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Show HN: Bracket City – A daily, exploded (?) crossword puzzle

(bracket.city)
109 points brgross | 1 comments | 24 Feb 25 15:20 UTC | HN request time: 0.208s | source

Hi hn - I co-own a diner where I co-host a puzzle night that is kind of like a diner-themed escape room. At the last one, I made a puzzle that was crossword-like clues nested in brackets. People at the diner seemed to like it, so I resolved to make it a real game and Bracket City was born: https://bracket.city.

I love crosswords, so it's been fun to write crossword-like clues:

  [it contains MSG]
as well as clues that would not make it into a crossword:

  [___ <=== you ===> hard place]
I write all the puzzles and post a new one at midnight ET every day of the week.

Still working on a lot of features/fixes. I'm aware that scoring based on keystrokes is pretty unfair, especially given not-ideal custom keyboard on mobile! Still thinking through the best solution there.

Also fun fact: if you sign up for the email list, you get a special "Word of the Day" email written by James Somers (of https://jsomers.net). The only way to sign up for the email list is to finish a puzzle!

**

(answer key: NYC, ROCK)

Show context
showerst ◴[24 Feb 25 17:55 UTC] No.43162625[source]▶
Fun concept, but there are some really generation specific references here. Smurfs, Brady Bunch, Payphones...
replies(2): >>43162829 #>>43169306 #
brgross ◴[24 Feb 25 18:13 UTC] No.43162829[source]▶
fair! I do think today's puzzle betrays my elder millennial status more than most...
replies(1): >>43165236 #
1. mckn1ght ◴[24 Feb 25 21:38 UTC] No.43165236[source]▶
As someone that does lots of crosswords, this doesn’t seem at all out of the ordinary. I guess the difference is that in a regular crossword, these cultural unknowns can be worked around if you can get the crosswords, but that’s no guarantee either.