Words: 81 (17×15)
Average Length: 5.14
I’d had the clue for 20A in my list of ideas for a while. I decided to try coming up with two other grammar-related answers/punny clues, which turned into 36A and 56A. Having said that, my favorite answer/clue combination is 64A – it’s not a pun but it’s a pretty fiendish misdirect!
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
Here’s a challenging themeless with a bit of everything: science, religion, archeology, baseball, and of course, music. I’m posting this from Berlin, Germany, where I’m finishing up a sometimes disturbing but ultimately inspirational trip that included Copenhagen, Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Dresden, and Wittenburg, among other places. I’ve written about the trip and posted lots of photos on my travel blog. Please take a look if you’re interested.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.31
I began constructing this grid by deciding I would put a 12/15/12 stack across the middle, as one of my favorite constructors, Tim Croce, often does. (If you like super-challenging themeless puzzles, he’s one of the best in the biz. He posts new puzzles every Tuesday and Friday evening at 6 eastern time on his site, Club 72.)
Next step was coming up with an appropriate 15 (37 Across), and I’d happened to use this exact phrase about half an hour before starting construction. (Suffice it to say I am in daily contact with a few “half-empty glass” types.) The first 12 (34 Across) is something that Is not so widely known and practiced as it should be. Hit the backbeats, people! The second 12 (40 Across) was a great pitcher, but he made the puzzle on the basis of the pun in the clue. Enjoy!
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.62
Here’s a wide-ranging themeless (food, one of my favorite songs, classical Greece, religion, geography, math, you name it and I’ve tossed it in here). I hope the ingredients combine deliciously, or at least, palatably!
Words: 70 (17×13)
Average Length: 5.46
38A (repurposed from a themed puzzle that wouldn’t come together) and 10D were the seeds for today’s puzzle. Sorry for a couple of brand names infiltrating the grid – I hope they’re well-known enough not to be stumbling blocks.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.34
4D and 24D were the seeds for this puzzle. As always, I had a lot of fun with the cluing and, as I always hope, learned something along the way (see 42D).
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.50
There were 4 seeds for today’s themeless: 8 Down (a factoid from a shipboard trivia game), 21 Across (I can still name the starting line-up, subs, and pitchers; they were my boyhood team), 27 Across (no thanks), and 33 Across (a refugee from a themed puzzle that wouldn’t come together).
Jeff's Puzzles