Blog du Wren

My Crossword Car

Why did I construct a giant changeable crossword on the top of my car? I like crosswords (as attested to here and here). I like fun things. And why not? If you can't do something silly every now and again, what fun is life?

A word about the process: first and expertly* spray painted a white square atop the car. Then I meticulously the grid using a sharpie (and electrical tape for the outer border). The grid is 15x15, so standard daily size. Next, I bought some scrap magnetic material (from the nice folks at Chazzzam Signs & Graphics in Bellingham), like the stuff from those decal signs on the sides of construction trucks, and cut it into then painted them . I used magnetic material for the black squares so that the grid arrangement can be changed to facilitate different puzzles. With the remaining magnetic material, I made the .

The idea is that random passersby can collaboratively solve the puzzle using those little fridge alphabet magnets. I will post the clues on the window and provide a little step stool to reach the middle of the grid. I foresee it mostly being unveiled at festivals and other semi-controlled parking areas, but maybe airport parking lots, park & rides, and even right out on the street will prove feasible.

I wrote a custom car-themed puzzle to debut the project. The puzzle turned out pretty good, with only one answer I don't care much for. You can download the puzzle here (or .puz format here). Or you can stalk my car and do it in the wild!

And no good, fun, silly project is complete without a few glamour shots.

Thursday September 25 2014

File under: games, transport

Toggle Comments (3)

comment?

on Fri 03rd Oct, 2014 12:55 am CDT Mom said:
This is the height of way-cool nerdiness. If only I was tall enough to see the top. Do you supply stools for the wee challenged?
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on Tue 07th Oct, 2014 04:16 pm CDT anne said:
i'm still sitting here in shock by the "my car" statement.
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on Wed 29th Oct, 2014 11:31 pm CDT Jule said:
This is awesome! Does will shorts know about this?
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