BWS Puzzle 11: Midi Themeless #6

I've enjoyed making these 10x10 themeless puzzles, so I'm trying to share a new one each weekend just for fun. I hope the clues and entries give you a few laughs and a few (but not too many) head-scratching moments, and maybe even teach you some interesting things,

I'm also still playing around with grid designs and word lengths and things like that. This one (image above) has regular ol' rotational symmetry but, in contrast with the previous midi themeless puzzle (which had word lengths of only 3, 5, 9, or 10), it has a whole range of word lengths (10 x 3s, 6 x 4s, 8 x 5s, 4 x 6s, 2 x 7s, and 4 x 10s).

All of the 10s are inspired by recent events: 22-Across and 3-Down are things I'm teaching about in one of my classes right now, 6-Down is inspired by a clue in last week's puzzle (spoiler alert, but if you need a hint: check 14-Across there), and the idea for 13-Across and its clue came to me while thinking about something happening this week. You might also notice some mini-themes among the clues, including my daughter, album tracks, movies, Monty Python, and mathematics; I do hope these are more entertaining than distracting.

Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome.

Download links: [puz] [pdf] [solution]

Comments

Puzzle 70: Rhyme Time #15

Long time no see! I'm sharing a new puzzle in the hopes of kickstarting my crossword construction machinery again after a long period of intermittent activity. I do have a few new crosswords out there since I last posted on this blog: 15x15 themed contest puzzle for the Joint Mathematics Meetings, January 2023 23x19 themed contest puzzle for MAA MathFest, August 2022 15x15 themeless puzzle in MAA FOCUS magazine, June 2023 (You can also find those in a big list on my website of all the mathy crosswords I've published.) Other than that, though, crosswording has been an occasional solving activity for me in recent months, but not so much a constructing activity. In part, I've been pretty busy with other work and life stuff: for instance, check out my book on voting methods , this teaching presentation , and this website ! I also have an amazing 5-year-old daughter who loved the Grids for Kids puzzle pack that came out recently. All that has made it hard t

Puzzle 76: Themeless #8

Been on a 15x15 themeless kick lately, both in solving and constructing, so here's another one from me. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf fullscreen solution

Puzzle 74: Across the Seas + Puzzles available on Redstone and Crosswordr

I made this puzzle a while ago as part of a pack of themed puzzles for the Redstone puzzle app but totally forgot they don't allow oversized grids, like this 16x15 one. So, I'll just share it here for y'all to enjoy, while also saying... You can now find a bunch of new puzzles from me on the Redstone app! Just like the last time I released some puzzles there , you'll find two packs: 15x15, themed, medium difficulty: This pack contains 10 puzzles with themes of various kinds -- some wordplay, some trivia -- but nothing super tricky. If a theme felt too easy, I tried to balance it out with some more challenging fill, aiming for a "medium" solving experience overall. 7x7, themeless, hard difficulty: Each of the 25 themeless mini puzzles in this pack has a bunch of 7-letter entries (for fun and tricky cluing) and 3-letter entries (to help you get a foothold while solving). (If there's enough interest, I could make those puzzles available in puz or pdf for

Search This Blog