Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
This should be a pretty gentle puzzle with a straightforward theme that might result in an earworm.
Categories
Tag: Themed crossword
Words: 40 (11×11)
Average Length: 4.75
The main seed for this puzzle, 35 Across, is a term I hadn’t heard until around three weeks ago and hope never to hear again. After finding two more suitably frozen seeds, the puzzle came together quickly. There’s lots of good music (3 Down, 16 and 37 Across) and books (10 Down, 11 and 30 Across) in here, also – perfect accompaniments for a frigid February.
PS – I’m posting this a day early because I’ve got two full days of travel coming up as I head to Rapa Nui. If you’re interested, please follow along on my PuffinlessTravel blog!
Words: 70 (17×13)
Average Length: 5.11
I’m jumping the gun on Presidents Day by a week, but so are the mattress sales.
Over the course of a few years pre-Pandemic, I read biographies of every US president. What a mixed bag (the presidents, not the bios): a very few were excellent (Lincoln, FDR, Washington), some seriously underappreciated (Truman, Carter), some overpraised (Jefferson, JFK), some maddeningly flawed (LBJ, TR, Nixon, all of whom accomplished great things but also wreaked harm), some terrible (Pierce, Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Bush 2 , 47), and some (most) mediocre.
This puzzle concerns three presidents who came to the presidency after brilliant careers in public service, only to flounder or flunk during their time in the White House. I hope it’s fun and maybe even educational.
I’m leaving in a few days for three weeks in Chile (including Rapa Nui), Argentina, and Brazil. I’ll be writing about it and sharing pictures on my PuffinlessTravel blog, so please stop by if you’re interested. The first post probably will come late next week.
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.
Categories
Udder Poetry
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.
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!
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!
Categories
Spread the Word
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!
Words: 55 (11×14)
Average Length: 4.45
After a year of strife, here’s a peace-focused puzzle.
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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.”
Jeff's Puzzles 