Author: Jeff

Categories
Themed

The Great Escape

Words:  74

Average Length:  5.00

As the note to the puzzle says, this is a tribute puzzle for … our 15-year old Ford Escape Hybrid.  It’s still going strong!  I’ve also got a recommendation for you:  if you like birds, drawings of birds, or just plain good nature writing, check out the book in the clue for 23 Across. 

I got back several days ago from a wonderful week spent hiking and eating in Iceland. There are several posts about the trip – and lots of pictures – on my PuffinlessTravel blog. Please check it out if you’re interested!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

That’s President Cat Lady to You

Cat-a-Cat Tete-a-Tete (photo taken in Malta, Mar. 2019)

Words:  16

Average Length:  4.88

I usually don’t get political in my puzzles, but anyone who’s solved them for a bit knows where my sympathies lie.   ,LA! 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themeless

Themeless 83

Female blue-footed booby, Santa Fe Island, the Galapagos (see 25 Across). Photo taken Sept. 2022.

Words: 68

Average Length: 5.56

I had lots of fun cluing this one (favorite clue: 32 Across; I’m also partial to 2 Down and 3 Down).  The seeds were the two long down answers, though I’ve wanted to include 20 Across and 24 Across in a puzzle for a while.  Please enjoy!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

A Bit Campy

Rapeseed field (see 5 Across). Photo taken from the TGV en route from Paris to Bordeaux, April 2023

Words:  16 (7×7)

Average Length: 4.75

Sometimes the best thing to do while watching the Nats pretend that they left their bats at home is to construct a mini.  (Both halves of that sentence are true quite often.)  Here you go.  If you like the puzzle, please send the Nats some offense.  Thanks in advance!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Apologies to Nick et al

See 27 Down. Photo taken in St. Emilion, France, April 2023

Words: 76

Average Length: 4.71

A couple of months ago I posted a mini, “Entertaining Women,” whose theme entries were bands with names containing the word “Girls.”  I figured I’d construct a matching mini for the following week featuring band names with the word “Boys.”  Once I started collecting theme answers, though, I realized there were more than enough such band names for a full-sized puzzle.

A word about the grid:  I break one of the fundamental rules of crossword construction – the revealer includes a word that’s in the clue for each theme answer.  Apologies to any purists!

Any resemblance of the black squares in the middle of the grid to a man is unintentional and, frankly, beyond my capabilities if I’d tried. But it’s still kind of cool given the theme!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Country Club

Rook-like chimneys, Port Erin, 9 Across (photo taken July 2022)

Words:  16

Average Length:  4.50

Today’s puzzle is a mini-travelogue. I spent a weekend in 9 Across a couple of years ago.  What a charming place!  It’s criss-crossed with narrow-gauge railways, the capital (Douglas) has stately Victorian rowhouses lining a beautiful harbor, and much of the island is blanketed in green grass and white sheep. 

Any way, I hope you enjoy the puzzle!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themeless

Themeless 82

Reflection of my granddaughter’s dress in some soap bubbles (Rockville, MD July 2024). Nothing to do with the puzzle but pretty neat, huh?

Words:  73 (16×15)

Average Length: 5.59

I’m trying something different with this write-up because it’s a rainy Saturday afternoon and constructing complete sentences seems like a lot of effort at the moment.

Favorite clues:  25A, 61A

Favorite fill:  10A

Least favorite fill:  4D.  I spent a lot of time looking for alternatives, alas to no avail.

Recommendation:  41A – if you like dark, darkly humorous crime fiction, check out the Ian Rankin books mentioned in the clue.

Favorite trivia:  51A

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Good Vibes

Photo taken in Rockville, Maryland, June 2024

Words:  11

Average Length: 5.09 (6×5)

The note in the puzzle says it all.  May we all be guided, as far as possible, by 1 Across and 1 Down.  Happy solving!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Color Commentary

See 54 Down. Photo taken in Gran Canaria, Oct. 2022.

Words:  72

Average Length:  5.31

The three main theme answers (each has a subsidiary entry as well) are common expressions.  Given the color theme, I’d thought about cluing them with reference to the ongoing US election debacle, but the last thing we need right now is more snark.  Instead, I went for a whimsical tone throughout the cluing; whimsy, besides being a cool-looking word, takes the edge off anxiety (mine, at least). 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Rice to the Occasion

Luang Prabang night market, Laos (photo taken March 2024)

Words: 16 (7×7)

Average Length:  5.38

If you want to make sure you don’t miss a puzzle, please “follow” the blog. A couple of times in the past month or so, Daily Crosswords Links didn’t include one of my puzzles. I’m not sure if the issue is on my end or theirs, but following the blog will assure you see the puzzles the day they’re posted. The two that didn’t make the DCL email were Themeless 81 (July 6) and 5-7-5×5 (June 12). Thanks!!

No rhyming clues in this one – sorry (or not, depending on what you think of poetic clues).  1 Across was the seed – or more accurately, grain – for the grid.  I was watching a cooking show, as I often do because forget about the news,  and the participants had to make that particular dish. 

online | puz | pdf | solution