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I made this seasonal puzzle to celebrate the upcoming Eid al-Fitr in Indonesia. So actually there are four thematic hidden phrases that can be found after solving the puzzle. But because they are Indonesian phrases, you are not required to find them.

This is a standard Fill-in puzzle.

Rules:

  • You are given a grid and a list of words.
  • You have to find a solution that fits all of the available words into the grid (as in standard Crossword).
  • Each word is used exactly once.

Note: "HURUF" simply means "LETTERS".

enter image description here

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Is this the same as a criss-cross? $\endgroup$ Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:15
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    $\begingroup$ "Eid al-Fit-In"? $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:32
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    $\begingroup$ is IKEA an Indonesian word? XD $\endgroup$
    – melfnt
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:45
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    $\begingroup$ @melfnt lol, apparently it also lists several non-Indonesian formal words i.e. English words, niche abbreviations, and some silly play words. $\endgroup$
    – athin
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:52
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    $\begingroup$ Why are there so many non-Indonesian words, haha $\endgroup$
    – justhalf
    Commented May 23, 2020 at 5:45

2 Answers 2

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Step-by-step deduction

Start from the bottom:

There's only one 2-letter word LA, so it goes at the very bottom middle. Then there's only one 5-letter word with L in the middle, so STLKF goes there. We can rapidly fill in around that to get to here:

enter image description here

Now consider the 3-letter words beginning with P.

If it's PIA, then the 4-letter word ending with I must be PREI, but there are no 5-letter words ending with P. So it's PCB and then AADC, and then we can rapidly fill in NTB, DTE, DIE, AANG, AGE, and there are only two 5-letter words ending with A which share the same penultimate letter, so they must be DRAMA and OBAMA in some order.

Also from AGE there must be a 6-letter word beginning with A, whose fifth letter begins a 7-letter word, so that must be INDOSAT. Also the fourth letter of that 6-letter word must be A; it's also the fourth letter of a 5-letter word which must be ORMAS or ZAKAT, and the second letter of that is the fourth letter of a 6-letter word, so we can fill in ZAKAT, ZEN, TNI, NANTI, then ALBAIT and ASSAIA, then YENISEI going up and SOY.

enter image description here

Now in the top right we have limited possibilities:

The only 2-letter words with O in the middle are AON and SOY, but its first letter must be the last letter of a 7-letter word, so it's AON and WICHITA, then NEA, RTS, CHIEF, SWIPOA, FBI.

Two to the left of SWIPOA is another 6-letter word; its first letter is the second letter of either CPNSS or RAKSA, and its third letter is the second letter of either ANGIN or DUNIA. So we can fill in PIUDDR, CPNSS, DUNIA, SIA, CND, DUO, RUROUNI, and also ANGIN, MBA, LEM back on the right.

Now there's only two 6-letter words and two 7-letter words left (AOPMES, RIYALS and ABSENSI, OAKLAND), all over on the left-hand side and connected to each other. The only way we can do that is as follows:

enter image description here

Now there's lots of other stuff to be filled in around those long words on the left, and some other deductions which lead us all the way to the centre.

enter image description here

Now only four 5-letter words remain to be used:

ALIEN, KOBRA, MINTA, RAKSA. All of them can be filled in directly from the single letters we have for each of them.

And all that's left is 3-letter words, which we painfully fill in using whatever deductions we can use.

Firstly NIP, KIM, PIA, OEK in the lower left (only one word left beginning with N, and the rest falls into place).
Then BEL, BRI, TEA, TUA in the upper left (only one word left ending with L) followed by IUR, AIR, RIO, HBO in the extreme top left (only one word left with U in the middle).
Then RAI, ALI in the lower left (only one word left beginning with R). The word beginning with BA could still be either BAK or BAR, but there's no other word ending with AR, so it must be BAK and IAK.
Finally QNF, QNT, BNI, BAR in the extreme bottom right.

Final solution

enter image description here

For the thematic hidden messages, I defer to Gareth's superior knowledge of Indonesian Indonesian puzzles :-)

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice step-by-step solving! I just realized it's a GIF :O $\endgroup$
    – athin
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 21:32
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Here's the grid with the messages highlighted.

enter image description here

The messages say

around the outside: HARI RAYA IDUL FITR (which I think is just another way of saying Eid al-Fitr);
above: MINAL AIDIN WAL FAIZIN (similar to the "Many happy returns" used in English on people's birthdays);
below: MOHON MAAF LAHIR BATIN (which Google Translate renders as "Forgive me body and soul"; I guess it's a greeting used during Ramadan?);
in the middle: SELAMAT LEBARAN (equivalent to the more familiar "Eid mubarak").

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    $\begingroup$ Kudos for going further than solving just the grid puzzle and actually finding the OP's hidden Indonesian messages! +1 $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:39
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    $\begingroup$ I feel sort of obliged to attack Indonesian puzzles now... $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:44
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    $\begingroup$ You did it again Gareth XD Great job, also on finding the hidden phrases! (Additional note: the pattern of the hidden phrases assemble to a pattern to another thematic food, Ketupat :D) --- Anyway, checkmark will be awarded soon~ $\endgroup$
    – athin
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:50
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    $\begingroup$ Oh, that's nice. Of course I had no idea :-). $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 13:53
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    $\begingroup$ Nah, do as you please! (In this case Rand went to a lot more trouble to explain what he did, and all credit to him for that.) $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan
    Commented May 23, 2020 at 0:17

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