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!
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!
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!
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
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).
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.
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.
Jeff's Puzzles