Words: 78
Average Length: 4.79
This one was a bear to construct! I actually tore up (digitally) the first version and refilled a fair amount of it. There are still a couple of clunkers (56A, 64D, e.g.), but it’s now presentable. Solve with someone you love!
Words: 28 (9×9)
Average Length: 5.29
I didn’t start out intending to make a plea for equitable pay for teachers, but it’s a message that can’t be emphasized strongly enough. Teachers are front-line workers facing steep odds, including the risk of being fired for informing children about any number of issues that shouldn’t be controversial but somehow are in our narrow-minded nation. They are life preservers and life enhancers, and they should be compensated accordingly!
Words: 70 (17×13)
Average Length: 5.46
35 Across was the seed for this grid, and having just finished listening to some Bowie, I decided to cross it with 8 Down. 10 Down and 61 Across are attempts to clue common crosswordese in a fresh way. Enjoy!
Words: 75 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.12
As the mugs say, “Keep Calm and Carry On,” which could have been another theme entry except that it’s too long and then I’d have had to retitle the puzzle. While there’s no guarantee that solving will produce a feeling of well-being, it couldn’t hurt!
Words: 18 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.00
As you can probably tell, the seed for this puzzle was 1 Across, which I first heard from a fellow traveler on my recent trip to Australia and New Zealand. (The female counterpart is “werewife.”) The puzzle’s title, by the way, is a pun on the capital of 4 Down.
Words: 66
Average Length: 5.76
The seeds for this grid were 18 and 50 Across, but the clue I’m “proudest” of (in a that’ll-make-them-groan sense) is 3 Down. As an extra treat, here’s 1 Across singing “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.”
Words: 18 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.00
February is finally ending (save for one quadrennial last gasp tomorrow), which means Opening Day is just a few weeks away. Here’s a grid welcoming the new season, including my predictions for the NL, AL, and World Series champs.
Words: 74
Average Length: 5.24
The phrase that seeded this puzzle apparently goes back to an 18th century play by Oliver Goldsmith entitled “She Stoops To Conquer.” It’s also been used in songs by Bing Crosby, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and others, as well as books by Charles Dickens and J.K. Rowling.
63 Across is one of my all-time favorite songs by one of my all-time favorite groups. Here’s a link, which can double as a hint if you’re stuck on the lyrics.
Words: 10 (5×5)
Average Length: 5
The title comes from Pre-Road Downs, a CSN deep cut with the line “hotels and midnight coaches/be sure to hide the roaches” – obviously a different kind of roach than in 1 Down, but apt nonetheless. Other than that, I tossed in some Jewish cuisine, a Beach Boys reference, and that white fluffy stuff that ends up all over the house after my dog has finished destroying a chew toy.
Jeff's Puzzles