Author: Jeff

Categories
Themed

King? Tut!!

Sign at the October 18 No Kings rally in Rockville, Maryland

Word: 78

Average Length: 4.64

Trigger warning: if you think the current occupant of what’s left of the White House is doing a bang-up job running what’s left of our country, this puzzle will upset you.

Apology: There’s no online option for today’s puzzle because, in the current political environment, I didn’t want to risk bringing haters’ wrath down on other distribution outlets.

Disclaimer: The puzzle resembles a word ladder, but it’s really not – turns out I could connect 1A to 67A by changing only 3 letters.

puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

A Garden-Variety Puzzle

Sunrise on the Douro River (Oct. 2022) (see 10 Down)

Words: 18

Average Length: 4.67

The seeds for this puzzle, which you’ll identify while solving, originally were ideas for a cryptic puzzle (for obvious reasons).  Having said that, 15A, a non-seed entry, has my favorite clue. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themeless

Themeless 114

The 38 Down of the Pantheon, Rome (2014)

Words: 68

Average Length: 5.74

35 Across and 5 Down were the seeds for today’s puzzle; they came from two terrific books I’d recently read, Rick Steve’s account of his decision to become a travel writer and Catherine Nixey’s Heretic: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God.

Apologies – it was just brought to my attention that 5D in the originally posted puzzle was misspelled. I’ve fixed it in the puz and pdf version but haven’t been able to do so yet in the online version.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Midi

To My New Grandson

Words: 30

Average Length: 4.73

At 10:36 this morning, my wife Sandy and I welcomed our second grandchild, Noah, into the world.  Noah is 20 inches and 8.2 pounds, and he and his parents (Andrea and Eli) are doing great.  I had to mark the occasion with a puzzle, of course!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Genres

Nothing to do with the puzzle – a photo I took last week in Interlaken, Switzerland

Words: 70

Average Length: 5.34

Today’s puzzle follows a tried and true – meaning hoary – model.  Hopefully, it’s fresh nonetheless, as 55 Across should be. 

I just got back from 2 weeks in France, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. I posted extensively about the trip on my travel blog, Puffinlesstravel.com – if you’re interested, please check it out!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Cryptic

Cryptic 4 – No longer thoughtful? Dear!

1 Across was the seed for this cryptic.  For those who aren’t baseball fans, “de la Cruz” in 5 Down refers to a young superstar for the Cincinnati Reds. Explanations below the photo.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Monte Carlo harbor, Monaco – the epitome of 1A

_____________________________________________________________

Explanations:

1A: No longer = ex + thoughtful = pensive —> expensive (dear)

6A: Anagram of “realities”

7A: Double definition

8A: “H” inside spy agency (CIA) —> chia (seed)

10A: “Within” signals a letter string

11A: Queen of Sheba’s = Leda’s + platter = tray —> led astray

1D: Anagram of copies + synonym for mate

2D: “I hear” signals homonym; incomplete (part) + bookworm (nerd) —> partnered (joined with)

3D: Trotsky backs into = Noel (reverse of Leon), a synonym for carol

4D: Begin —> first letter of each word + cold one (beer), with Harp repeated as the definition

5D: de la Cruz (Elly) cradles (contains) e.g. (for example), ant (tiny crawler) —> el+eg+ant+ly

Categories
Themeless

Themeless 113

See 17 Across – a nature reserve in Senegal, not a safari, but I did use a 400 mm lens (Dec. 2022)

Words: 70

Average Length: 5.37

The seed for this puzzle, 8D, is a refuge from a themed puzzle that wouldn’t work out.  After I crossed it with 20A – another seed I’d been hoping to use – the rest of the puzzle came together pretty easily.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Gendered Geography

I’m posting this from 3 Down. A votre santé!

Words: 11 (5×6)

Average Length: 5.09

Re 1A: Cars, not being familiar with Shakespearean English, assume “wherefore” means “where,” just like lots of people do.  Any way, who am I to ignore a pun that’s just sitting there. Not surprisingly given the title, 3D and 7A were the seeds.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Going Underground

Replica of Lascaux (April 2023)

Words: 70

Average Length: 5.20

In April 2023, I took a wonderful tour offered by  Smithsonian Journeys visiting caves in France and Spain containing paleolithic art.  (I wrote about it extensively on my PuffinlessTravel blog if you’re interested – just search for posts tagged Smithsonian.)  Today’s puzzle isn’t archeologically significant, but then again, there’s no risk of running into any bats, so no worries if you’re chiroptophobic.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Midi Themed

AFRICA

Cape Town, South Africa’s legislative capital (Dec. 2023) – the only African capital I’ve been to so far

Words: 42 (11×11)

Average Length: 5.00

I love travel and I love puns – hence this puzzle, seeded by six different African capitals.  Five are clued punnily; the sixth resisted my considerable efforts to come up with an even mildly humorous clue.  Sad to say I’ve never been to any of these cities (yet).

online | puz | pdf | solution

PS – I’m leaving today for a couple of weeks in France, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. I’ll be writing about the trip and posting lots of photos on my PuffinlessTravel blog. Please stop by if you’re interested!