Tag: Mini

Categories
Mini

Penguins They Ain’t

Adelie penguins, Pleneau Island, Antarctica, Feb. 2022

Words: 18

Average Length: 5.00

Until last month when I visited Iceland, I had an unblemished track record of never seeing 1 Across in the wild, even in places where they normally gather by the thousands.  Hence the now-inaccurate name of my travel blog, [1 Across]less Travel.  As any self-respecting cruciverbalist/travel blogger would, I had to commemorate the momentous occasion of seeing flocks of 1 Across with a puzzle.

By the way, if you want to solve an actual penguin-focused puzzle, here’s one from 2022.

One last self-promoting note: I recently posted two new poems on my poetry blog, It-Could-Be-Verse.com. One is about a visit to Hong Kong, and the other is about a visit to Vietnam.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Peace Pipes

Nike, goddess of victory, Ephesus. Photo taken July 2014. See 5 Down.

Words:  10 (5×5)

Average Length:  4.80

1 Across and 5 Down were the seeds, as well as my two favorite clues in the puzzle.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themeless

A Lot of It

Nothing to do with the puzzle, just a cool pic from my recent trip to Iceland (the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, to be precise)

Words:  18

Average Length:  4.89

1 and 7 Across were the seed entries.  I spent far too long trying to configure them and fill them in a way that worked, then clued everything, then relaxed – and realized I’d violated a cardinal rule of construction:  avoid duplication of entries or parts thereof.  Alas, a certain 2-letter word appears three times in this mini, but what are indie puzzles for if you can’t break the rules once in a while?  So I decided to embrace the iconoclasm in the title.  (Also, my apology if you find 4 Down offensive.  But if the sandwich fits ….)

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

4×4 4 Fun

Photo taken through the window of La Fignette 1 Down in Strasbourg (Oct. 2019).

Words:  8

Average Length: 4.00

If you’ve been following this blog for a bit, you know that I post like clockwork: a mini or midi on Wednesdays and a full-size on Sundays (unless I’m traveling in 2 Across, in which case I often screw up the publication date).

However, I’ve been holding onto 1 Across and 3 Across for a while, and while watching game shows last night – it’s generally either game shows or baking shows here – I decided it was time to foist them on y’all.  Filling and cluing the grid took two segments of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. 

Come back Wednesday for your regularly scheduled mid-week mini!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

That’s President Cat Lady to You

Cat-a-Cat Tete-a-Tete (photo taken in Malta, Mar. 2019)

Words:  16

Average Length:  4.88

I usually don’t get political in my puzzles, but anyone who’s solved them for a bit knows where my sympathies lie.   ,LA! 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

A Bit Campy

Rapeseed field (see 5 Across). Photo taken from the TGV en route from Paris to Bordeaux, April 2023

Words:  16 (7×7)

Average Length: 4.75

Sometimes the best thing to do while watching the Nats pretend that they left their bats at home is to construct a mini.  (Both halves of that sentence are true quite often.)  Here you go.  If you like the puzzle, please send the Nats some offense.  Thanks in advance!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Country Club

Rook-like chimneys, Port Erin, 9 Across (photo taken July 2022)

Words:  16

Average Length:  4.50

Today’s puzzle is a mini-travelogue. I spent a weekend in 9 Across a couple of years ago.  What a charming place!  It’s criss-crossed with narrow-gauge railways, the capital (Douglas) has stately Victorian rowhouses lining a beautiful harbor, and much of the island is blanketed in green grass and white sheep. 

Any way, I hope you enjoy the puzzle!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Good Vibes

Photo taken in Rockville, Maryland, June 2024

Words:  11

Average Length: 5.09 (6×5)

The note in the puzzle says it all.  May we all be guided, as far as possible, by 1 Across and 1 Down.  Happy solving!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini

Rice to the Occasion

Luang Prabang night market, Laos (photo taken March 2024)

Words: 16 (7×7)

Average Length:  5.38

If you want to make sure you don’t miss a puzzle, please “follow” the blog. A couple of times in the past month or so, Daily Crosswords Links didn’t include one of my puzzles. I’m not sure if the issue is on my end or theirs, but following the blog will assure you see the puzzles the day they’re posted. The two that didn’t make the DCL email were Themeless 81 (July 6) and 5-7-5×5 (June 12). Thanks!!

No rhyming clues in this one – sorry (or not, depending on what you think of poetic clues).  1 Across was the seed – or more accurately, grain – for the grid.  I was watching a cooking show, as I often do because forget about the news,  and the participants had to make that particular dish. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Uncategorized

Filling Up On Raisins

Potential future raisins (they’re actually wine grapes), Bad Krozingen, Germany (photo taken Oct. 2019)

Words:  14

Average Length:  5.29

1 Across was the seed.  Had I been thinking, I would have tried for some grid art.  As it is, turning the puzzle upside down sort of gets the idea across.

online | puz | pdf | solution