Words: 12 (6×6)
Average Length: 5.00
This mini is brought to you by one of my favorite Donovan songs (there are many, led by “Jennifer Juniper” and “Sunshine Superman,” with the seed for this puzzle close behind; the title of the puzzle refers to a line in the song (“is gonna be a sudden craze”).
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.34
I had a lot of fun cluing this one, so get ready to think outside the box, laterally, creatively, or whatever other way lets you grok my machinations. (The picture above, of 25 Down, was taken while hiking up Mount Liamuiga, which was a muddy and merciless slog over rocks and fallen logs; our guide rewarded us at the end with … thin sandwiches containing one slice of American cheese on white bread.)
I’m back from a wonderful trip hiking in Wales and riding trains in the Isle of Man (including the railway that inspired Thomas the Tank Engine!). I’m posting this early because I cracked my computer screen and I’m not sure how long it’ll take to repair it. Stay tuned for a challenging Themeless on Sunday, assuming I have my computer back.
Word Count: 69 (14×15 grid)
Average Length: 5.04
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Here’s an easy holiday puzzle for y’all. To mark the 4th, I thought I’d focus on “American” music (gee, that’s a surprise, says anyone who’s solved one of my puzzles). I put “American” in quotes because the music we play, listen to, and create is a hodgepodge, an olio if you will (yes, you can use the word outside of crosswords) of indigenous, European, African, Latin American, and Asian influences. We harmonize our disparate heritages in our music.
In brainstorming – never ideating, which is a horrible word and should be banned from crosswords despite its friendly orthography – possible theme answers, I found the three here. Not only are they symmetrical; they illustrate my “olio point” in an appropriately tinted manner.
Finally, one specific comment on the puzzle: Given the theme, I had to give a shout out to Ms. Russell in 50D, as the co-star (with husband Matthew Rhys) of one of the greatest shows in television history.
Jeff's Puzzles