Words: 42
Average Length: 4.52
Here’s my 2 Down to the fascinating, magnificent country of Australia, where I was fortunate to spend ten days in early January. I visited Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, Uluru, and the Great Barrier Reef and loved all of them, notwithstanding rainfall befitting construction of an Ark. If you want to see some pictures and my travelogue, please visit my travel blog, PuffinlessTravel.com and search for Australia.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.36
20 Across was the seed for this one, for obvious reasons. Then came 45 Across, just because I think it looks cool in a grid. I hope you enjoy the result – come back Wednesday for a midi puzzle inspired by my recent visit to Australia (I’ll get to New Zealand the following Wednesday).
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.19
Here’s the third and final “Color Meld” puzzle, for the simple reason that there are only three unique ways to combine the three primary colors. Warning: this puzzle might leave you hungry!
Words: 10 (5×5)
Average Length: 5.00
Not surprisingly, the seed for today’s puzzle was 6 Across, which I visited last week. It’ss magical place that changes color and feel as the light shifts from day to sunset. The title of the puzzle was the result of free association: one “flavor” of 1 Down is “strange,” and having listened to Cream recently my brain automatically appended “brew.” Here’s a link to the song – it’s a trippy, iconic track of the late ‘60s.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.43
Originally, 22 Across and 5 Down were going to be theme answers in a puzzle about barriers, real and metaphorical, but I couldn’t come up with three more decent themers to make it work. Presto change-o, I repurposed them as the seeds for this themeless.
I’ve wanted to work 30 Across into a puzzle for a while and managed to do so here. As for the clues to 31 Down and 50 Down, I’ve been doing a lot of reading/singing with my granddaughter. Hopefully this puzzle won’t go bumpety-bump-bump while you’re solving it!
Words: 16
Average Length: 4.63
The scene: the afternoon of Dec. 31. Down time – did some reading (Carlo Rovelli, “White Holes” – pretty interesting account of “exits” from black holes), played with my dogs, sent some Happy New Year emails, texts, WhatsApp messages etc. Now what? 1 Down popped into my mind, followed by 9 Across. Puzzle time! Here’s the result – an unconventional grid infested with some inspired (as in awful) puns.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.22
Listening to Sirius XM’s ‘60s channel a few months ago, the title song came on. [Yes, the ‘60s were more than half a century ago. Yes, I’m still shocked when I’m told that some album I remember running to Korvette’s to buy is now 50 years old. Yes, I am approaching ancientness.]
It’s a pretty catchy song, and after singing along for a while (making sure my windows were shut to avoid any road rage incidents) I realized that the band’s name was 15 letters long. Not only that, the name suggests an architectural feature that could work as an organizing theme.
A few days later I crafted this puzzle, only to realize when preparing today’s write-up that the band spelled its name rather creatively. So it goes – the puzzle remains unchanged and I have been chastened, yet again, to check those things I’m certain of. Sound advice, no?
Words: 10 (5×5)
Average Length: 5.00
Here’s a mini-Themeless and a song recommendation: check out “The Christians and the [7 Acrosses]” by Dar Williams. It’s beautiful, seasonally appropriate, and heartwarming. For that matter, check out her “When I Was a Boy” or pretty much anything else she’s recorded. She’s a wonderful singer-songwriter!
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.36
Greetings from Melbourne, Australia. I landed not long ago, some 28 hours after leaving home. Fortunately (and uncharacteristically) I had the foresight to write this post ahead of time so all I have to do is hit “Publish” before falling into bed.
I titled this a themeless because of its low word count and high difficulty level, but there’s a mini-theme among the grid-spanners. 20 Across was the seed; after I found out they’re going to play a game at Nationals Park next summer I had to put them in a grid. I can’t wait to see them!
ERRATA: IN THE CLUE FOR 37 DOWN, FRK SHOULD BE FRA, NOT THAT IT AFFECTS THE ANSWER. IT’S CORRECT IN THE ONLINE VERSION BUT NOT THE PUZ AND PDF FILES.
Jeff's Puzzles