This puzzle started with the two spanning, eight-letter across entries. From there, I just tried to keep the block count low and ended up with this H- or N-looking shape, and I think it ended up with a good mix of fun entries and clues. I believe this one will be challenging for a grid of this size , but not necessarily hard, overall. So, I'm going to tag this post as "hard difficulty", but don't be too frightened by that. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ play online ]

  A smallish midi themeless puzzle today (8x8), and we're still riding that diagonal symmetry train. I started this one with 9-Across and 2-Down, two entries that I've wanted to put in puzzles for a while. Moreover, 2-Down is doing something awesome today which you can read about in the following link once you're done with the puzzle: SPOILER ALERT . This grid also ended up being similar to some others I've done recently that I can only think to describe as " just shorts and longs " : for instance, this puzzle has sixteen 3 letter entries and eight 8 letter entries. That's a whole bunch at the minimum possible length (3) and quite a few at the maximum possible length (8) in a grid of this size. I wonder what other grids with this property look like... 🤔 Anyway, let's call this one a medium difficulty  overall: I wouldn't say it's easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, but I don't think there's anything too too tricky, either. Enjoy the solve, and s...

  As promised after the weird "Anagranimalums" puzzle , I'm posting a few more standard themeless crosswords, but I'm also continuing to explore diagonal symmetry in these midi grids (8x8 to10x10 ish). I like how this one turned out, with a bunch of intersecting 8s and then some 3s and 4s scattered around to hold it all together. This is also the first time, I'm pretty sure, that I have used the top-right/bottom-left diagonal as the axis of symmetry. (Because of matrices and linear algebra, I am accustomed to seeing diagonal symmetry across  the "main diagonal" from the top-left to the bottom-right .) This one started with the 6-Down / 18-Across combo, which I highly recommend watching. (I had to track down DVDs from my local library, and you might, too.) And regarding 1-Across, yes I was there at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston for the taping, somewhere in the 4th row! I can see the back of my head at one point in the show, but only because I know where to...