The puzzle is a tribute to two people whose names appear in the completed grid.
After Vic Fleming (my co-conspirator) and I had a completed grid, I began writing clues.
This is the kind of puzzle where you finish solving, look at the completed grid and say to yourself, "Huh.
Aaron showed a completed grid; this time, the test would be writing out the steps with arrows and a scribbled "fill-in" symbol code, with markers.
Here are the rules, as per Will Shortz: In this special contest crossword, the completed grid conceals a familiar three‑word phrase related to the puzzle's theme.
It has been pointed out to me that the RULES & REQUESTS paragraph that accompanies competition puzzles nowhere explicitly says that a correctly completed grid is a prerequisite for entry into the competitions.
Each clue contained an extra word, the first letters of which in clue order spell out what has to be done to the completed grid (M for F, or F for M).
Earlier today I asked you to fill in the grid below with entries of the form [NUMBER][SPACE][LETTER](S) Such as "Thirteen As", "Ten Bs", "Two Cs", "One D", with the rule that the entries accurately describe how many letters are in the completed grid.
Here, too, the clues read like a tracklist of a Bowie greatest hits, like this clue … 15ac Extreme evidence about Space Oddity – the one that got away (7) [ first & last letters of EVIDENCE surrounding anagram of SPACE ] … for ESCAPEE, but the surprise is an audacious hidden message around the edge of the completed grid.
In the comments under the Morse puzzle, he told solvers: My personal fantasy is of a puzzle in which all the solutions share a theme, all the clues have a related surface reading (which may or may not subvert the theme of the solutions) and the completed grid can be read to reveal a deeper meaning.
