Can You Solve This?

Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

Can you solve this unusual crossword puzzle?

I've spent hours on it, and I haven't yet figured it out.

Normally, I solve crossword puzzles within thirty (30) minutes if they're difficult, and within ten (10) minutes if they're just run of the mill everyday stuff.

In fact, finding puzzles that really challenge my intellect is getting harder and harder.

Of course, there are a couple of crossword puzzle categories I can't get anywhere with, and that's cryptic crosswords and English crosswords.

I think the only way to be able to solve an English crossword puzzle is to have been born and raised in England, for who else would be familiar with their terminology?

The puzzles in the Sunday edition of the LOS ANGELES TIMES are the best, and there have been a few times when I didn't solve one.

On Sundays, they feature three (03) puzzles, the DAILY crossword puzzle, the SUNDAY CALENDAR crossword puzzle, and their MAGAZINE crossword puzzle, all of them challenging (to me).

They also have a TV crossword puzzle, which I don't bother even looking at, and a SUDOKU, which I don't yet know how to work.

Anyway, since I haven't yet figured this one out, and it is rather unusual, I thought I'd share it with you, so maybe you can also join in the fun.

Other puzzles I enjoy on the Internet are the daily word games at the Merriam-Webster web site.

Each day, they feature a different game, and the one I like the best is DICTIONARY DEVIL.

They have one game, ADD DICTION, that I never play, because it is too easy, and therefore, no fun.

My favorite puzzle is a codeword, or codebreaker, (they're called by different names, depending on the source) but I can only find one (01) on the Internet, and it's way too easy.

It's at the THINKS web site, and unfortunately, they provide clues, which takes the fun out of it, and I almost always solve those puzzles in under two (02) or three (03) minutes.

So, I order books of codeword puzzles from PENNY PRESS, which offers codeword puzzles without any clues, which is the only way I like to do them.

The regular periodical puzzle books from PENNY PRESS, which are sold in stores, are really too easy, and their codeword puzzles always include clues, which ruins the fun, but you can special order the harder puzzles directly from their headquarters.

I also like cryptograms, but I've found only one web site where they are available, and I've already done every one of them.

Other crossword puzzles I enjoy on the Internet are the SATURDAY STUMPER in the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, and the SUNDAY CHALLENGER in the WASHINGTON POST.

The puzzles at the THINKS web site, and in the Chicago and Los Angeles newspapers include a timer, which I like, as it's kind of neat trying to beat the clock and improve your speed.

Well, I reckon I'll take another stab at that mind boggling puzzle which has me at a dead end, spinning my wheels.

Thank you.

John Robert "SAIGON" Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."