Today’s puzzle is straightforward, so I’ll devote the write-up to two musical links. The first, “Girlfriend Is Better” (see 17 Across) is from the Talking Heads. I saw the movie in 17 Across half a dozen times after it came out. The second, Chick Corea’s brilliant “Spain,” features Bill Watrous on 3 Down, along with Hubert Laws on flute, George Benson on guitar, Stanley Clarke on bass, Lenny White on drums, and Corea on keyboards. Please listen to the whole thing – if you’re like me, it’ll energize you face for hours – but definitely check out Watrous’s solo (its starts at 2:42) if you want to be amazed at what can be done with a 3 Down.
Nothing to do with the puzzle – a rainbow at Iguassu Falls. Photo taken Feb. 2026.
Words: 8 (4×4)
Average Length: 4.00
When I posted the first To and Fro puzzle a couple of weeks ago, I kvetched at length about what a construction challenge it was. Then my second attempt came together pretty quickly, though I did spend an hour or so trying to improve 1D – to no avail, as you’ll see. Perhaps 4D will make up for it.
Not a 19 Across. Photo taken near Walvis Bay, Namibia, Dec. 2022.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.29
Unlike my wife, who seems to have perfect recollection of everything that’s happened to her since age 3, I retain few clear memories of my earliest years. One I do have, though, is playing 50A in Kindergarten (well before differential calculus got on the curriculum). That was my first seed for what I thought might be a fowl-focused themed puzzle, but after I came up with 19 Across and not much else, I opted for a mostly-themeless. Apologies for the partial dupe in 9 Down and 29 Down – I didn’t see it until just now and won’t let it give me a “gilty” conscience. Finally, you can thank me later for the two music recommendations in the clues (1D and 35A).
Once 14A popped into my head, I knew I had to build a puzzle around it. And since butter makes almost everything better – spread the word – a theme was born.
See 1 Across. The Lagavullin 16 is a wonderful, smoky Scotch. When I want to forego the smoke, I go for the Balvenie Doublewood. (I love how Scotch brands take a definite article.)
Words: 77 (13×17)
Average Length: 5.06
This is my 500th puzzle since starting this blog in April 2021! Two hundred eighty-four of those have been full-sized (15×15 or larger): 132 themeless and 152 themed. One hundred forty-two have been minis (including 34 Mostly Musical Minis and 4 Cryptics), and the remaining 74 have been midis. I’ve had 31,000 visitors (72,000 views) from over 100 countries. My heartfelt thanks to all of you!
This is my first full-sized puzzle that isn’t symmetrical – I figure once every 500 puzzles or so that’s OK, so don’t rat me out to the crossword cops! As with many of my themed puzzles, this one is food-focused (my second-most fertile source of inspiration after music). The four seeds, 36A, 54A, 13D, and 32D, are all inspired/ridiculous food-related puns, and it a lot of the fill concerns food as well. I must have been feeling a bit peckish while constructing, not to mention puckish while cluing!
Again, thanks so much for solving! I have many more visitors each week than I do subscribers, so if you like my puzzles please follow my site – my understanding is that having more followers enhances search visibility, but as far as I know, SEO could stand for Sorcerers, Enchantments, and Oracles.
Nothing to do with the puzzle: my dog, Max, who specializes in getting maximally comfortable.
Words: 8 (4×4)
Average Length: 3.75
On an hours-per-square basis, this must have been the most time-consuming puzzle I’ve ever constructed. Its lineage stretches back for months. Early last winter, I decided it’d be cool to design a puzzle where each entry formed a different, valid word either forward and backward or up and down, as relevant.
I began by trying to make a 5×5 grid work, but got nowhere slowly. Then I set my sights at a 4×4 puzzle. Because I expected this to be a trivial exercise, I took on certain constraints: no foreign words, no acronyms, no abbreviations. One by one, I dropped each of these and decided a 4×4 grid with no black squares would be fine.
That limitation, too, turned out to be effectively insurmountable. I did come up with a draft that worked, except that one of the down entries, when read in the upward direction, was just too obscure to include. And so, many months later, I give you this puzzle, black square and all.
Before finally giving you the links, I need to thank Jeanne Breen, fellow cruciverbalist and baseball fanatic who took my unintentionally opaque attempt at an explanatory note and turned it into readily understandable prose. If you enjoy creative, varied, entertaining word games, you owe it to yourself to follow Jeanne’s blog, In Pursuit of Puzzles.
Angkor Wat (see 45 Across). Photo taken March 2024
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.57
I’m happy with how wide-open and relatively 3-free this grid turned out. 1A and 15A were the seeds. 10D and 64A are clued etymologically because I think their origins are pretty cool, and I loved learning the facts in the clue for 17A. I also wanted to give a shout out to 21A. She’s one of my favorite authors; her books are humane, quirky, and filled with local (Baltimore) color.
Statues in Heroes’ Square, see 59 Across. Photo taken July 2023.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.14
This is a thoroughly reworked version of the themed puzzle I decided not to post last week. How reworked? I kept the four theme answers, chose a new revealer and title, and scrapped everything else. Enjoy!
Here’s a breezy mini with a couple of corny clues and a smidgen of “did you know?” See you Saturday for a new and improved version of the themed puzzle I’d intended to post last week.
