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An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #forty-seven: "Wacky Sudokus"

Here's that crossword you asked for... Sorry, what's that - you didn't ask me for a crossword??

TASK: Solve the puzzle (COMPLETELY) to find a concealed nine-letter word which tells you something that this puzzle is not...

enter image description here

Across
A) Shakespearean King
D) "Let it be so"
E) Organ of hearing
G) ____ Nordegren, model and ex-wife of Tiger Woods
I) Creditor's legal right over a debtor's property
K) UK Protestant Christian denomination formed in nineteen-seventy-two (inits)
M) Muslim ruler
N) Nostril

Down
A) Queue
B) Precipitation
C) French indefinite article
F) Highest point
H) Alternative name for ribosomal protein SA
I) Northern English dialect word: 'be taught'
J) Major river in Africa
L) Animation still

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    $\begingroup$ This should be fairly quick to solve but has taken DAYS to put together in a workable way without too many obscure words. I've never seen it attempted in full before on PSE, only partially on a couple of occasions... It really has just been a case of "Is this possible? Let's try and see!" $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Jan 19, 2021 at 18:10
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    $\begingroup$ Very nice puzzle! This must have taken forever to find a grid that works for both, and to still be solvable as well! Incredibly impressive, and a very fun solve :) $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Jan 19, 2021 at 18:50
  • $\begingroup$ Now that the puzzle has been solved, here are a couple of the posts I was referring to in my comment above (in case anyone is interested): this one by Alconja is one of my PSE faves, but the crossword is not self-contained in the 9x9 grid, and this one by gabbo1092 is similar in idea, but does not produce a symmetrical crossword. Applying both of these additional limitations was HARD, especially when further constraining it by requiring a specific letter set for the hidden word! :) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Jan 19, 2021 at 22:33
  • $\begingroup$ Nitpick (trying not to spoil anything): Clue C would be better clued as "French feminine article" or something like that. The first natural number is the form with one letter less; the word you've used is not used for counting in French. $\endgroup$
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Jan 20, 2021 at 15:44
  • $\begingroup$ @MichaelSeifert That's fair. I'd used the wording as I felt it (loosely) fitted with the theme. But I've changed it now in line with your suggestion, in the name of accuracy. Thanks :) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Jan 20, 2021 at 16:38

1 Answer 1

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This puzzle is certainly not

NUMERICAL!

Solving the crossword:

enter image description here

The clues:

Across
A) Shakespearean King - LEAR
D) "Let it be so" - AMEN
E) Organ of hearing - EAR
G) ____ Nordegren, model and ex-wife of Tiger Woods - ELIN
I) Creditor's legal right over a debtor's property - LIEN
K) UK Protestant Christian denomination formed in nineteen-seventy-two (inits) - URC
M) Muslim ruler - EMIR
N) Nostril - NARE

Down
A) Queue - LINE
B) Precipitation - RAIN
C) French indefinite article - UNE
F) Highest point - ACME
H) Alternative name for ribosomal protein SA - LAMR
I) Northern English dialect word: 'be taught' - LARN
J) Major river in Africa - NILE
L) Animation still - CEL

Then solving as a 'Wordoku':

(Not posted logical path as it is quite straightforward, but can if needed)

enter image description here

Gives us the final answer in the middle box - NUMERICAL!!

This is apt, as not only does the sudoku not use any numbers, but even the crossword uses letters instead of numbers too!

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  • $\begingroup$ Did you solve the crossword entirely before the Wordoku? $\endgroup$
    – bobble
    Commented Jan 19, 2021 at 18:55
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    $\begingroup$ @bobble, yup, but for a couple of clues I wasn't entirely sure on I did use the sudoku constrictions to help work out what it could be $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Jan 19, 2021 at 18:58
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    $\begingroup$ Nice work BG :) No need for a detailed solve path on this one IMO - the 2 stages you have here are sufficient. Perfect example of a puzzle that's MUCH quicker to solve than to set! $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Jan 19, 2021 at 19:06
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    $\begingroup$ Thank you and awesome work! Yeah, there was too many characters on the grid for me to think it needed a full explanation, but that'll probably always be the case with this combo. And absolutely this must have taken a ton of work to make! Hopefully this gets way more upvotes than whatever this gets because it is very much deserved! $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Jan 19, 2021 at 19:09

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