Dan Naddor's puzzling 'Star Search'

Rich Norris, editor of the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle, said one of his favorite puzzles by regular contributor Dan Naddor  — who died Dec. 28 at 53  — was titled “Star Search.” Naddor had combined a crossword with a word search by asking for the titles of movies with Oscar-winning stars then hiding the winning actors’ names word-search style in the grid. It ran, appropriately enough, last year on the day of the Academy Awards ceremony.

“Despite the limitations that the word-search answers place on the constructor, the overall fill is remarkably smooth,” pronounced Diary of a Crossword Fiend.

"Star Search" makes a return appearance here. Print it out, pick up a pencil -- and let us know what you think.

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Comments

[Bob Ostrove]

I love a challenging crossword puzzle, and this one would have been no exception but for you printing the answer grid immediately below the blank puzzle. Gee, thanks. Nice job as usual, LA Times!

[Zhouqin Burnikel]

Thank you so much for making the puzzle available to all the Dan Naddor fans. His puzzles, esp Fridays, have always been a challenge to me. But I admire tremendously his wit, humor and wordplay skills.

[Ugg london]

Never frown, when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.