I’m really happy with the architecture on this one: only 29 blocks and 6 three-letter answers, with wide-open corners and lots of flow. Oh, and an opportunity to include one of my favorite Jackson Browne songs (55 Across) and historical fiction authors (30 Across). Throw in a crispy applesauce delivery device (40 Down) and a mecca for great bagels (38 Across) and you’ve got yourself a grid.
Words: 14
Average Length: 5.29
In the immortal words of President Carter, today’s effort to merge poetry and crossword construction is an “incomplete success.” With recent minis touching on haiku (5-7-5×5) and couplets (Iamb Gridding), I decided to tackle a longer form, known for its 14-line structure, iambic pentameter, and specific rhyme scheme. The goals: (1) construct a grid with the poetic form at 1 Across (check!), (2) make the clues fit the relevant poetic form (check!), (3) have the clues, when read top to bottom, make sense as this particular poetic form (buzz!!!). Alas, they don’t. I spent far too long trying to come up with fill that could be clued as a cohesive verse before deciding that I had better things to do, like sleep. The result isn’t what I’d hoped for, but I think it should still be a fun solve.
Just for yuks (or more likely, yucks), here’s the complete “1 Across”:
Will Shakespeare penned one hundred fifty-four
With learned talent, showing mast’ry true.
A three-D model, making one’s a chore
A doctor who takes care of teeth for you.
It’s shouted in La Liga on TV
Consumed, devoured, scarfed, or nommed it all
A Spanish word whose meaning is to be
An org that fights abuse of alcohol.
The dog who is the butt of Garfield’s jokes
A glowing substance in a retail sign
A bag you get for funding Terry Gross
A store that sells its merchandise on-line.
They’re caps that Scottish men often display
A common one: a pitcher’s E.R.A..
Words: 67 (14×15)
Average Length: 5.01
Back to my wheelhouse: a music-themed puzzle. This one required some creative construction architecture, which left me with an unusually-sized (14×15) grid with vertical symmetry and ended up resembling a person. Arguably, it’s a better likeness of a person than I could draw freehand, which tells you all you need to know about my artistic shortcomings. I’ll leave you with a link to Pure Prairie League’s recording of 10 Down, a gorgeous example of folk-rock.
Two weeks ago, I posted a mini puzzle (“5-7-5×5”) where 1 Across was a certain poetic form (evident from the title) and each answer was clued with that type of poem. Here’s a second go at the same idea, with a different poetic form. I’m not sure how many more of these I will post, given that most poetic forms are pretty darn long and I don’t feel like writing a 14-line clue if 1 Across is “sonnet.” (Pretty sure you don’t feel like reading a 14-line clue either, though some of my parentheticals after clues do tend to run on a bit.)
I think this one should play a bit gentler than most of my themeless puzzles. I’ll leave you with two gorgeous recordings of 47 Down, which is one of my favorite Beatles songs, early or late. (1) The original. (2) Cover version by Emmylou Harris:
Words: 14
Average Length: 5.29
1 Across was the seed. Had I been thinking, I would have tried for some grid art. As it is, turning the puzzle upside down sort of gets the idea across.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.19
Here’s an oleo of a themeless, to use some hoary crosswordese. There’s a Hindu deity, one of my favorite authors, some Aussie slang, some Vietnamese food, and a Monty Python reference, among divers and sundry other entries. I hope you find it tasty and satisfying, like 3 Down but decidedly unlike 37 Down.
Words: 18
Average Length: 4.89
Originally this was going to be the first of two minis – Entertaining Women and Entertaining Men. But when I constructed “Entertaining Men,” it morphed into a full-sized puzzle (under a different title: “Backstreet genius”). Come back in late June (and several times before then!) to solve it. Meanwhile, enjoy this mini, perhaps with a glass of 15 Across.
Jeff's Puzzles