iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I love that you constantly have a mix of both newer co-conspirators and ones who have played with you forever. As a bass trombonist, I am particularly heartened by Jennifer Wharton's consistent presence.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Oh, darn. I can ask around to other cat owners I know.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

We don't have any, but I might be able to do some digging around Malden. Where have you looked?

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Hey @spatch.bsky.social I just wanted to let you know that whenever I see gamers refer to PUBG I mentally parse it as "Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die"

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Heard of it, never been. Sorry to hear it's closing!

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

The problem is that I do tend to rely heavily on a particular subset of clue types and so I like to do a pass at the end to try and even things out.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Solution: find a a clue of the desired type that is at least as good as the existing clue to a different entry, and stick with the better one of the other type.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Weighing "I should have a clue of [common type] in this cryptic and this is one of the only entries it works for" versus "the clue of [other type] I already have is clearly better"

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I don't know about Silksong specifically, but imo if the mechanics of the world are such that spikes kill you instantly no matter what your health is, size won't help.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Would you even fit through the tunnels though? Even just standing up you'd probably hit a patch of spikes and die instantly.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I can't think of specific examples off the top of my head, but I have a frequent reaction of "This is supposed to be emotional but the writing is so bad...but the violins are swelling and damn it I'm going to cry and you didn't earn it fuck you"

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

That is the actual spelling of the phrase. "Just Desserts" is an eggcorn/name for a pâtisserie. "Desert" here means "something that is deserved"

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I have to say, of all the weird things you've said, this is up there. Good job!

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

This was notable when church choirs would practice singing their hexachords (6-note scales) starting on different notes for "ut" (the original name for the note "do," stemming from a sort of abecedarian hymn), and if you were doing all the scales you would start at "gamma ut," hence "gamut"

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

In medieval times the repetitions of the different notes in different octaves were distinguished by capital/lowercase and even Greek letters. The lowest note in use at the time was a low G, which they labeled as "gamma".

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

As a lifelong atheist, I do endorse this sentiment for a lot of movement atheism. What I'd like to see Richard Dawkins do for atheist movement (3, 4)

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

At first I thought this was a translation of Sontag's "Notes on 'Camp'"

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

In some high-level math contests where you're writing proofs rather than performing calculations, you need to show your work, but those are a very different format. You might have 4.5 hours to solve 3 very difficult problems, and only a small handful out of 600 contestants get all 3.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Also, to your point elsewhere about showing your work on math problems, that's also not how speed-solving works. You show your work on a math test in school, but in nearly all math contests only the answers matter.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

But “showing your work” with regards to a cryptic is such a vague concept. What qualifies? Writing out the full parse? Underlining key words in the clue?

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

One friend of mine dislikes speed-solving competitions where you have a half-dozen puzzles by great constructors bc it’s like chowing down on a five-course meal without savoring anything. I think that’s just the nature of the beast

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

In speed-solving American crosswords, nobody cares to check if you solved all the clues or went downs-only. Heck, you might as well complain that video game speedrunners skip through big parts of the game (though they do have to “show their work” by recording the run)

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Greg is Hades himself, obvs. I think James Acaster has the right combination of snark, anger, and likability to be Zagreus.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I realized the other day that I am autistic *and* polyamorous, which mens I can have multiple special interests to talk your ear off about.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I was exploring the neighborhood near my new house in Malden last week and passed a turkey leading a half-dozen chicks. I'd not seen that before!

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I usually hate comedy where everyone is mean to each other but Green Wing just landed for me

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

As a perennial third trombonist* this clue is erasure *Not because of ability, but because I play bass trombone

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

It strikes me that they could be using heavier weights than they can handle but won't admit to needing lighter weights, bc toxic masculinity.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

If you enjoy puzzles like these, I would love it if you subscribed at patreon.com/nathancurtis. Patrons get more puzzles like this every month, and it is my patrons' support that allows me to keep posting these monthly free puzzles.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Day 3 of grinding through writing clues for this variety cryptic and I have *got* to come up with easier gimmicks

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Should it be “Gave another shot”?

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Reaching the point of making a variety cryptic where I have to figure out the punny message that I will hide in the puzzle and this is, as usual, one of the hardest parts.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Though I'd say something like "National tour includes underappreciated singer? (4)" has a good balance on both sides of the coin.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I'm going to push back on this. While I do like that tell an entertaining story, I am a big fan of verisimilitude. It's something you wouldn't bat an eyelash seeing in the arts section of the newspaper. I know "thermal torture" was off the top of your head, but I would have a harder time buying it.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Also clearly a bias in tastes. I checked most of the listed songs and I'm pretty sure "Such Great Heights" had the highest chart position at #21 on the Hot 100. I realize that chart performance and cultural importance are not the same thing, but come on.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I think this comes down to elder/younger millennial divide. If you take the midpoint of Millennial births to be around 1993, then the median millennial was 4 when "Fly" came out, and I don't think it had legs past 2000 or so.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

My patience for these games is always quite thin but I have to agree. At the same time, this cannot be topped so it's time to wrap this up folks

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Considering that I read this in Strong Bad's voice, maybe you should try to hype yourself up to be like him.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Or it must be the opposite type to the ones before and after, including any other half-and-half that are likewise forced.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

I have wanted to do a three-dimensional Masyu which is a surface enclosing a solid, with different clues depending whether you are on a corner, an edge, or a face, but this is pretty much only suitable for Mystery Hunt and I have no idea how I would go about constructing it.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

The first Masyu puzzles only used white pearls. Later on someone realized you could get more varied solve paths if you added a second type of clue

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

I mean, I hardly expect undergrads at any school to abide by that rule. And while I only attended for grad school, I feel like Tufts has the frat boy-est student body, at least north of the Charles.

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

13/15. One of them I knew but was going so fast I forgot which name went in which column, and the other...well played. (You know what you did.)

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Nathan Curtis @tshellstudio.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

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creating Variety Crossword and Logic Puzzles

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