How the Blue Room Crossword Works

How It Works

The Blue Room Crossword isn't exactly like the puzzles you'll find in newspapers. The rules are pretty much the same: You've got words going across, and words going down, and clues to help you fill it all in. The differences are subject matter (most newspaper crosswords have very little to do with role playing games, geeky movie references, Dread Cthulhu, and my private life), and the clues themselves: At best, my clues are goofy. Often, they're cryptic and tricky and odd, and hopefully challenging. My approach is seldom consistent. Sometimes (for example) I'll be nice and let you know when the clue is somebody's initials, and sometimes I won't bother mentioning it!

Don't worry, though: The puzzles never require privy, secret knowledge. The clues all refer to publically-available information or published works, and often to the Blue Room itself (or Rolltop Indigo, the Blue Room Blog! Here's a comparitive chart:

`Word`	`Newspaper Clue`	`Blue Room Clue`
PIZZA	"A Neapolitan favorite"	"Frozen and sharpened, it makes a deadly thrown weapon. At least in the presence of burning vegetable people."
PRESIDENT	"The leader of the free world."	"They're never really like the cool one in that hijacking movie."
OLIVE	"Pungent fruit, the source of a popular oil."	"Cheech had to kill her to save his play." (or "Shelley Duvall was good casting" if I'm feeling a bit more generous).
SPEED	"Hit 'vehicle' for Keanu Reeves and costar Sandra Bullock."	"You get the Basic version by adding your HT and DX and dividing by four."

Visit the crossword whenever you have a rainy day and your brain's all rested! And don't worry, every puzzle has some easier ones to get you started. I can never promise a Blue Room puzzle is "fair" in any traditional sense, but they're all fair on their own terms.