Words: 48 (12×12)
Average Length: 5.08
“Before and After” is a time-honored Jeopardy category. This puzzle introduces a twist, as the clue to 17 Across explains: the last word of 17A and the first word of 31A together satisfy a part of the clue. I hope you like it – I have another puzzle in this vein coming up in a few weeks.
Here’s a different kind of mini for you. I think it should play on the easy side.
As sometimes happens, the Daily Crossword Links email missed the puzzle I posted Sunday (Themeless 87). Here’s a link to that puzzle if you’d like to solve it (and I sure hope you will!).
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.28
When cluing answers that are phrases (20A and 47A in this case), I always wonder how other constructors might clue them. I guess it’s another way of considering whether common phrases really do mean the same thing to everyone.
Other than semantic speculation, I’ll just add that (1) 26A is a really cool factoid, and (2) 42D is based on repeated personal experience.
Words: 76
Average Length: 4.71
Word ladder puzzles have been around forever, but somehow, this is the first one I’ve ever constructed. It’s also a pangram, with help from 9 Down and 21 Across. Enjoy!
Words: 18 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.00
Once I had 1 and 16 Across in place, the rest of the puzzle (including the title) came readily. 14 Down is the type of junk fill I try to avoid, but I figured I’d own it here by tying it to the photo. If you’re a train enthusiast, a Thomas the Tank Engine fan (or parent thereof), or just love riding in comfort through beautiful scenery, the Isle of Man is fantastic. It’s an easy hop from Ireland, England, and Scotland and worth spending a couple of days. Here are two posts (1 and 2) I wrote about a weekend visit.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
This puzzle had several seeds: 23 Across (I’d recently listened to CSNY’s “Almost Cut My Hair”), 4 Down (I’d recently listened to Men at Work’s “Down Under”), and 55 Across, a term I learned not from a song – though it would make for an interesting lyric – but from a police officer/driver ed instructor. (No, I was not in “traffic school!”)
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!
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.
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.
Jeff's Puzzles