Kerbal Kountdown!!!!

[RogueMason]

I think 2D is Jahn - a German national who was part of the USSR Interkosmos program.

And 20A must be either Wang or Yang, although there's no way to determine which Kasper was actually thinking of.

That likely makes 18D Revin.

Both Yang and Wang went to Tiangong 1 which is making it more difficult to decide... I'm gonna say Yang, though. I do recall some publicity around her visit to the station, being the first Chinese female to go into space.

I did also get Revin for 18 down.

[Starhawk]

12 down has to be Guidoni.

I can't make anything fit for 16 across, though. With the correction to number 8, I get -A----D and that's supposed to be Roscosmos.

Happy landings!

[GoSlash27]

8 down looks to be Sherlock.

[rocx]

My best guess so far, mostly found by myself with a little help from checking this thread. All are astronauts, obviously.

[forenci]

I'm failing too hard on this Crossword puzzle..

[Starhawk]

8 down looks to be Sherlock.

They corrected the puzzle. There are only supposed to be 7 letters in that one. Kasper says to ignore the 4th or 5th box.

I have Shepard for that one.

Happy landings!

The corrected puzzle is found here.

[pandaman]

These puzzles are great. Wish I had time to have a proper go.

seems like a 'what can we give Max and Kasper to do to keep them out of they way' type plan to me:)

Seriously though great idea. Good job. Well done guys.

[tetryds]

I did it, but it does not make any sense.

[Mister Dilsby]

@kuzzter

12d is supposed to be from ESA - and there are no ESA astronauts with a name starting by G long enough

You're right, Rocx's version is more correct with Gagarin in 16A, and Glenn in 16d.

[rocx]

I now have:

1: tereshkova

2: jahn

3h: carpenter

3v: cristoforetti

4: atkov

5: mukai

6: fuglesang

7h: armstrong

7v: aldrin

8: shepard

9: ride

10: lu

11: hadfield

12: g..n... (ESA astronaut)

13: ..i.... (ESA astronaut), perhaps Guidoni

14: .e....... (NASA astronaut)

15: eisele

16h: gagarin

16v: glenn

17: ryumin

18: revin

19: leonov

20: yang

21: ........ (cosmonaut)

[Starhawk]

You're right, Rocx's version is more correct with Gagarin in 16A, and Glenn in 16d.

What about Guidoni?

Happy landings!

[Volodyuka]

You're right, Rocx's version is more correct with Gagarin in 16A, and Glenn in 16d.

but then who the hell is 12D???

[RogueMason]

If we put Gagarin in 16 across, we can get Glenn in 16 down, Rebrov in 17 down, and Frimout (first Belgian in space) in 13 down.

So basically, it's either Gagarin in 16 across or Guidoni in 12 down. I can see a fix that would fit both of these names in but it would mean moving the 12 down boxes up by 2 so that the first letter for 12 down intersects the 'g' of Armstrong in 7 across, which would then also put the 'n' in Gagarin in the right place for Guidoni...

I am not saying I've finished, but... James T. Kirk and his flawless execution of the Kobayashi Maru come to mind here

[Mister Dilsby]

What about Guidoni?

Doesn't match Gagarin in 16A... Garneau, a Canadian fits there... mais il est Quebecois, donc peut etre Kasper le considere comme un européen?

[Volodyuka]

I am not saying I've finished, but... James T. Kirk and his flawless execution of the Kobayashi Maru come to mind here

actually that crossword migh be the case of solving the problem alternative way =)

[KasperVld]

Oh, damn.. I only now realize that one of the fixes didn't come through with the 'fixed' puzzle. 12 down is CSA, not ESA. No more crosswords for me

[rocx]

Nice, the first full solution, if a little cheating. 17d could also be Ryumin, and 14d could be gernhardt/hernandez/reightler/wetherbee.

Note that most astronauts are firsts of some kind: first russian/american/chinese man/woman in space/on the moon/in apollo.

[Mister Dilsby]

I am not saying I've finished, but... James T. Kirk and his flawless execution of the Kobayashi Maru come to mind here

I don't believe in the no-win scenario either, and I think everything but 12d works without question. All that remains is which mistake was made: do we shift up two spaces, or make Garneau an honorary ESA member?

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, damn.. I only now realize that one of the fixes didn't come through with the 'fixed' puzzle. 12 down is CSA, not ESA. No more crosswords for me

YES! SOLVED!!!

[Starhawk]

Doesn't match Gagarin in 16A... Garneau, a Canadian fits there... mais il est Quebecois, donc peut etre Kasper le considere comme un européen?

LOL. I barely remember any grade-school French, but enough to understand that. Maybe you're right, but I wonder if it's another mistake in the original. RogueMason's solution is starting to look more interesting.

Happy landings!

- - - Updated - - -

I only now realize that one of the fixes didn't come through with the 'fixed' puzzle. 12 down is CSA, not ESA

That would be it!

Don't worry about the errors, Kasper. It was a ton of fun anyway. I appreciate the work you put in.

7

Happy landings!

[paddywroks]

Solved??? http://i.imgur.com/wzSOmOe.png

[RogueMason]

Yeah, that was interesting. A countdown puzzle that I was actually able to do on the day before it was solved. Good one, Kasper

Roll on 6!

[Mister Dilsby]

Solved??? http://i.imgur.com/wzSOmOe.png

Interesting, I like that Guidoni made Paddywroks's version... and there are probably several more solutions for 14D and 21A besides the equally valid ones he and RogueMason came up with.

@kasper, any chance you can post your version now that we have at least two legal solutions?

[AlexinTokyo]

Here is my solution:

[GoSlash27]

I don't have the whole thing finished yet, but the answer is confirmed as "seven".

6D ___Fuglesang

14D___ __Wetherbee

1D Tereshkova

15D______ Eisele

7D ___Aldrin

^ That's the important part

-Slashy

[Robotengineer]

Oh, damn.. I only now realize that one of the fixes didn't come through with the 'fixed' puzzle. 12 down is CSA, not ESA. No more crosswords for me

You should have put it through Q&A.