20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

by Craig Kasper

ANSWER: HAL LINDEN

 

The solution to the diagramless crossword is below. Various entries have the substring SUB entered in a single cell.


The numbers along the edges form clues for 4 overlapping Battleship puzzles, with the solid squares of the crossword as given water spaces and the SUB spaces as the submarines (one-square ships). Per the given instructions, the submarines are shared between grids but each of the other ships only counts for one grid, even if it lies in a region where grids overlap. Ships cannot touch even if they are part of different fleets.


The letters in the battleships (4-segment ships) spell (when properly arranged) I WAS BARNEY MILLER, which clues the final answer, HAL LINDEN.