Words: 76
Average Length: 4.97
I strive for Inbox Zero, and sometimes attain it for as long as four minutes or so. This grid is a long way away, as you’ll see when you solve it.
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Tag: Medium Difficulty
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Stars Crossed
Words: 14
Average Length: 5.29
I started with the grid shape and 8 Across and then looked for some interesting stuff to go around it. The result has a bit of an unintended celestial theme.
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Apparently So
Words: 18
Average Length: 4.56
I read something Friday morning that included the phrase in 5 Across, and then 9 Across popped into my mind, which tells you how insufferable my mind can be at times. Then I came up with 1 Across (which I might have seen in a puzzle before), and decided I had to make the grid work with those three entries as the top three acrosses. After I finished a draft, I came up with “Herr apparent” as a clue, but couldn’t think of a corresponding answer. Perhaps you’ll see it in a future grid!
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Hits the Spot
Words: 73
Average Length: 5.10
Today’s puzzle is clued very gently (for me) – guess I was in a particularly mellow mood when I constructed it. I figure it’s a good tonic after last Thursday’s jeremiad.
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King? Tut!!
Word: 78
Average Length: 4.64
Trigger warning: if you think the current occupant of what’s left of the White House is doing a bang-up job running what’s left of our country, this puzzle will upset you.
Apology: There’s no online option for today’s puzzle because, in the current political environment, I didn’t want to risk bringing haters’ wrath down on other distribution outlets.
Disclaimer: The puzzle resembles a word ladder, but it’s really not – turns out I could connect 1A to 67A by changing only 3 letters.
Words: 18
Average Length: 4.67
The seeds for this puzzle, which you’ll identify while solving, originally were ideas for a cryptic puzzle (for obvious reasons). Having said that, 15A, a non-seed entry, has my favorite clue.
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To My New Grandson
Words: 30
Average Length: 4.73
At 10:36 this morning, my wife Sandy and I welcomed our second grandchild, Noah, into the world. Noah is 20 inches and 8.2 pounds, and he and his parents (Andrea and Eli) are doing great. I had to mark the occasion with a puzzle, of course!
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.34
Today’s puzzle follows a tried and true – meaning hoary – model. Hopefully, it’s fresh nonetheless, as 55 Across should be.
I just got back from 2 weeks in France, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. I posted extensively about the trip on my travel blog, Puffinlesstravel.com – if you’re interested, please check it out!
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Cryptic 4 – No longer thoughtful? Dear!
1 Across was the seed for this cryptic. For those who aren’t baseball fans, “de la Cruz” in 5 Down refers to a young superstar for the Cincinnati Reds. Explanations below the photo.
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Explanations:
1A: No longer = ex + thoughtful = pensive —> expensive (dear)
6A: Anagram of “realities”
7A: Double definition
8A: “H” inside spy agency (CIA) —> chia (seed)
10A: “Within” signals a letter string
11A: Queen of Sheba’s = Leda’s + platter = tray —> led astray
1D: Anagram of copies + synonym for mate
2D: “I hear” signals homonym; incomplete (part) + bookworm (nerd) —> partnered (joined with)
3D: Trotsky backs into = Noel (reverse of Leon), a synonym for carol
4D: Begin —> first letter of each word + cold one (beer), with Harp repeated as the definition
5D: de la Cruz (Elly) cradles (contains) e.g. (for example), ant (tiny crawler) —> el+eg+ant+ly
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Going Underground
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.20
In April 2023, I took a wonderful tour offered by Smithsonian Journeys visiting caves in France and Spain containing paleolithic art. (I wrote about it extensively on my PuffinlessTravel blog if you’re interested – just search for posts tagged Smithsonian.) Today’s puzzle isn’t archeologically significant, but then again, there’s no risk of running into any bats, so no worries if you’re chiroptophobic.
Jeff's Puzzles 