Tag: Themed crossword

Categories
Supersized

Someday We’ll Find It

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, photo taken Dec. 2022 through a bus window

Words:  138 (21×21)

Average Length:  5.29

This supersized puzzle was inspired by 104 Across, a beautiful song that my daughter and I recorded a version of in my son’s home studio, then danced to as the father/daughter dance at her wedding five years ago.  It was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life!  I’ll spare you the video of our dance, but I will link to a gorgeous performance of the song by Willie Nelson.

As for the theme answers, most are well-known, a couple are obscure (sorry, but people don’t write many songs with the necessary colors in the title), and one (87 Across) is wrong from a spectrum standpoint but has the virtue of fitting.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Oh My 46 Down

See 27 Down. Photo taken in Budapest, July 2023.

Words:  67 (14×15)

Average Length:  5.25

This one’s definitely rated “G,” as you’ll see when you solve it.  As a bonus hint, there’s a bit of Guevara in each theme answer.  

If anyone’s interested, I just posted here about a fun few days spent in Toronto last week.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Mini Themed

Hoist an Oly!

Theater of Dionysus with Athens in the background (July 2014)

Words: 30

Average Length: 4.67

1 Across was the seed.  Originally, I planned to make a technology/mythology hybrid puzzle but I couldn’t come up with enough decent theme answers, so I just went full-on mythology. 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

The Great Escape

Words:  74

Average Length:  5.00

As the note to the puzzle says, this is a tribute puzzle for … our 15-year old Ford Escape Hybrid.  It’s still going strong!  I’ve also got a recommendation for you:  if you like birds, drawings of birds, or just plain good nature writing, check out the book in the clue for 23 Across. 

I got back several days ago from a wonderful week spent hiking and eating in Iceland. There are several posts about the trip – and lots of pictures – on my PuffinlessTravel blog. Please check it out if you’re interested!

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
Themed

Apologies to Nick et al

See 27 Down. Photo taken in St. Emilion, France, April 2023

Words: 76

Average Length: 4.71

A couple of months ago I posted a mini, “Entertaining Women,” whose theme entries were bands with names containing the word “Girls.”  I figured I’d construct a matching mini for the following week featuring band names with the word “Boys.”  Once I started collecting theme answers, though, I realized there were more than enough such band names for a full-sized puzzle.

A word about the grid:  I break one of the fundamental rules of crossword construction – the revealer includes a word that’s in the clue for each theme answer.  Apologies to any purists!

Any resemblance of the black squares in the middle of the grid to a man is unintentional and, frankly, beyond my capabilities if I’d tried. But it’s still kind of cool given the theme!

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Color Commentary

See 54 Down. Photo taken in Gran Canaria, Oct. 2022.

Words:  72

Average Length:  5.31

The three main theme answers (each has a subsidiary entry as well) are common expressions.  Given the color theme, I’d thought about cluing them with reference to the ongoing US election debacle, but the last thing we need right now is more snark.  Instead, I went for a whimsical tone throughout the cluing; whimsy, besides being a cool-looking word, takes the edge off anxiety (mine, at least). 

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Who Recorded It?

Not 24 Down. (Photo taken in the Galapagos, Sept. 2022.)

Words:  67 (14×15)

Average Length:  5.01

Back to my wheelhouse:  a music-themed puzzle.  This one required some creative construction architecture, which left me with an unusually-sized (14×15) grid with vertical symmetry and ended up resembling a person.  Arguably, it’s a better likeness of a person than I could draw freehand, which tells you all you need to know about my artistic shortcomings.  I’ll leave you with a link to Pure Prairie League’s recording of 10 Down, a gorgeous example of folk-rock.

online | puz | pdf | solution

Categories
Themed

Rest Easy

See 50 Down

Words: 78

Average Length: 4.74

This puzzle’s theme is dear to me:  a good night’s sleep.  The FDA wisely prevents me from claiming that solving the puzzle will leave you so refreshed that you will sleep like a baby, but hey, it couldn’t hurt!

online | puz | pdf | solution