Words: 75 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.49
The seeds for today’s puzzle were the clue/answer combos at 3 Down and 9 Down, along with 35 Across (I’d heard “I Will Follow You into the Dark” just before sitting down to construct) and 42 Across. I was able to include quite a few unusual longer answers, but at a price: there are three pieces of 3-letter fill (8 Across, 45 Down, 66 Across) that are downright dreadful. Please forgive me!
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.31
4D and 19D were the seeds for today’s puzzle. I don’t remember where I first heard 4D – possibly as an answer on Jeopardy or in a shipboard trivia game – but I’m surrounded by them, as reflected in the décor of my house. And 19D is just plain true, as I find out a couple of times a week.
Words: 10
Average Length: 5.00
I started this grid with the 2D/8A combination, then added 3D/7A, then decided to include as many other soundalike as I could. I hope the result is enjoyable rather than annoying!
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.36
I had lots of fun cluing this one – consider that fair warning to expect a bit of silliness. The seed was 37 Across, which originally was going to be one of a suite of answers for a themed puzzle. I couldn’t come up with enough other decent themers, so it’s been repurposed here.
Words: 18 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.00
I’m nearing the end of a wonderful cruise from San Diego to Miami. On a sea day last week, while waiting for trivia to start, I decided to construct a ridiculous puzzle, as one does. This one includes a made-up word (1 Across), an anagram or two, a bunch of puns, and some absurd definitions.
Words: 66
Average Length: 5.91
No (or at least not much) disrespect meant by 1 Across; some of my best friends drive BMWs. Still, if the driving glove fits ….
If you take umbrage at 14 Across, so be it. The time for pulling political punches is long past.
Come back Tuesday for an extremely silly mini full of puns, anagrams, made-up words, and absurd definitions. See you then!
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.38
The seeds for this puzzle were 19 Across (a book I found helpful in learning to write clearly), 31 Across (a concept needlessly occupying scarce mental real estate from a bio course 50 years ago), and 49 Across (a lyrical, beautiful, slim, fictional thought experiment).
Words: 77 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.25
The seeds for this grid were 21, 41, and 57 Across – the first book in my favorite crime fiction series, an extremely rare baseball feat, and a brilliant music mockumentary, respectively. Throw in a bit of T.S. Eliot and some more terrific books (“All the Light We Cannot See,” “Nickel Boys,” “Tremor”) and a couple other baseball-related clues, and you have a fair idea how I spend my free time.
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.19
The two seeds for this puzzle were the German loanwords at 14 and 23 Across, supplemented by 8 Down, which fortuitously appeared when I was playing around with another possible entry. Only as I took one last look through the entries did I realize that I have a partial duplicate (4 Down and 34 Down); please don’t report me to the crossword police!
Jeff's Puzzles