Author: Jeff

Categories
Mini

Tank Yu for Solving

Nothing to do with the puzzle, just an atmospheric picture from Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland (taken Aug. 2024)

Words:  18

Average Length:  5.00

1 Across was the seed.  The idea behind it is that you open your mind to daily moments of peace, calm, amusement, wonder – whatever makes you feel gratitude.  It’s a simple yet effective attitude adjustment, blunting the effect of “triggers,” calming stress, and promoting happiness.  And the more I practice it, the easier it gets to recognize and assimilate these joyful moments.

I’ll give you an example: a couple of days ago, I was walking one of our dogs.  In itself, this is a source of 1 Across if I focus on him exploring the world instead of thinking about the things I have to do.  We passed a house where young kids were shrieking with delight while kicking a ball around the backyard.  I couldn’t see the kids, but the enchantment of their play wove a blanket of bliss that warmed me for hours.  Try, it, you’ll like it!

Oh yeah, like the title says, “Tank Yu” for solving  – and for putting up with my digressions!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Supersized

Someday We’ll Find It

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, photo taken Dec. 2022 through a bus window

Words:  138 (21×21)

Average Length:  5.29

This supersized puzzle was inspired by 104 Across, a beautiful song that my daughter and I recorded a version of in my son’s home studio, then danced to as the father/daughter dance at her wedding five years ago.  It was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life!  I’ll spare you the video of our dance, but I will link to a gorgeous performance of the song by Willie Nelson.

As for the theme answers, most are well-known, a couple are obscure (sorry, but people don’t write many songs with the necessary colors in the title), and one (87 Across) is wrong from a spectrum standpoint but has the virtue of fitting.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Penguins They Ain’t

Adelie penguins, Pleneau Island, Antarctica, Feb. 2022

Words: 18

Average Length: 5.00

Until last month when I visited Iceland, I had an unblemished track record of never seeing 1 Across in the wild, even in places where they normally gather by the thousands.  Hence the now-inaccurate name of my travel blog, [1 Across]less Travel.  As any self-respecting cruciverbalist/travel blogger would, I had to commemorate the momentous occasion of seeing flocks of 1 Across with a puzzle.

By the way, if you want to solve an actual penguin-focused puzzle, here’s one from 2022.

One last self-promoting note: I recently posted two new poems on my poetry blog, It-Could-Be-Verse.com. One is about a visit to Hong Kong, and the other is about a visit to Vietnam.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themeless

Themeless 85

Grand Palace, Bankgkok (See 30 Across). Photo taken Apr. 2024.

Words: 72

Average Length: 5.25

Note – due to my oft-demonstrated inability to include accurate cross-references, please note that the proper cross-reference in the clue for 60 Across should be 6 Across, not 2 Across

I think a lot about interconnectedness – my 66-year-old brain often acts like it’s still back in a late-night dorm room discussion – which led directly to the three seed answers (the grid-spanners).   I’ll leave you with this link to 15 Across (one of my favorite early Dylan songs) and with a plea not to think me too delusional once you see the clue for 55 Down. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Peace Pipes

Nike, goddess of victory, Ephesus. Photo taken July 2014. See 5 Down.

Words:  10 (5×5)

Average Length:  4.80

1 Across and 5 Down were the seeds, as well as my two favorite clues in the puzzle.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Oh My 46 Down

See 27 Down. Photo taken in Budapest, July 2023.

Words:  67 (14×15)

Average Length:  5.25

This one’s definitely rated “G,” as you’ll see when you solve it.  As a bonus hint, there’s a bit of Guevara in each theme answer.  

If anyone’s interested, I just posted here about a fun few days spent in Toronto last week.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themeless

A Lot of It

Nothing to do with the puzzle, just a cool pic from my recent trip to Iceland (the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, to be precise)

Words:  18

Average Length:  4.89

1 and 7 Across were the seed entries.  I spent far too long trying to configure them and fill them in a way that worked, then clued everything, then relaxed – and realized I’d violated a cardinal rule of construction:  avoid duplication of entries or parts thereof.  Alas, a certain 2-letter word appears three times in this mini, but what are indie puzzles for if you can’t break the rules once in a while?  So I decided to embrace the iconoclasm in the title.  (Also, my apology if you find 4 Down offensive.  But if the sandwich fits ….)

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themeless

Themeless 84

Cat guarding the coin box. Madeira (Nov. 2022). See 1 Across.

Words: 70

Average Length: 5.34

The three longest answers were the seeds.  Each of them found a home here after failing to fit well in a couple of themed puzzles that just didn’t pan out. 

Here’s a bonus hint for 20 Across: two of my favorite songs of theirs are covers: Friend of the Devil and Big Yellow Taxi. Favorite originals: Rain King, Hard Candy, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby (which has one of my favorite lines: “If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts”).

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

Hoist an Oly!

Theater of Dionysus with Athens in the background (July 2014)

Words: 30

Average Length: 4.67

1 Across was the seed.  Originally, I planned to make a technology/mythology hybrid puzzle but I couldn’t come up with enough decent theme answers, so I just went full-on mythology. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

4×4 4 Fun

Photo taken through the window of La Fignette 1 Down in Strasbourg (Oct. 2019).

Words:  8

Average Length: 4.00

If you’ve been following this blog for a bit, you know that I post like clockwork: a mini or midi on Wednesdays and a full-size on Sundays (unless I’m traveling in 2 Across, in which case I often screw up the publication date).

However, I’ve been holding onto 1 Across and 3 Across for a while, and while watching game shows last night – it’s generally either game shows or baking shows here – I decided it was time to foist them on y’all.  Filling and cluing the grid took two segments of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. 

Come back Wednesday for your regularly scheduled mid-week mini!

online | puz | pdf | solution