Words: 18 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.00
7 Across and 13 Across were the seeds for this mini – and the title, as those of you who are algebraically inclined will figure out, is the product of the seeds.
Category: Mini
Categories
Prisms and Primates
1 Across was the seed for this puzzle. I wasn’t sure about including 12 Across because he isn’t so well-known as he should be. As the clue indicates, this is someone who should be considered a giant of the 20th century, whether you agree with his politics or not. (He was caught up in the persecution of artists by HUAC and had been an outspoken supporter of the Soviet Union.) Check out his Wikipedia entry.
Categories
Haze and Rain
Words: 10 (5×5)
Average Length: 5.0
Here’s the second of my late-night-in-the-Hong-Kong-airport puzzles. This one should play smooth and easy (I hope), just like the Glenmorangie I had at the airport bar.
This revised version has a corrected clue for 7 Across.
Words: 11 (5×7)
Average Length: 4.36
I constructed this week’s and next week’s minis while chipping away at a long, late-night layover at the Hong Kong Airport. Please enjoy and share!
Just a reminder that my travel blog, PuffinlessTravel.com, has write-ups and photos from my recent trip to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand – check it out!
Words: 16 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.25
Among my many useless talents, I can pretty much quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail (and many other Python offerings) word for word. Here’s a puzzle built around some of my favorite bits (and links to each of them).
3 Down: here
9 Across: here
15 Across: here
I’m returning home today after three wonderful weeks in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. I’ve been writing about the trip (and posting lots of pictures) on my travel blog, PuffinlessTravel.com. Please check it out if you’re interested!
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: 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: 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.
Categories
Strange Brew
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: 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.
