In the Eye of the Beer Holder

Theme — Craft brewing has become incredibly popular across the globe in recent years.  Ireland is well known for its distinctive beers, friendly pubs and poetic placenames.  Where else would you find towns like Carrickmacross or Derrygonnelly?  This puzzle pulls all of that together into an example of how PuzzleMap could be used to market regional products.  What better way could there be to create familiarity and name recognition than to help people learn the essential landscape?

Each of Ireland's 32 traditional counties is a piece in this deceptively difficult puzzle.  The counties date from the late 12th century when Norman invaders solidified their control over the existing Gaelic kingdoms.  Although slightly different from modern political and administrative divisions, these counties continue to have social and cultural importance.  Each has its own unique history, landscape, flags, colors and brewing traditions.  Their completely irregular shapes and the island's convoluted coastline definitely add to the puzzle challenge!

One local brewery was selected to represent each county, and one of their products is used to illustrate the clue window.  The name of that brewery, their location and the Irish province to which their county belongs is also listed.  It must be noted that many other equally fine beers and ales are produced in Ireland.  The ones used in this example were chosen entirely for their location, colorful names and/or the availability of a suitable image. Although only one brewer per county and one product per brewer are displayed, others could be included by randomly selecting the clue window content each time it is opened.

Puzzle Notes — The custom clue window created for this puzzle includes 2 images, both of which are links.  Clicking or tapping on the flag will open the county's WikiPedia page in a new brower tab.  Clicking or tapping on the beer bottle will open that brewery's home page.  Hovering over those images with the cursor displays their link destination as a tooltip.