Complete Clue List
Across
1. Rescuer, or fake name for the I-shaped tetrimino (right of 5D) [see 67D]
4. Urban pollutions, also featuring in some eco-themed games
8. Achromatic tetrimino colour seen in early 24A versions (US spelling)
12. Excitement (much seen when new video games versions are released)
13. Take to court, as between Nintendo and Atari Games (1989) over 24A
14. Greek letter OR flight schedule info which might be important in simulators (init.)
16. Versatile vehicle; "Grid 2" (2013) includes a Ford Falcon ____
17. Idiom for something brand new and exciting: "____ off the ____" (3,5)
20. Nerve junctions, hopefully firing quickly in gamers
23. Each tetrimino has an ____ of four blocks
24. Popular tile-matching video game
25. Software feature to call a phone number, possibly important in early multi-player games
28. Mischievous
31. Greek letter; replacing the Roman numeral with its Arabic digit results in an early gaming console
32. Disparaged
35. Alias preceder (init.); also title of a 2022 open-world game where people can "find inner-peace"
36. Lowly labourer; name given to a Dump Truck or Thrall in the "Trash" (2005) RTS game
38. Ancestry; relevant to people and video games
39. In the US, 24A was standard equipment for the Nintendo Game Boy hand-held ____
40. Genetic material; also McGill U. online game "Phylo ____ Puzzles" helping analyse genomes (init.)
41. Bomb; sadly many video games
42. Miss after marriage
43. Rhett's last word
44. Boxer's attire
45. Basic chess tactic, applicable to other games
46. Lavish affection (on)
49. "Project ____ Remake": 2021 2-dmensional action game investigating a virus outbreak (init.)
51. Musical measures OR drinking establishments
52. Infatuations
55. "____ Ness" (2021) is a co-op horror hunter video game involving the legendary Scottish monster
57. Meadow mother featuring in the "Farm Simulator" video game series
58. Parentless children, like the fictional characters Carmen Sandiego and Link ("The Legend of Zelda")
59. 100 bani, in Romania
60. Form into a sac
63. Sounds like an aquatic rodent, but it's a marine worm (3,5)
66. Get choppers? Not this type in a video game
68. Nothing at all (Northern UK dialect)
69. Saloon receptacle; also an event in "Smosh Summer Games - Wild West": "____ Spit Challenge" (2017)
71. Amaze
75. Action-adventure game "A Way Out" (2018) has playable characters called ____ and Vince
76. Palindromic British grandmother
77. Carol contraction
78. Dinghy propeller
79. Arcade racer "Dirty Drivin'" includes the slot machine-type game "____ the Crank"
80. Plant tissue, along with phloem
81. Industrious insects, title of a 2-D puzzler from KG Games (2020)
Down
1. Derisive laugh (sometimes heard during game-playing)
2. Tokyo (historically) or a YouTube channel ("Gaming with ____")
3. Left or right, changing a falling tetrimino's orientation (8,9)
4. Check up on, slangily
5. Mixture of young salad leaves, definitely not gamer fare!
6. Interface-type for controlling video games, potentially useful for those with disabilities
7. Eyelid affliction
9. European conflict (1917-1923) or the effect of Soviet programmers on video game development? (7,10)
10. Devoured
11. Thumbs-up
13. SCANT DESOLATION finds "Gossypium barbadense", a fibrous plant (anag., 3,6,6)
15. Class of mood-altering drugs
18. Expert, old hand (at video games)
19. Standard colour of the Z-shaped tetrimino (right of 7D)
21. Ready for battle
22. Dot on a die
25. Software program, briefly
26. Brought into play
27. "Aladdin" prince
29. Essential equipment in "Snow" (2019 video game)
30. Head wear for a gamer
33. Rate the screen updates each second; important to some gamers
34. Freudian topic OR video game engine from Codemasters, mainly for racing games
37. Indian flatbreads
39. Flower cluster OR developer of "Zombie 3D Alien Creature : Survival Shooting Game" (2015)
45. Expendable piece in a video game or in a well-known board game
47. Hockey great Bobby ____ has yet to appear as a Cover Star in the "NHL" video game series
48. Of little value, literally two pence (Brit.)
50. Flying heroes in the combat flight simulator and MMO: "____ High" (2000/2016)
51. Honey maker, subject of the 2019 Video Game: "____ Simulator"
53. AS THETA changes to spearhead-shaped leaves (anag.)
54. U-turn from WSW
56. Shade
61. "Are we there ____?"
62. Complete collection
64. Bovine utterance heard in the "Farm Simulator" video game series
65. Possess (a particular video game)
67. An elaborate ruse, like the one resulting in a "Jeopardy!" answer using fake 24D block names
69. Crafty OR a series of platform stealth games for PlayStation consoles: "____ Cooper"
70. Princess tormentor in fairy tales
72. Prefix for many Maxis/Electronic Arts video games
73. Assumed the position to play a video game
74. Vital stats in baseball sports video games (init., pl.)