Wow.

This seemed to work out really well, so thanks, everybody – to the puzzlemakers, and especially to the solvers/voters. It was nice to see a lot of user names I didn’t recognize in the comment field. It’s too bad we don’t still have that old Tanga feature where, in a comment, you saw the total number of posts a person’s made by their screen name. I’ll bet there would have been a lot of single digits.

Speaking of new names, it was AWESOME to see some relatively “new” puzzemakers, as well as some first-timers create entries! Even better, EVERY clue got votes.

I knew some would be freaked by Murdoctor’s ROCKY RACCOON photoshopping, but it was, to me, his better entry. Similarly, I knew the “turd” in YESTERDAY would ruffle a few feathers… perhaps rightly so :)

This was tricky for me, and, to be honest, I think maybe people will only get ONE entry next time. I set it up as two because I was worried about duplicates, but there were surprisingly few duplicates – a LOT of people submitted cover songs, I didn’t expect that. And though many puzzlemakers had one clear better entry (to me), there were a also quite a few that weren’t so clear-cut. I didn’t want someone to potentially lose due to my choice, you know?

Also, with two entries, I thought that would give me more flexability in making the grid. But, as it turned out, I just couldn’t pick someone’s easier-to-fit answer if their other clue was the better one :) And along those lines…

Note to self: next time pick a theme with shorter answers. Or maybe limit answer length. Strawberry Fields Forever, for example, is 23 spaces long! That definitely made the grid… interesting.

I could make some “bigger was better” segue, but it really had nothing to do with bigger, Donimo’s STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER was just really clever. And funny. And nicely photoshopped. And was the clear winner of the popular vote. It got 66 votes. The runner-up, Jewelia’s ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN, got 30! That’s a pretty big gap.

But, and this was cool, the “internal” puzzlemakers’ votes went their own direction: Jewelia won that one with 12, and Soccer Ref’s BECAUSE came in second with 7.

So, congratulations to Donimo and Jewelia! Due to the Christmas rush, your Tanga points may not arrive until January :)

Because this was a Hypercross contest for points, I don’t have a bunch of other little awards, but I did kinda give one out early:

Though I put the clues in random order, I knew clue #1 would also be the permanent thumbnail for this puzzle. I wanted something simple, clean, and clear for this. I really liked Philana’s COME TOGETHER, especially since it also had additional meaning, but the puzzle thumbnails are slightly cropped, and her clue was big and didn’t completely fit. Steph Frolin’s MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER was also in the running, but Robrizob’s PENNY LANE just edged it out in my mind.

Again, thanks to all who participated. We WILL be doing more of these in the future… but not for a while. This was way more work than I thought it’d be :)

Top Popular Votes
66 Strawberry Fields Forever
30 Roll Over Beethoven
28 Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
26 Yellow Submarine
20 Penny Lane
20 Piggies
20 Yesterday

Top Puzzlemaker Votes
12 Roll Over Beethoven
07 Because
04 Paperback Writer
04 Strawberry Fields Forever
04 Teddy Boy
04 What’s the New Mary Jane

The Clues
PENNY LANE, Robrizob
COME TOGETHER, Philana
YESTERDAY, Aurnivi
PIGGIES, CWarrior
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER, Donimo
PLEASE MR. POSTMAN, Harmonica
OCTOPUS’S GARDEN, Super Slug
PAPERBACK WRITER, CinMel
MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER, Steph Frolin
HEY BULLDOG, Hate Machine
ROCKY RACCOON, Murdoctor
TEDDY BOY, Scout Mom
CRY BABY CRY, j15 Bell
YELLOW SUBMARINE, Threehojos
WHAT’S THE NEW MARY JANE, Sydney Heart
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN, Jewelia
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK, Nocca
BECAUSE, Soccer Ref

The Hypercross
http://www.tanga.com/crossword_puzzles/1192-12-15-2008

Many of the other clues submitted, but not used:
http://www.tanga.com/forum/blogs/beatles-hypercross-leftovers

And where it all started:
http://www.tanga.com/forum/blogs/1825-Puzzlemaking_CONTEST_Beatles_Songs