Words: 66
Average Length: 5.85
I enjoy cluing well-known people’s names with obscure facts, as in the clue for 21 Down.
Spaceballs (see 53 Across) is one of my favorite all-time comedies, Mel Brooks at his irreverently silly finest. Prince Valium, Princess Vespa, 53 Across, Lone Starr, Barf, Dark Helmet, and of course, “just plain Yogurt.”
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.37
When I started constructing seriously a couple of years ago, I would have been astounded to learn I’d hit a half-century of themelesses. Yet here we are – with a puzzle that’s built around a wonderful Sunday morning radio show and a classic movie, which (for those of you who know me, this is redundant) I’ve never seen.
Words: 10
Average Length: 4.20
Think of each half of each clue as a circle in a Venn diagram. The answer will lie in the intersection of the two circles. It could be a name, a word with different meanings in each context, a common component, or something else they share.
Spoilers/explanations below the photo
1A: SPOCK – Dr. Benjamin Spock wrote what was, for a long time, the baby care bible. Mr. Spock, of course, needs no introduction. Live long and prosper!
6A: THREE – Lithium’s atomic number and Dale Earnhardt’s car number
7A: DADDY – Daddy Yankee was featured on Despacito and Daddy Warbucks is a main character in Annie
8A: SEE – The government of the Catholic Church (Holy See) operates from the Vatican, and you “see” in poker when you match a bet
9A: ERS – as in emergency rooms and “ers” when someone is searching for a word
1D: STD – a reg (regulation) is a standard (std), and the “clap” is slang for gonorrhea, a kind of sexually transmitted disease
2D: PHASE – the “terrible twos” is considered a phase, and liquid is a phase (state) of matter
3D: ORDER – is a categorization in taxonomy (between family and class), and a monastery generally is populated by monks of a specific order (e.g., Franciscans)
4D: CEDES – sorry about this one; it’s a stretch but it works if you consider that the root -cede is used with con (concede) but not pro (which changes the root to ceed) and pre (precede) but not post (instead it’s succeed). I got backed into a corner on this one!
5D: KEY – a piano has 88 of them; Florida has around 800
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.36
CORRECTION: THE CLUE FOR 68 ACROSS SHOULD READ “THREE MAKE AN O”, NOT A T.
The three seeds for this grid were 20, 36, and 57 Across. I started with 20 Across and then 36 Across immediately popped into mind. I had to find a third entry to complement 20 Across and continue the mini-theme, and a couple of minutes’ thought produced 57 Across.
By the way, if you ever get a chance to visit 36 Across, it’s a charming place to spend a few days. I was there last summer after a week hiking in Wales – you can read about it and see additional photos on my PuffinlessTravel blog here and here.
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.56
The seed for this grid was 15 Across, which is a fact I learned, appropriately enough, while playing trivia on a joint US-Canadian team (creatively called “USCAN”) on a recent trip. (Our team won the ship’s progressive trivia tournament!). For the whole story of the connection between 15 Across and Pooh, see this Wikipedia link.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.49
The seed for this puzzle was 17 Across, which I had just finished listening to for roughly the 40,000th time when I realized it was 15 letters long. I saw Chick Corea in concert two (possibly three) times – once in California in the early 80 (brilliant), once in DC in the early 2000s (fantastic), and possibly in NYC (I remember seeing Flora Purim and he may have been playing with her, but it was in the mid 70s and I just don’t remember, for reasons having everything to do with age and nothing whatsoever to do with any recreational activities.)
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.43
When I constructed this puzzle in late November, 29 Across was “it fits and it’s not awful” kind of fill. With David Crosby’s passing, though, it gives me a chance to mention him in a clue and express gratitude for the thousands of hours I spent listening to him in The Byrds, in 29 Across, in 29 Across plus Y, and on his own. He had a pure voice and a gift for heartfelt melodies and lyrics. RIP, D.C. “I sing in silent harmony/We shall be free.” (David Crosby, Guinnevere)
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.65
3 Down and 18 Down were the seeds for this grid; of all the great sayings and quotes about wine, these happen to fit symmetrically. Other than bringing your oenological expertise to bear, you can test your knowledge of stoner comedies, Springsteen albums, and dog breeds that anagram to a brand of markers. Enjoy!
Words: 68
Average Length: 5.59
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! This themeless started with the entries at 1 Across and 11 Down. I first heard about 11 Down on a trip to Portugal in October (where the fee for one is close to half a million dollars). I tried to make the cluing on this one a bit gentler than usual, but it’ll still be a workout.
Revision: I just found out the first half of the clue for 3 Down isn’t right. Please ignore the reference to “trumpeter Blanchard.”
PS: I just returned from a terrific trip going from Lisbon to Cape Town, with stops in Madeira, Gran Canaria, The Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, Angola, and Namibia. If you’d like to see some photos and my write-up, please visit my travel blog.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.40
In the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe” series, Douglas Adams asserts that the answer to “life, the universe, and everything” is 42. In that vein, I proudly present Themeless 42, which answers such pressing questions as: What’s orange and hangs out in a mall (6 Down)? Who’s the leader of the pack (17 Across)? And what exactly is fast food (12 Across)? Please enjoy, and please share!
Jeff's Puzzles