Outside the Blocks: A Puzzle Podcast

Emma and Will wrap up season 5 of Pandora's Blocks! They also reflect on some of the other puzzles from this season, and they discuss what's next for Outside the Blocks. Spoilers for "Starting Rotation" and "The Big Four" as well as some older Pandora's Blocks puzzles. Links of interest (in the order they're mentioned in the episode): "Starting Rotation...

Emma and Will chat with Mark Woychick, who constructed the Pandora's Blocks puzzle "Seconds Count!" Spoilers for "Seconds Count!" (as well as some incidental spoilers for a WSJ puzzle from a couple years ago, "We'll Have Waters All Around"). Emma and Will also give a brief introduction to the new puzzle pack organized by Will, Contest Crosswords Combating Ca...

Emma and Will listen to some CDs while eating bacon and watching the March Madness tournament! Wait what. Emma and Will talk about three Pandora's Blocks puzzles! That sounds much more likely. Spoilers for "Surrounded with Flavor," "Overlapping Symbols," and "Listening to CDs." This episode also delves into the origin of the infamous DINO ME, which Emma and Will...

Emma and Will talk about "Alternate Endings"... alternately! This episode is an expanded version of our conversation on "Alternate Endings" from episode 8 "Alternate Party Forecast."  Links of interest (in the order they're mentioned in the episode):  Pandora's Blocks: https://pandorasblocks.org/ "Alternate Endings": https://crosshare.org/crossword...

Emma and Will dissect three Pandora's Blocks puzzles! Spoilers for "Party Platter," "Alternate Endings," and "Initial Forecast." Thank you to our listeners who have rated and reviewed us on Apple Podcasts! If you have not done that yet and you are so inclined, please head over to Apple Podcasts and give us a 5-star rating and a nice review. We greatly appreciate...

Emma and Will take up gambling and tax evasion! Wait scratch that. Emma and Will go to a birthday party? That doesn't sound right either. Emma and Will discuss three Pandora's Blocks puzzles? Ah, yes, there it is! Spoilers for "Roll the Dice," "Happy Birthday!", and "Write Offs." Thank you to our listeners who have rated and reviewed us on Apple Podcasts! If...

Emma and Will finally talk about the puzzles this podcast was created to talk about! The first two puzzles of Pandora's Blocks, season 5, have arrived. Spoilers for "A Very Meta Christmas" and "Count Off into Teams." Thank you to our listeners who have rated and reviewed us on Apple Podcasts! If you have not done that yet and you are so inclined, please head over to Apple...

Emma and Will chat with Mike, creator of Crosshare! Tune in for everything you ever wanted to know about the popular crossword-sharing website! Thank you to our listeners who have rated and reviewed us on Apple Podcasts! If you have not done that yet and you are so inclined, please head over to Apple Podcasts and give us a 5-star rating and a nice review. We greatly appreciate it, and it helps oth...

Emma and Will live-solve a meta! ... That's not a joke description, that's actually what happens. Spoilers for the December 2022 MMMM. Thank you to our listeners who have rated and reviewed us on Apple Podcasts! If you have not done that yet and you are so inclined, please head over to Apple Podcasts and give us a 5-star rating and a nice review. We greatly appreciate it, and it helps ot...

Emma and Will break into song! Wait, that seems incredibly unlikely.  Emma and Will  *checks notes* talk about a number of 4x4s? Huh. Well, maybe just tune in and see what's really going on. Links of interest (in the order they're mentioned in the episode): Muller Monthly Music Meta (MMMM) site - https://pmxwords.com/ MMMM Muggle Forum - https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewforum.php?f=8 Cr...

Emma and Will try not to overthink things in today's episode. Links of interest (in the order they're mentioned in the episode): -- "Don't Overthink It" Crosshare page (this is where you can actually solve it): https://crosshare.org/crosswords/wlwqTnoN3pCRnnCeYvqS/dont-overthink-it-meta -- "Don't Overthink It" Muggles Forum discussion: https://www.xword-mugg...

Emma and Will talk about a tense situation with a string quartet! Wait that doesn't sound right... if you're not buying this description, tune in and see what the real conversation is about! Links of interest (in the order they're mentioned in the episode): -- "Tense Situation" https://www.wsj.com/articles/tense-situation-friday-crossword-august-26-11661371705 -- XWord Mug...

What is this Outside the Blocks thing? Come find out! Thank you to the 22 people who gave us feedback on our proto-episode (currently unreleased on the main feed, but perhaps at a later date...). We hope you enjoy the full podcast once it's up and running. Links and other things of interest: -- Pandora's Blocks Weekly Meta Crossword: https://pandorasblocks.org/ --------------------------...