The first ever Thunder pre-season crossword challenge

Greetings Thunder junkies. It’s the slow time of the season so I thought I would spice up the doldrums with a challenge to the faithful Thunder news mongers. You’ve been reading Royce’s daily bolts for quite some time now, you are informed on everything Thunder. You know that

Byron Mullins has a tat on both forearms and is from somewhere in Ohio; you know that Kyle Weaver is from Wisconsin and that Nick Collison is the sweatiest Jayhawk in the league. You  know that Kevin Durant  is dropping big points in Barry Farms pickup games and that Sam Presti is a great drummer. What do you do with these useless little nuggets of  Thunder knowledge and trivia? Simple, you try your hand at the first ever of it’s kind Thunder preseason crossword challenge.

I took all sorts of unbelievably useless and behind the scenes Thunder trivia and information from the last two seasons and plugged it into crossword puzzle generator and created a headache in the making. If you’re up for the challenge give it a go. Take your time, I don’t think it will be a breeze.

Here’s the framework: I used only clues and answers relating to the Thunder franchise from the time of the ’07 draft forward (the Durant/Green draft). The clues and answers will be team related obviously. Many of the players are on there and some who just had a cup of coffee with the team. Some draft picks, some coaches , some trivia and a surprising stat or two. Who knows what you will find?

All names will be first and last with no spaces. So you won’t find “Atkins” or “Chucky”, but you might find “ChuckyAtkins”.  You might find Rich Cho (Assistant G.M) in there somewhere, or Johan Petro, but in fairness it is held to the last two seasons.

Absolutely nothing will be awarded for your guile and prowess in completing the puzzle other than a bit of Daily Thunder notoriety but hey…it’s cheap entertainment. Give it a whirl.  If you think you have them all or have any questions email me (joenewell66@gmail.com) or post a comment below.

Good luck.

Edit: The first and hopefully only mistake has been found (thanks NIX).  Without giving away the farm I will just say that #9 across is missing a space for a letter.  I actually mispelled it, leaving out a “G”; so my bad! It doesn’t affect #10 down which begins with an “S”.  Sorry folks. Carry on.

1.

Via Canal Winchester3.

7′-8.5″ wingspan5.

Emerson Percussionist7.

the Slam Champ8.

Razorback big9.

Once traded to the Grizzlies12.

UCLA #2514.

2002 National Champion16.

Has the same agent as Michael Jordan20.

Poet22.

The Artist25.

Assistant coach with the middle name Adolphus27.

93 Cal Poly Grad29.

The original “bearded one’s” Alma Mater31.

The first student athlete in PAC10 history to have at least 1000 points, 500 rebounds, 450 assists, 175 steals and 75 blocked shots in a career.32.

Team name on Jerseys at the Orlando Pro Summer league in ’0833.

1999 McDonald’s All American34.

Played in Croatia professionally and also in the CBA35.

True or false: the Thunder had higher attendance than the defending champ Boston Celtics in 08-09.36.

Played with “Flash” Gordon

2.

Our Sun Devil’s fab five rep.3.

Has 1608 dimes4.

Middle name of Jabari6.

First franchise rookie with a triple double since the “Glove” Gary Payton10.

Thaboland11.

A dozen years with the team13.

Curly15.

Played for the Connecticut Pride17.

Wooden winner18.

the “Human highlight film’s” nephew19.

Fifteen seasons/five teams21.

Third selection shot23.

PBC boss24.

Jam All-Star26.

#25 in Parker’s stead28.

Duck femmes coach30.

Seton Hall stud