Words: 11 (6×5)
Average Length: 5.09
Here’s a shout-out to all the wonderful Australians I’ve met on my travels over the past few years!
Categories
Tag: Themed crossword
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In the Beginning
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.14
I set myself a construction challenge on this one – come up with a grid where the revealer crosses all four theme answers. I succeeded in doing so, but at the expense of including a passel of 3s. Have at it, and enjoy!
If you’re a fan of all manner of word puzzles – crosswords, Rows Gardens, acrostics, snake charmers, spirals – do yourself a favor and check out Jeanne Breen’s brilliant new puzzle site, In Pursuit of Puzzles.
Categories
Cook the Books
Words: 91 (17×17)
Average Length: 5.32
A super-sized collection of silly literary puns – how can you resist?
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For Brian and Sly
Words: 41 (12×11)
Average Length: 5.41
We lost two more rock icons in June – Brian Wilson, the creative force behind the Beach Boys, and the incomparable Sly Stone, producer, bandleader, songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist who created some of the catchiest, funkiest, most socially powerful hits of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I picked one well-known song from each of these geniuses as the seeds for this puzzle.
If you’re intrigued by Sly Stone, there’s a terrific documentary from Questlove about him: “Sly Lives! A/k/a the Burden of Black Genius.” And if you haven’t seen it yet, please check out Questlove’s “Summer of Soul,” a documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival with some of the greatest music you’ll ever hear.
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What’s the Matter?
Words: 55 (12×13)
Average Length: 4.73
The clue/answer pair for 21 Down popped into my head and I went looking for other possible theme answers. I couldn’t come up with enough good ones for a full-size puzzle, so here’s a large-ish midi. Enjoy!
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Pi and Phi
Words: 75 (17×13)
Average Length: 5.17
I’d been playing around with this theme idea for a while and decided it was time to quit dilly-dallying. The grid’s not real pretty and placement of one theme answer breaks with symmetry, but hopefully all is forgiven for the sake of entertainment.
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Themeless 104
Words: 77 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.25
The seeds for this grid were 21, 41, and 57 Across – the first book in my favorite crime fiction series, an extremely rare baseball feat, and a brilliant music mockumentary, respectively. Throw in a bit of T.S. Eliot and some more terrific books (“All the Light We Cannot See,” “Nickel Boys,” “Tremor”) and a couple other baseball-related clues, and you have a fair idea how I spend my free time.
Words: 53 (13×13)
Average Length: 5.03
This was going to be a regular-sized (15×15) puzzle, but I only came up with three theme answers, so I downsized a bit. If you’re not familiar with the poem cited in 32 Across, here’s a link. I think it’s simply beautiful.
Categories
Global Theatre
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.17
The revealer (50 Across) was the seed for this one, then it was just a matter of finding suitable theme answers. Three of them popped into mind almost immediately; the fourth required a bit of searching for something suitable. Enjoy!
