Just a small themeless puzzle this week: a 9x9 grid with a few crisscrossing 9s. One entry was inspired by a recent conference I attended (which you should check out, but only click this link after solving the puzzle so you don't ruin it). Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf fullscreen solution

I'm feeling pretty busy this week with the spring semester starting up and working on some other big projects, so here's a small, easy themeless puzzle I've had in a folder for a while. It's just a 9x9 puzzle so I tried to squeeze as many full-length 9s in there as I could without leading to any unfun fill, and that led to this diagonally-symmetric grid. 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 ]

Just a little themeless puzzle this week. Nothing super tricky, I don't think! Hope it gives you a quick and fun mental workout. Regarding the clue for 1-Down: I do highly recommend the Secret Coders  series of comics / graphic novels! (The author,  Gene Luen Yang , has lots of other great work, as well.) I first encountered them while browsing the children's section of our local library as my daughter played nearby. I ended up reading them on my own just for kicks because she was way too young at the time, but I enjoyed them so much that I thought, "Y'know, I should read these to  her when she's ready." Well, we just finished the 6th and final book recently, and it was so awesome and fun to read them to her and do silly voices for all the characters. We both had a blast. Check them out if you're looking for an engaging and entertaining way to introduce children to computer programming. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the com...

  Here's a 9x9 grid with diagonal symmetry along the top-right to bottom-left  diagonal. I just want to note that the mention of a "diagonal" in the clue for 4-Down refers (implicitly) to the other kind, the top-left to bottom-right  diagonal of a matrix. I think there are some fun entries (I like 3-Down and 11-Across) and clues (I like 6-Down and 14-Across) in here, and I'm guessing a  medium  difficulty, hoping that the short stuff will give you plenty of ways to crack into it. 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 ]

  More experimentation with mirror symmetry! This is also my way of working on making stacks  in themeless puzzles. I still don't feel adept enough at gridding or wordlist-managing to make a consistently solid, full-sized themeless grid, so these midi-sized puzzles are one way I'm working on those skills. Anyway, I think this one has some interesting spanners and a few fun clues, too. 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 ]

  Back to challenging midi themeless puzzles, after last week's easy rhyme time :-) I like all the spanning answers in this one, especially the mathematical connections in 3-Down and 6-Down, and even in 7-Down (who was a mathematics major in college). There are quite a few TLAs in the grid to hold it all together, but I'm hoping that you're like me and really don't mind all that much. I am a little curious about whether you'll consider two of the spanning entries to be dupes of each other. I thought they were fine enough to leave in, [3-Down], but let me know if this is something you would have avoided in construction. You'll see what I mean... 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 ]

This puzzle has both  standard rotational symmetry and  diagonal symmetry. One coding project I'd like to work on (someday when I have time...) is a way to generate all grids of a certain size that have both those symmetries. Perhaps I could even tweak the code to ensure certain restrictions on word lengths and black square counts. If you're interested in working on that, too, let me know! I think this one will be a little challenging for its size (9x9)  but not too hard overall. I'll label it "hard" just in case, though. [spoiler alert] For when you're done, here's a link to more info about Hedetniemi's conjecture , which is mentioned in 4-Down. My mathematical research these days involves similar ideas (Cartesian and strong graph products) , so let me know if you're interested in learning more about that, too! Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]  ...

Huzzah, more diagonal symmetry! I used it recently with  Midi Themeless #9  because some seed entries crossed in just the right way, and I'm using it this time because it allowed for several long answers to squeeze into one area and helped the whole thing feel a little more like an open themeless grid, despite its size. Plus, I just think it looks nice 😊 As usual, some entries may be inspired by recent stuff: current events, or things I'm watching, or (in one case, in this puzzle) things I find myself saying at the dinner table, etc. 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 ]