Solve the Internet
June 7, 2018 3:31 AM Subscribe
Constructed by Caleb Madison who also did the wonderful and far too short lived Buzzfeed Crossword Puzzle.
posted by damayanti at 4:56 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by damayanti at 4:56 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
20 down is particularly cryptic even if you know (spoilers) exactly the story that they're talking about.
posted by Eleven at 5:33 AM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Eleven at 5:33 AM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm still cool, even if I'm doing crosswords, right? *increasingly desperate, panicked voice* Right? It's about the latest memes, right?!?
posted by phooky at 5:57 AM on June 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by phooky at 5:57 AM on June 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
I was really stoked to get the email (apparently, I signed up for Caleb's list when he left Buzzfeed?), and very underwhelmed by the puzzle itself. Too small, not quite committed enough to its premise, and... yeah, 20 down. Fuuuck 20 down entirely. But I'll keep going with it. It's a nice change of pace from the NYT and the BEQ.
posted by Etrigan at 6:07 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Etrigan at 6:07 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
11 minutes, with some googling, which I think makes me very not online, or something. And yes, fuck 20 down all the way off.
posted by parm at 6:23 AM on June 7, 2018
posted by parm at 6:23 AM on June 7, 2018
Speaking of crosswords, anyone playing on squares.io? It's pretty neat.
posted by ODiV at 7:18 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ODiV at 7:18 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is how it happens.
First, you grow out of your 20s, so you aren’t as frenetically plugged-in to the latest pop trends.
Then you stop watching all the late night talk shows, so you fall behind on the latest second-hand buzz of the day.
Then you find yourself having to massively google a pop culture crossword because half of the references are completely obscure. (Wtf happens at a Met Gala and why should I care? I’ve never even heard of that rapper, much less know anything about his music! Some dumbass hurt himself doing a Vine stunt?)
The next step is that you’ve completely given up trying to stay informed. Then you’re just watching Lawrence Welk re-runs, limiting your cinema experiences to old black-and-white movies on TCM, and brandishing your cane at young passersby.
posted by darkstar at 7:42 AM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
First, you grow out of your 20s, so you aren’t as frenetically plugged-in to the latest pop trends.
Then you stop watching all the late night talk shows, so you fall behind on the latest second-hand buzz of the day.
Then you find yourself having to massively google a pop culture crossword because half of the references are completely obscure. (Wtf happens at a Met Gala and why should I care? I’ve never even heard of that rapper, much less know anything about his music! Some dumbass hurt himself doing a Vine stunt?)
The next step is that you’ve completely given up trying to stay informed. Then you’re just watching Lawrence Welk re-runs, limiting your cinema experiences to old black-and-white movies on TCM, and brandishing your cane at young passersby.
posted by darkstar at 7:42 AM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
I am a huge Grimes fan and Musk hater and still did not get 20-down.
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:45 AM on June 7, 2018
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:45 AM on June 7, 2018
Gravel Race Up Spruce Knob?
posted by pracowity at 7:54 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by pracowity at 7:54 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
I thought I would need to be much more extremely online to do this in...3m 57s. IAMS? ANTE? Come on.
I got 20-Down without a problem...not sure what that says about me.
posted by quadrilaterals at 7:58 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
I got 20-Down without a problem...not sure what that says about me.
posted by quadrilaterals at 7:58 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
20 down could have just as easily been "Mimes", but we don't need another irrational excuse for disliking it.
posted by Eleven at 8:03 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Eleven at 8:03 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's heartening to me as someone who did this for a while in college that even after an outlet like Vice commissions you to do a crossword extremely committed to a theme, professional constructors still find themselves worked into weird corners where the only way out is ULNA with a half-hearted clue. I await future puzzles where he has to cross THEMOOCH with OLIO.
posted by Copronymus at 8:08 AM on June 7, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 8:08 AM on June 7, 2018 [8 favorites]
The New Yorker started a new crossword series recently, as well (announcement post). I wish the NYT would open source their mobile web interface. It's so much more usable than any other.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 8:11 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 8:11 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
I await future puzzles where he has to cross THEMOOCH with OLIO.
You know COVFEFE will show up somewhere soon, if it hasn't already.
posted by Badgermann at 8:59 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
You know COVFEFE will show up somewhere soon, if it hasn't already.
posted by Badgermann at 8:59 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
That was fun, but the keyboard controls were absolutely enraging.
posted by General Malaise at 9:01 AM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by General Malaise at 9:01 AM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
18 Down: Unit of resistance?
"retweet" doesn't fit tho
posted by boo_radley at 9:28 AM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
"retweet" doesn't fit tho
posted by boo_radley at 9:28 AM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
Completed in 2:43
posted by to sir with millipedes at 9:39 AM on June 7, 2018
posted by to sir with millipedes at 9:39 AM on June 7, 2018
I failed miserably at this, and I'm ok with that.
posted by hydra77 at 12:42 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by hydra77 at 12:42 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
TIL Juul. Apparently I'm not on the internets enough.
posted by Everydayville at 2:18 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Everydayville at 2:18 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
That was fun, but the keyboard controls were absolutely enraging.
Click on the gear icon to adjust how they work.
posted by Lexica at 4:20 PM on June 7, 2018
Click on the gear icon to adjust how they work.
posted by Lexica at 4:20 PM on June 7, 2018
Per Darkstar's timeline, I'm somewhere floating around stage 3, but I'm not sure exactly where. I don't actually really care about staying informed on pop culture, but I'm still picking up enough of it through osmosis (a lot of it here at MetaFilter) that I get about half the puzzle, but I do still have to google the rest.
For example, I went with VAPE as my first guess for 1A, but when that clearly wasn't working, I remembered that there was some special sort of device with a funny name and a quick google found the answer. For 20D, I got all but one letter from other clues, figured out the general outlines of what it would be and again got there with an easy google. Others I had no clue on, but there was more than enough context to google.
I've almost always picked this stuff up through osmosis rather than direct experience. It kind of drives my wife crazy that while there are *so*many* movies I've never seen, I can still discuss a lot of them...and my eleven year old son similarly quotes and makes references to lots of movies he's never seen and which we've never discussed with him, so she insists it's genetic.
posted by Four Ds at 4:24 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
For example, I went with VAPE as my first guess for 1A, but when that clearly wasn't working, I remembered that there was some special sort of device with a funny name and a quick google found the answer. For 20D, I got all but one letter from other clues, figured out the general outlines of what it would be and again got there with an easy google. Others I had no clue on, but there was more than enough context to google.
I've almost always picked this stuff up through osmosis rather than direct experience. It kind of drives my wife crazy that while there are *so*many* movies I've never seen, I can still discuss a lot of them...and my eleven year old son similarly quotes and makes references to lots of movies he's never seen and which we've never discussed with him, so she insists it's genetic.
posted by Four Ds at 4:24 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Completed the puzzle in less than 6 minutes (5:49 to be exact). While I'm a NYT Crossword puzzle regular, I should say Solve the Internet was much better than the New Yorker. Is it just me though?
posted by andrewmc at 12:49 AM on June 20, 2018
posted by andrewmc at 12:49 AM on June 20, 2018
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posted by ejs at 4:41 AM on June 7, 2018 [19 favorites]