of solving the puzzles in my local newspaper, from the Jumble to the not-very-good crosswords. I stayed up for hours scrolling through /dev/joe's MIT Mystery Hunt Index. I distinctly remember searching "2017 mystery hunt blog" every day after it ended, hoping for a blog that linked to an archived site so I could start admiring the puzzles and solutions myself. I was 10. When I was 12, I submitted a puzzle to the New York Times. It was an 80-something word themeless. I got a personal email back from Will Shortz, praising a few aspects of my puzzle and kindly explaining the issues with its publication. After that, I didn't make any crosswords (although I still made many puzzles and puzzle hunts for family b...