I just realized you were talking about the Sunday puzzle yesterday, weren't you? It took me a few minutes, after the whole damn thing was done, to get the theme.
Funny--my mother also called me baffled by the theme. As debby said, it took a little figuring, but then it came together. Not particularly elegant or satisfying, but it was clever, I guess. Do you ever read Rex Parker? Fun to look at sometimes, once you've done the puzzle, and he seems to agree about this one.
I don't know who that is. This is not the first time I've gone a long way towards finishing the puzzle without understanding the theme but that was the most obtuse theme I can remember.
Bub: Was the original puzzle you were talking about called, "State Annexation". That one took me until Thursday morning to finish, but when I figured out what was going on, it really was pretty clever.
My mom would always say to me, as I worked a puzzle, "Well, that seems a lot harder for the puzzle MAKER to make than for you to figure out."
Guess that's why I'm always thinking about how hard it must be to put these puzzles together, much less edit them with clues!
Debby: Would love to know more about this "tournament", as long as it's something "observers" would find interesting...
