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.
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!”)
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: 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!
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
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.
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:
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.19
Here’s an oleo of a themeless, to use some hoary crosswordese. There’s a Hindu deity, one of my favorite authors, some Aussie slang, some Vietnamese food, and a Monty Python reference, among divers and sundry other entries. I hope you find it tasty and satisfying, like 3 Down but decidedly unlike 37 Down.
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.53
The two grid-spanners were the seeds for this themeless, and once I had them in place I decided to design a grid with minimal 3-letter answers (only four, in this case). For solving accompaniment, here’s a link to the late, great Warren Zevon performing “Werewolves of London” (see the clue for 22 Across).
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