RE: Could this work?
Linda > 11-01-2025, 08:27 PM
It is a phenomenon built into the very nature of the crossword puzzle, otherwise it would just be called a word puzzle. The fact that the words cross give you the advantage of filled in letters in the corresponding opposite direction (across vs down) for when you hit a brick wall with the hints.
There are lots of puzzles that have these mechanisms built in, like including bonus words that can be read upon completion, or guessed upon partial completion, thereby helping to complete, or where quotes are made up of first and last words, like Syllacrostics, which I actually played this morning for the first time in years, but had forgotten that aspect. Once I remembered, I was able to finish quickly, plus as you use up the syllables, the remains words can only be made out of the leftovers, assuming the ones you enter are correct.
So this is nothing new to puzzlers. I also didn't think much of the analogy, but with regard to the vms, once the mechanics of the text are worked out, perhaps the tea party will occur soon after. That being said, perhaps we are missing the hint that would allow us to learn the mechanism.