This is a Melon puzzle. (20 – Letter Pairs)
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a letter entry mode and a shading mode to mark off the clues.)
Theme: One-Point Letters
Rules: Place the 9 words into the grid, one letter per cell, so they can be read from left to right or from top to bottom, without crossing or overlapping each other. A dot between two cells indicates that both cells must contain the same letter. All possible dots are given. Or see this example from the WPC instructions.
Answer String: For each column from left to right, enter the number of unused cells in that column (eg “3510563449”).
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:30, Master = 4:30, Expert = 9:00
Solution: PDF
This wasn’t too hard. Just brute-forcey.
Knowing Palmer Mebane, there’s probably some fantastically deep break-in that I completely missed, hence my brute-forcing.
I find the time standards on this puzzle to be quite striking. I don’t remember another puzzle where the master time is three times the grandmaster time.