Words: 16 (7×7)
Average Length: 4.88
I constructed this one as an exercise: I wanted to make a mini puzzle starting with 1D and ending with 12D. As exercises go, it turned out to be of the not-exactly-breaking-a-sweat variety: to my surprise, filling the grid only took a half hour or so after I’d settled on a grid shape.
Words: 73 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.37
I’m posting this a day earlier than usual because I’m heading out of town to celebrate my niece’s wedding. Congratulations, 13A and Marco!!!
Words: 16
Average Length: 5.00
The seeds for this puzzle were the title clue (used in 5D), which came to me out of the blue the other day, and 8A, which I learned from a Norwegian gentleman a few weeks ago. The title clue is cryptic. If you solve the online version, there’s a conventional clue you can reveal. Otherwise, here’s the conventional clue in retrograde: rotcelloc niar.
Words: 81 (17×15)
Average Length: 5.14
I’d had the clue for 20A in my list of ideas for a while. I decided to try coming up with two other grammar-related answers/punny clues, which turned into 36A and 56A. Having said that, my favorite answer/clue combination is 64A – it’s not a pun but it’s a pretty fiendish misdirect!
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
Here’s a challenging themeless with a bit of everything: science, religion, archeology, baseball, and of course, music. I’m posting this from Berlin, Germany, where I’m finishing up a sometimes disturbing but ultimately inspirational trip that included Copenhagen, Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Dresden, and Wittenburg, among other places. I’ve written about the trip and posted lots of photos on my travel blog. Please take a look if you’re interested.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.31
The seeds for today’s puzzle were 20A (something I actually do say quite a bit; I even have a t-shirt to that effect) and 35A (which was going to be the revealer in a themed puzzle containing the examples in the clue as answers, but I couldn’t come up with two more themers).
I’m posting this on a Thursday instead of my usual Saturday because I’m heading off on another adventure: a day or so in Copenhagen followed by five days in Poland (Warsaw and Krakow), three days in Prague, a Viking cruise on the Elbe River, and a couple of days in Berlin. In the past I’ve continued to post puzzles while out of the country, but I decided to take a break this time, so look for my next puzzle post in mid-May.
In the meantime, please follow my travel posts if you’re so inclined: go to http://puffinlesstravel.com/ for lots of photos and some (hopefully) entertaining prose. If you like what you see there, please “follow” me!
Words: 92 (17×17)
Average Length: 5.15
Among my many nerdly pursuits, I’m a history buff. I find it fascinating how events unfold, no matter the time period or part of the world. In particular, I’m intrigued by how contingent history is, as the author of this puzzle’s quote emphasized throughout his long, brilliant career. Only in retrospect does history appear pre-ordained.
When I came across the quote in a posthumously published book of the author’s essays, I knew I wanted to build a puzzle around it. The trick was figuring out how to display the quote symmetrically; turns out I needed a super-sized grid and mirror (left-right) rather than the traditional rotational symmetry.
Words: 40 (11×11)
Average Length: 4.65
Today’s puzzle is my entry into the Crosshare monthly midi contest for April, whose theme is “cryptozoology.” Warnings: Dad jokes ahead and some assembly required.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.31
I began constructing this grid by deciding I would put a 12/15/12 stack across the middle, as one of my favorite constructors, Tim Croce, often does. (If you like super-challenging themeless puzzles, he’s one of the best in the biz. He posts new puzzles every Tuesday and Friday evening at 6 eastern time on his site, Club 72.)
Next step was coming up with an appropriate 15 (37 Across), and I’d happened to use this exact phrase about half an hour before starting construction. (Suffice it to say I am in daily contact with a few “half-empty glass” types.) The first 12 (34 Across) is something that Is not so widely known and practiced as it should be. Hit the backbeats, people! The second 12 (40 Across) was a great pitcher, but he made the puzzle on the basis of the pun in the clue. Enjoy!
Words: 42 (11×11)
Average Length: 5.00
A few weeks ago, I wrote that I’d clued a certain flower cryptically because I was tired of seeing it clued as “daisy relative.” Then came my granddaughter’s fixation with a certain cartoon mouse and her best friend. A cruciverbalist’s mind is never at rest, so while I was pretending to be 1A for my granddaughter’s amusement – my impression isn’t exactly spot-on, but it does the trick – I decided the 1A/4D combination would be a good seed for today’s midi.
Jeff's Puzzles