Words: 68
Average Length: 5.44
I sprinkled lots of playful clues in this one; I think 7 Down is my favorite. Have fun!
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Category: Themeless
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Themeless 89
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.44
Let me crow: I’m really happy with the way this grid turned out: only 29 black squares, a bunch of cool fill, and several clues I’m rather proud of. I hope you enjoy solving it as much as I enjoyed constructing it. If so, please share widely, and if you’re not already a follower of this blog, please take that step!
I’ve been on a wonderful trip this past week and a half – if you’re interested, visit my PuffinlessTravel.com blog or click on any link that sounds good:
Venice and boarding the Azamara Quest
Šibeniki and Krka National Park, Croatia
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Themeless 88
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Themeless 87
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.28
When cluing answers that are phrases (20A and 47A in this case), I always wonder how other constructors might clue them. I guess it’s another way of considering whether common phrases really do mean the same thing to everyone.
Other than semantic speculation, I’ll just add that (1) 26A is a really cool factoid, and (2) 42D is based on repeated personal experience.
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Themeless 86
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
This puzzle had several seeds: 23 Across (I’d recently listened to CSNY’s “Almost Cut My Hair”), 4 Down (I’d recently listened to Men at Work’s “Down Under”), and 55 Across, a term I learned not from a song – though it would make for an interesting lyric – but from a police officer/driver ed instructor. (No, I was not in “traffic school!”)
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Themeless 85
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
Note – due to my oft-demonstrated inability to include accurate cross-references, please note that the proper cross-reference in the clue for 60 Across should be 6 Across, not 2 Across
I think a lot about interconnectedness – my 66-year-old brain often acts like it’s still back in a late-night dorm room discussion – which led directly to the three seed answers (the grid-spanners). I’ll leave you with this link to 15 Across (one of my favorite early Dylan songs) and with a plea not to think me too delusional once you see the clue for 55 Down.
Words: 18
Average Length: 4.89
1 and 7 Across were the seed entries. I spent far too long trying to configure them and fill them in a way that worked, then clued everything, then relaxed – and realized I’d violated a cardinal rule of construction: avoid duplication of entries or parts thereof. Alas, a certain 2-letter word appears three times in this mini, but what are indie puzzles for if you can’t break the rules once in a while? So I decided to embrace the iconoclasm in the title. (Also, my apology if you find 4 Down offensive. But if the sandwich fits ….)
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Themeless 84
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.34
The three longest answers were the seeds. Each of them found a home here after failing to fit well in a couple of themed puzzles that just didn’t pan out.
Here’s a bonus hint for 20 Across: two of my favorite songs of theirs are covers: Friend of the Devil and Big Yellow Taxi. Favorite originals: Rain King, Hard Candy, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby (which has one of my favorite lines: “If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts”).
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Themeless 83
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.56
I had lots of fun cluing this one (favorite clue: 32 Across; I’m also partial to 2 Down and 3 Down). The seeds were the two long down answers, though I’ve wanted to include 20 Across and 24 Across in a puzzle for a while. Please enjoy!
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Themeless 82
Words: 73 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.59
I’m trying something different with this write-up because it’s a rainy Saturday afternoon and constructing complete sentences seems like a lot of effort at the moment.
Favorite clues: 25A, 61A
Favorite fill: 10A
Least favorite fill: 4D. I spent a lot of time looking for alternatives, alas to no avail.
Recommendation: 41A – if you like dark, darkly humorous crime fiction, check out the Ian Rankin books mentioned in the clue.
Favorite trivia: 51A
Jeff's Puzzles 