A few months ago, the internet was all aflutter about a wonderful illustrated GIF that appeared on a New York Times opinion piece about Amtrak’s Quiet Car– the GIF was a sweet and subtle animation of the train interior with muted scenery flying by in the windows. This GIF magic was drawn by Brooklyn artist Rebecca Mock, who has a particular talent for creating charming illustrations with simple animated effects: in one GIF, the ceiling fan lazily spins above a sleeping couple, and in another, nothing is perceptibly moving besides a sign swinging in the wind and one lone “Don’t Walk” signal blinking alongside. Read more
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Original Crosswords
Instilled in us from birth (practically), our father has always been a cruciverbalist and, consequently, a big fan of Merl Reagle and Will Shortz. Last year, Mike and I began trying our hand at writing crossword puzzles. Below are some of the original puzzles that I’ve written so far. If you like them, let me know. If you have questions, feel free to submit comments and I’d be happy to help you out. The letters to the right of the puzzles are my assessment of their difficulty using The New York Times scale (Monday – Easy, through Sunday – Hard)
>> Easy as Pie (M)
>> Missing “Papa” (T)
>> Good Eets! (M)
>> >Artistic License (F)
>> >In the Biblical Sense? (W)
>> >90s Rock (M)
>> >Sing-Sing (T)
>> >Uncharted Waters (W)
>> >Head Start (F)
>> >Star-crossed (T)
>> >Lab Partners (M)
New York Times Rating System
Monday’s Crosswords Do with Ease
Tuesday’s Crosswords Not a Breeze
Wednesday’s Crosswords Harder Still
Thursday’s Crosswords Take Real Skill
Friday’s Crosswords — You’ve Come This Far…
Saturday’s Crosswords — You’re a Star!