Tag: Difficult crossword

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Themeless

Themeless 89

See 21 Across. Photo taken in the Lofoten Islands, Norway, June 2017.

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!

online | puz | pdf | solution

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

Koper and Ljubljana, Slovenia

Zadar, Croatia

Šibeniki and Krka National Park, Croatia

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Budva, Perast, and Kotor, Montenegro

Corfu, Greece

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Themeless

Themeless 88

See 38 Across (photo taken July 2014)

Words:  72

Average Length: 5.31

55 Across was the main seed for this thremeless; it’s one of my wife’s favorite expressions.  (She is a reliable source of puns and jokes suitable for to such a response.)

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Mini

Darn Head Pin

Tower, Sentra City Hall (Oct. 2022). See 4 Down.

Words:  10 (5×5)

Average Length:  5.00

Way back in high school, I used to go bowling every weekend, reaching a greater level of success than in any other sport (it’s a low hurdle indeed).  I had my share of 1 Acrosses, but got pretty good at converting the smaller ones.  Difficulty-wise, I’d put today’s puzzle in the category of knocking down the 10-pin for a spare:  quite doable but not a slam dunk, to mix sporting metaphors.  (Dunking a bowling ball is not recommended.)

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Themeless

Themeless 87

View down one of the kilometer-long sides of 30 Across. Photo taken March 2024.

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.

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Themeless

Themeless 86

Apropos of 18 Across: Gentoo Penguin, Pleneau Island, Antarctica (Feb. 2022).

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!”) 

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Themeless

Themeless 85

Grand Palace, Bankgkok (See 30 Across). Photo taken Apr. 2024.

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. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Themeless

Themeless 83

Female blue-footed booby, Santa Fe Island, the Galapagos (see 25 Across). Photo taken Sept. 2022.

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!

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Themeless

Themeless 82

Reflection of my granddaughter’s dress in some soap bubbles (Rockville, MD July 2024). Nothing to do with the puzzle but pretty neat, huh?

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

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Themeless

Themeless 81

Swamp (see 11 and 12 Down). Photo taken in Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Del Ray, Florida Jan. 2015)

I’m really happy with the architecture on this one:  only 29 blocks and 6 three-letter answers, with wide-open corners and lots of flow.  Oh, and an opportunity to include one of my favorite Jackson Browne songs (55 Across) and historical fiction authors (30 Across).  Throw in a crispy applesauce delivery device (40 Down) and a mecca for great bagels (38 Across) and you’ve got yourself a grid. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

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Themeless

Themeless 80

See 51 Across. Photo taken in Rockville, MD May 2024.

I think this one should play a bit gentler than most of my themeless puzzles.  I’ll leave you with two gorgeous recordings of 47 Down, which is one of my favorite Beatles songs, early or late.  (1) The original. (2) Cover version by Emmylou Harris: 

online | puz | pdf | solution