Words: 16 (7×7)
Average Length: 4.75
Sometimes the best thing to do while watching the Nats pretend that they left their bats at home is to construct a mini. (Both halves of that sentence are true quite often.) Here you go. If you like the puzzle, please send the Nats some offense. Thanks in advance!
Words: 76
Average Length: 4.71
A couple of months ago I posted a mini, “Entertaining Women,” whose theme entries were bands with names containing the word “Girls.” I figured I’d construct a matching mini for the following week featuring band names with the word “Boys.” Once I started collecting theme answers, though, I realized there were more than enough such band names for a full-sized puzzle.
A word about the grid: I break one of the fundamental rules of crossword construction – the revealer includes a word that’s in the clue for each theme answer. Apologies to any purists!
Any resemblance of the black squares in the middle of the grid to a man is unintentional and, frankly, beyond my capabilities if I’d tried. But it’s still kind of cool given the theme!
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.31
The three main theme answers (each has a subsidiary entry as well) are common expressions. Given the color theme, I’d thought about cluing them with reference to the ongoing US election debacle, but the last thing we need right now is more snark. Instead, I went for a whimsical tone throughout the cluing; whimsy, besides being a cool-looking word, takes the edge off anxiety (mine, at least).
Words: 67 (14×15)
Average Length: 5.01
Back to my wheelhouse: a music-themed puzzle. This one required some creative construction architecture, which left me with an unusually-sized (14×15) grid with vertical symmetry and ended up resembling a person. Arguably, it’s a better likeness of a person than I could draw freehand, which tells you all you need to know about my artistic shortcomings. I’ll leave you with a link to Pure Prairie League’s recording of 10 Down, a gorgeous example of folk-rock.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.19
Here’s an oleo of a themeless, to use some hoary crosswordese. There’s a Hindu deity, one of my favorite authors, some Aussie slang, some Vietnamese food, and a Monty Python reference, among divers and sundry other entries. I hope you find it tasty and satisfying, like 3 Down but decidedly unlike 37 Down.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.34
The seed for this grid was 23 Across. After that, not knowing the first thing about cosmetics, I did a great deal of research to come up with other make-up-related puns. (I blush to say it took a while.) Here’s a link to 42 Across, a beautiful, achingly sad song written by James Taylor.
Words: 10
Average Length: 4.80
1 Across and 1 Down were the seeds, not surprisingly, but I also enjoyed putting 3 Down and 4 Down next to each other. Now that would be a mind-blowing show! 7 Across is terrible fill, but I figured I’d include it after realizing that rearranging the letters as the clue suggests would fit with the trattoria theme.
Words: 69 (14×15)
Average Length: 5.10
If a compelling crossword, like compelling drama, requires tension, then today’s theme entries should assure a gripping grid.
Because it’s one of Churchill’s finest orations (which is saying a lot), here’s the relevant passage of the speech excerpted in 1 Down:
“The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Rest assured that your odds of surviving today’s solving experience are far better than those faced by the RAF.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.11
This puzzle sets a record (sure to be broken) of the greatest number of my favorite songs I’ve managed to work into clues: (1) The Caves of [18 Across] (Steely Dan), (2) [25 Across] Smile (John Prine), (3) [55 Down] House (Graham Nash), (4) Where Have all the Flowers Gone (31 Down), and (5) Penny Lane (The Beatles, 54 Down). If you know some of these off the bat, you’ve got a head start. If not, don’t fear – everything should be easily gettable from crosses.
Jeff's Puzzles