The three dimensional crossword is a little known format, probably exclusive to Eric Westbrook's site which has developed the genre in order to drum up funds for charities, the two main ones being BBC Children in Need and RNIB Pears Centre.
As well as length and breadth, the 3D crossword also has depth and appears as (usually) 5 grids tiered one above another. In each tier clues can be entered across or backwards or to and fro and the depth aspect comes into play when an answer is entered traversing through the five tiers at one letter per tier, either up or down.
In late August 2017, Eclogue were delighted to be asked to provide the clues to go with Logogriph's design for the October 2018 grid. The puzzle marks the 58th anniversary of the appearance of the classic Western, The Magnificent Seven.
Thematic material appearing in the grid comprised the seven actors who played the heroes (Yul BRYNNER, the leader, Charles BRONSON, Horst BUCHHOLZ, James COBURN, BRAD DEXTER, STEVE McQUEEN, Robert VAUGHN), ELI WALLACH, who played the leader of the bandits, Elmer BERNSTEIN, who composed the film's score and The Seven SAMURAI, on which the movie was based.
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| Magnificent 7 |
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| Eli Wallach as Calvera |
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| Elmer Bernstein |
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| The Seven Samurai
Comments From Solvers
A great film - and a great crossword. HB Taxing, but very enjoyable as usual. CH An interesting puzzle to solve, though I found the double letters device a bit disconcerting. JA I enjoyed solving the clues - but I struggled hugely with the grid! For some reason, it took me ages to realise that the pink squares contained double letters, and felt very silly when I eventually understood! DS A great film and a regular pub quiz question along with naming the seven dwarves. Thanks for a great puzzle. SW A very entertaining puzzle, with the double letters an original touch, though I confess to having to look up some of the actors -- and the recent remake was nowhere near as good as the original. I still am not clear how 11 ,13 and 35 parse, but am hoping answers are correct, since I see no other plausible alternatives! MS What a great device for fitting longer words into the grid. Also impressive was getting a complete set of actors plus the composer in there. All that and only three letters (J,K,P) short of a pangram. JT (These thoughts are reflected in my review above Ed) A lovely one thank you, but not too taxing. I like the way the actor’s names are clued, especially McQueen. And possibly my favourite photograph, though April runs it close. AGC For some reason I had a mental block on the last clue and finally got it - WISE. How fitting! JN
My favourite film and I would take the theme music to my desert island too. No real problems with
the grid fill and all fell into place. PD This months was quite approachable and, once we had guessed the film, achievable. We laughed at ‘gun drops second owl’. JH I got the theme quite quickly this month and even remembered most of the actors though its years since I saw the film. MJ On reading the blurb first thought was James Bond with 7 double letters needed, but pretty sure not 1960. So with that gone the magnificent 7 came to mind, which I know was based on the Japanese film, seen many years ago. A clever puzzle even containing the villain. DM Thank you Eclogue and Logogriph. I enjoyed solving this puzzle and was relieved to find a number of straightforward clues. There bare still a few I can’t parse so fingers crossed JB I think Logogriph gave Eclogue and solvers a hard time with so many solutions changing direction. SC The Magnificent 7 theme came easily enough. As did the double-letter in one cell manoeuvre. I was left at the end trying to make an anagram of HELLNOD or even HHEELLLLNNOODD but could make nothing sensible. All became clear when I re-read the rubric. The film and most of the actors were familiar enough, except Buchholz, and the spelling of Vaughn/Vaughan, had to be checked. Still not clear about how "The Bard's letters" make ACHES, but surely wordplay ACHE (long) + S[mall] can't be anything else. I think I understood "Orkney's ... springtime seaweed" after looking up something at some time - I made a note next to it: "OK. Tang & Ware" But for the life of me I cannot remember what it is now. TR Thoroughly enjoyable and such fun ... so impressive to include all those starry names, and the double letter cells were very clever! The film The Magnificent Seven was based on Seven Samurai ... and I remember it well. JR Thank you for a terrific crossword, completed at the eleventh hour with help from my son. The Magnificent Seven is rather out of my comfort zone, so it's taken quite a lot of Googling. JJ Ace puzzle. The double letter idea was clever. Some superb clues for the film’s personnel. The best one was Bernstein. MLJ Really enjoyed this one - not too hard, not too easy and the double letters provided extra interest. GB I’ve enjoyed solving this challenge and learnt a lot along the way as always. SF A joly god puzle and an oportune coment on posible por spelings of Holywod clasics. GGSS |
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