Words: 16
Average Length: 5.13
Difficulty: Chopsticks-level
Aerosmith, Steely Dan, and Ricky Martin, all packed inside a 7×7 grid. Enjoy!
Categories
Tag: Themed crossword
Categories
Happy Mothers’ Day!
Words: 78
Average Length: 4.78
Difficulty: Gentle, kind, empathetic, funny, generous, open-minded, fun-loving … Oh, wait, that was my Mom. This puzzle shares some of those characteristics.
Happy Mothers’ Day to all you mothers out there! I hope your day (and life) is filled with love, joy, and appreciation.
I constructed this puzzle in February. In March, one week shy of her 88th birthday, my Mom passed away. She lived a wonderful life, traveling all over the world, dancing at the slightest provocation (including with a tribal elder in Ghana as part of a ritual ceremony), giving generously of her time, spirit, and resources, and appreciating the dignity and value of everyone she met. I miss her terribly, but my grief is made bearable by joyous memories of trips, holidays, stupid jokes, her fantastic arroz con pollo (back in my meat-eating days), and a lifetime of wise and heartfelt support.
Thanks to my Mom and Dad, I think I was born interested in crosswords. Much of my childhood is a blur, but I vividly recall my parents passing the NYT Sunday puzzle back and forth, praising/questioning/correcting one another’s entries, and occasionally emitting a satisfied or chagrined “oh”. Solving the Sunday NYT remained a weekly habit for my Mom and Dad until my father died six years ago. Mom continued to solve puzzles, in both English and Spanish, until she passed.
Mom, wherever you are, 41 Across, a thousand thousand times, and Happy Mothers’ Day! I hope there are puzzles galore for you to enjoy!
Categories
Mostly Musical Mini 6
Words: 16
Average Length: 5.5
Difficulty: A gentle May breeze with one or two gusts
The seed for this one was 13 Across – to me, one of the greatest songs ever written. It’s a Leonard Cohen classic, and it was covered (gorgeously of course) by Judy Collins. You can listen to his version here, and hers here.
Check back on Sunday for a special Mothers’ Day Puzzle.
Categories
Mostly Musical Mini 5
Words: 18
Average Length: 5
Difficulty: Like Chick Corea’s Children’s Song #1
Don’t know the reference? It’s a deceptively simple, hypnotic tune with an intriguing melody line and some tricky rhythms. You can listen to it here.
After last week’s tribute to Coltrane’s Giant Steps, this grid leans classical. Nothing is too obscure, however, except maybe 1 Across, which is why it has such a tortured clue.
Categories
Don’t Wine, They’re Only Puns
Words: 96 (17×17, a generous pour)
Average Length: 5.06
Difficulty: Quite drinkable, though it may leave a punny aftertaste
If, as Robert Louis Stevenson said, “wine is bottled poetry,” get ready for a big ol’ bucketful of doggerel. Enjoy it in moderation or even to excess – just enjoy it!
Words: 34 (8×14)
Average Length: 4.94
Difficulty: If you know a bit about jazz, it’s like soloing on All Blues. If not, it’s like soloing on the tune spelled out by the circled letters.
I played in a jazz trio for years, and even though I mostly listen to rock these days, I still put on a jazz classic every so often. Last week I listened to the album that’s the subject of this puzzle for the first time in ages. I’d forgotten how amazing and revolutionary it is.
I’d also forgotten how difficult the title track on the album is to play, let alone blow a coherent solo over. I managed that feat once in my life: one year in college, the great Mary Lou Williams was an artist-in-residence. After our jazz band rehearsals, she’d hang around and play piano while some of us would take a crack at improving our improvisation. (I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t realize at the time what a precious and rare opportunity this was.)
One night, she had us play and solo over the song in question. I don’t remember how she did it, but she managed to get me out of my head (where I was frantically trying to anticipate the chord changes) and into the flow of the music. It hasn’t happened again.
Categories
Middle Age(s) Humor
Words: 74
Average Length: 4.89
Difficulty: Easier than being a serf, for sure
My puzzle blog just turned one year old! Over the past 12 months I’ve posted 71 puzzles: 28 themeless, 34 themed, 3 “set list” puzzles, 3 “mostly musical minis,” 2 “goofy themeless,” and 1 Amy Schneider tribute midi. People from 40 countries have downloaded puzzles. Most importantly, I’ve had a blast constructing, and I hope you’ve enjoyed solving.
Today’s puzzle, miraculously, has no terrible musical puns. Instead, it has terrible historical puns. I’m that flexible!
Categories
Mostly Musical Mini 2
Words: 18 (7×7)
Average Length: 5.00
Difficulty: Für Elise-like
I’m not sure whether these will become a regular mid-week addition, but here’s the second in a possibly extended series of musical minis. This one is considerably easier than the one last week and features cameos from Ravel, two Bachs, the Andrews Sisters, Katy Perry, and the Grateful Dead, among others.
Categories
Musicians’ Side Hustles
Words: 74 (17×13)
Average Length: 4.95
Difficulty: Somewhere between yacht rock and pop punk
Surely, you thought (hoped), Jeff has run out of musical puns. Um, no. This one bears some thematic resemblance to Rock of Aging (available here), but is less focused on decrepitude and more on just plain brand extension. Enjoy, share, and come back next Sunday!
Categories
Beware! The Ides March
Words: 78
Average: 4.78
Difficulty: “All difficulties are easy when they are known” (W. Shakespeare, Measure for Measure)
Yesterday was 62 and sunny; now it’s 26 and snowing. Such is mid-March in the DC area. Mid-March on JeffsPuzzles features a climate-independent, Ides-themed puzzle, so lend me your ears, or at least your pencils/pens/phones/laptops/whatever, and let the Ides march.
Jeff's Puzzles 