Author: Jeff

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

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