Tag: Themed crossword

Categories
Midi Themed

A PC Puzzle

Not 6 Down: frigate birds, Galapagos Islands, Sept. 2022

Words: 28 (9×9)

Average Length: 5.07

Almost every night, Sandy and I eat some 10 Down and watch Jeopardy! followed by a baking show/The Voice/AGT/baseball, depending on the season.  Often, once Jeopardy! is over – for the show is sacrosanct – I’ll multitask, crafting/cluing/cogitating about a puzzle while absurdly talented kids/singers/acrobats/athletes are strutting their stuff.  So, while casting about for an idea for this week’s midi, I looked at the 10 Down-filled bowl in front of me and inspiration struck. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Udder Poetry

Not the answer to 20A; for one thing, it’s real. Leaning Tower of Pisa (July 2014)

Words: 70 (17×13)

Average Length: 5.11

I don’t remember where I came across the amusing little poem underlying this puzzle, but as soon as I saw it, I thought it deserved a grid of its own.  I hope you find the poem, and the puzzle, entertaining.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Midi Themed

There’s the Rub

See 29 Down

Words: 42 (11×11)

Average Length: 4.71

This is my entry for Crosshare’s monthly midi contest, the theme of which this month is “Spice.”  Four of the clues – those ending with exclamation points – are cryptic in nature.  Each of these asks for an anagram of either “spice” or “spices” that answers the rest of the clue.  I hope you find this savory and satisfying!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

Specious Speciesism

Mitad del Mundo, 1A (photo taken Sept. 2022)

Words: 16 (7×6)

Average Length: 4.88

I learned about the seeds of this puzzle, 1A and 3D, while reading a remarkable book called The Arrogant Ape, by Christine Webb.  The book’s subtitle, “The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters,” captures the thought-provoking, insightful, often maddening contents perfectly.  It impressed me so much that another word I learned from the book is the seed of a themeless puzzle I’ll post in late March, so if you finish the book by then you’ll have a guaranteed correct answer off the bat!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Music Themed

Not Exactly Barry White

Statue of Freddy Mercury, Montreux, Switzerland (Oct. 2025) (see 19 Across)

Words: 72

Average Length: 5.25

Musical grammar usually encompasses things like harmony, melody, and rhythm.  This puzzle, however, takes the term literally. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Spread the Word

12- and 13- year old boys throwing “paleolithic” spears outside the Cave of El Castillo near Santillana, Spain (See 8 Across). This was a school-sanctioned activity with spears whose points easily penetrated a thick, wooden board. Maybe European adolescent boys are more mature than their American counterparts, but this strikes me as, um, ill-advised?

Words: 11 (6×5)

Average Length: 4.91

As you probably guessed, 1A was the seed for this puzzle.  Why seed the puzzle with an answer that only a couple of solvers are likely to have heard?  Because, as things get increasingly fractious and belligerent, the word captures the sort of awareness we could use a great deal more of right now.  So spread the word!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Midi Themed

Resolution – Fiat Pax!

Sagano Bamboo Grove, Kyoto – a place of exquisite peace (Mar. 2025)

Words: 55 (11×14)

Average Length: 4.45

After a year of strife, here’s a peace-focused puzzle.

**************************************************************************

My puzzle-making colleague, Jeanne Breen, published a terrific acrostic puzzle yesterday based on a passage chosen by the incomparable Frank Bruni as one of his favorite bits of prose from 2025. You can solve it here, and you should, unless (as she put it) “you’re a proud supporter of POTUS 45/47.”

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Holiday Themed

MMXXVI

Wishing you all a year of peace. (Flame of Peace, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Japan (Mar. 2025))

Words: 78

Average Length: 4.69

1 Across-6 Across-9 Across, everyone! 

I posted 107 puzzles in 2025, with nearly 8000 visitors from 62 countries, accounting for more than 18,000 views.  Thank you all – I wish each of you a year filled with health, happiness, meaning, and lots of “aha” solving moments.

If you’re interested, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite books that I read during 2025.  I love to read and would enjoy getting book recommendations from all of you brilliant and worldly solvers. You can put them in the comments or email me at Jeffspuzzles@gmail.com.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Things Could Be Traverse

Our dog, Mia, who either (1) just saw a movie about mutant killer cats, (2) stuck her paw in an electrical socket, or (3) can extend her ear fur at will to pick up faint sounds from the kitchen. (Nothing to do with the puzzle.)

Words: 74

Average Length: 4.95

I apologize in advance for the clumsy wording of the clue to 66 Across, which is the key to understanding the theme answers.  That said, I hope you enjoy the puzzle – I’m pretty pleased with several of the non-theme-related clues.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

UV-Free

See 27 Down (Zihuatanejo, Mexico, July 2025)

Words: 69 (14×15)

Average Length: 4.93

I constructed this puzzle back in August and figured that, given the theme, it was worth waiting until the first icy breaths of winter had appeared, which they did early this week, at least in the D.C. area.  If you’re so inclined, the online version contains the appropriate color for the circled squares.

online | puz | pdf | solution