Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

Like a baseball lineup or a concert setlist, a trivia puzzle has a progression that's key to the experience, and it's an element we approach with intent. Here are a few of the common scenarios that dictate how we order the questions:

1. The theme demands the order. If we're hiding the phrase "Red Bull Gives You Wings" one word at a time in the answers, we'd want "Red Robin" to be answer #1, "Bull Moose Party" to be answer #2, etc. Sometimes, once you figure out the reason for the order, you've also clocked the theme.

2. The answer set can be arranged in a sequence, but doesn't have to be. If the theme is cities that have hosted multiple Olympic Games, we might arrange those from east to west, because it helps you backsolve (e.g., #5 is going to be east of London and west of Tokyo).

3. Open Swim -- the theme doesn't demand a certain order and there's no reasonable sequence. This happens a lot with wordplay themes, and for those, we mainly try to arrange the questions so they provide a satisfying solving experience. To that end, we'd make the first question "gettable" to welcome you in to the puzzle, and hold the question that reveals the most about the theme until near the end, so as not to "spoil" it.

AQCAG

The All Questions Correct Answer Getter from our July 3 puzzle is Charlotte S. Get hot, stay hot, Charlotte.

Trivia Puzzle #14

Today's puzzle is from Wendy L. Brandes. Wendy (she/her) is a lawyer, professor, and children's book author. She is a crossword constructor whose crosswords have been published in the LAT, NYT, Apple, USA Today and Universal, among others. If anyone has any good suggestions for bar trivia venues in NYC, she asks that you send them along! Wendy would like to thank T.J., Karen, and the ACVX testers for helping to shape this puzzle with their creativity and thoughtful edits.

This one is seven questions and those who are strong in British poetry and baseball will be well on their way to nailing it. Enjoy!

Until next time,

T.J., Karen & the AVCX Mastodons

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