Author: Jeff

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Themeless

Themeless 55

For some reason there’s a fair amount of French content in this puzzle, so here you go: Eiffel Tower, taken from the Tuilleries, April 2023

Words:  70

Average Length:  5.57

One thing (of many) that I love about crossword construction is that I learn stuff – sometimes “neat” (e.g., 21 and 49 Across) and sometimes silly (11 Down, which is hilarious in an I-shouldn’t-find-this-funny kind of way).  As much as I enjoy filling a grid – thinking three steps ahead to consider whether a word will work with the rest of a section – cluing is more intellectually challenging.  How difficult do I want the puzzle to be?  What’s a good misdirection?  Are there any interesting factoids I can work into a clue?  Are the references that come to my mind head-scratchers for younger solvers (i.e., 90% of the audience)?  (The last problem, among many others, is dealt with by my test-solver, son Adam.  Thanks Adam, again and again!)

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Midi Themed

First Grade Desk Nostalgia

See the writeup – I’m pretty sure my weird (weirder than usual) facial expression was due to an attempted monkey impersonation

Words:  42 (11×11)

Average Length:  4.86

Having a grandchild has fanned the flames of my already-blazing nostalgia.  As I was reading to her last week – “Dear Zoo,” a wonderful book as long as you don’t focus on the fact that a zoo is willy-nilly sending elephants and lions to children upon request – it occurred to me that her elementary school experience will be vastly different from mine.  And thinking about mine triggered a wave of visceral recollections about the look and feel of the contents of my desk. Hence this puzzle.

One more note:  my 1st and 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Bonder, who is well into her 90s, is friends with me on Facebook and is as smart and admirable as ever.  Mrs. Bonder, you’ve been a lifelong inspiration!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Strange Desires

Another hint for 9 Down. Picture taken at Mercado La Carolina, Quito, Ecuador, Sept. 2022

Words:  74

Average Length:  5.11

We all have our yearnings, some odder than others (I would pay good money for a fresh box of Product 19, which Kelloggs discontinued several years ago).  Here are five fictional fetishes, some of which (I’m looking at you, 35 Across) might stretch wordplay to unwise lengths. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Themeless 54

See 5 Down (extra clue!). Photo taken near Sorrento, Italy, July 2014.

Words:  68

Average Length:  5.71

I had some fun with the basic math in the two seeds (19 and 49 Across), but my favorite clue is 31 Down.  Throw in some Vietnamese food, a baker from Mayberry, Mariano Rivera, Superman, and Robert Frost and, I hope, you’ll find this an interesting and enjoyable solve.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Midi Themed

Cornered

Close-up of rhododendron, Glendalough, Ireland, June 2019 (see 12 Across)

Words:  42 (11×11)

Average Length:  4.71

I never saw the movie containing the line that underlies this puzzle, but I know the music and much of the plot through sheer osmosis.  I hope you enjoy the puzzle, particularly the handful of “?”-designated clues.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Roots Music

Flowers in the Jardins des Tuileries, Paris, photo taken April 2023

Words:  74

Average Length:  5.11

Cruciverbalists talk about “seeds” – the entries around which a grid is constructed.  Today’s puzzle has five quite literal (and musical) seeds.  I hope you like it, or at least that it grows on you!

Please check out my new poetry site, It-Could-Be-Verse.com. For Memorial Day, I posted this poem that describes a visit to the American Military Cemetery in Normandy. Recent posts on my travel blog, PuffinlessTravel.com, highlight a trip to view paleolithic art in France and Spain, with side trips to Luxembourg and Andorra.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Midi Themed

Color My World

Flowers, Nusfjord, Norway, June 2017 (they have colors, so does the puzzle)

Words:  41 (11×11)

Average Length:  5.02

I’d been toying with the idea for this puzzle for a while and finally decided to construct it during one of those games where the Nats offense apparently has better things to do than hit.  After several futile attempts at fitting the theme answers into a symmetrical grid, I decided to embrace asymmetry (though if you don’t peer too closely it kind of looks symmetrical).  I hope you enjoy the result!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themeless

Themeless 53

See 52 Down (church part). Photo taken Oct. 2022 in the Chapel of St. Anthony, Lisbon.

Words:  66

Average Length:  5.67

The 1A/4D pairing formed the seed for this one.  It was followed quickly by 10D, which popped into mind during a nostalgic discussion about Rocky & Bullwinkle.  This cartoon (along with its show-mates Mr. Peabody and Sherman and Fractured Fairy Tales) set the bar for all future cartoons nominally aimed at kids but slyly winking at adults. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

I Shutter To Think

Good morning from Paddington (picture taken in Lima, Peru, Aug. 2022)

Words:  11 (6×5)

Average Length:  4.36

Given the subject matter, I’ll call this a point-and-solve.  Quick and easy, I think, with minimal post-processing needed.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Name that Dessert

The Pyrenees (see 15 Across), seen from a tour bus window on the way from France into Spain

Words:  74

Average Length:  5.16

Think of a dessert menu created by the people who come up with punny names for IPAs.  I hope you find it a sweet solve … and just in case you’re solving with your kids (hey, it could happen), look out for 52 Across.

Please check out my new poetry site, It-Could-Be-Verse.com. And read about my recent visit to see the paloelithic art in caves in France and Spain on my travel blog, PuffinlessTravel.com.

online | puz | pdf | solution