Just a silly little puz this week with a few rhyming phrases. Not a lot to say about it, just have fun! In other news, I'll be participating in person at the Boswords 2022 Summer Tournament this weekend. Hope to see some of you there! And if you haven't yet, check out the Redstone Crossword Puzzle App ( App Store link & Google Play link ) for two puzzle packs from me: 1) twenty-five 7x7 themeless puzzles in the Minis-Midis & Hard categories, and 2) ten standard-sized themed puzzles in the 15x15 & Medium categories. I'm working on releasing another pack of both of those puzzle types, so stay tuned for more! In the meantime, the ko-fi "tip jar" is open, if you'd like to to buy me a ☕ and fuel more puzzle-making:  https://ko-fi.com/wordsxing    Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ ...

Still working on my themeless skills, trying out different grid shapes and stacks and such. Here's a 70-worder with some fun stuff, I hope. In particular, I'm fond of the clues for 12-Down and 53-Across. In blog-related stuff, there are two new items in the sidebar menu: a "tip jar" of sorts to buy me a ☕, if you feel so inclined:  https://ko-fi.com/wordsxing   a blog roll of constructors and puzzle sites I recommend checking out and supporting (feel free to suggest more in the comments) And, in case you missed it, last week I mentioned that there's a pack of mini themeless puzzles of mine on the Redstone app, so check that out for a bunch of quick challenges. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ open in new tab ]

If you haven't already, please support These Puzzles Fund Abortion : make a donation to any abortion fund and then email them to get 16 great puzzles with reproductive and social justice themes. Check out  the specific funds they support  or find more at  https://abortionfunds.org/   --- I was working on some mini/midi themeless puzzles a while back and stumbled on the 7x7 grid above: it has eight interlocking 7-letter entries, eight 3s around the border, and a couple 5s crossing in the middle. This means about half the entries are spanners (good for puzzle-solving intrigue) and, simultaneously, about half are short fill (good for making inroads to the longer stuff). So, I thought it would be fun to fill this grid over and over for solvers who are looking for quick, but still potentially challenging, small themeless puzzles... ...and now you can find 25 of those puzzles on the Redstone Crossword app! The app is available for both iOS and Android , and you can ...

This little puzzle was inspired by 11-Across. The local tie-in with 16-Across was a nice bonus. Hope this plays fun and fairly easy for ya. In other news, today (Friday, June 17) is Bandcamp's Juneteenth fundraiser : "from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, [..] we donate 100% of our share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support their ongoing efforts to promote racial justice through litigation, advocacy, and public education." Please consider purchasing some music today to directly support artists and good causes! I could make lots of recommendations, but here are some ideas if you're looking for jazz  or  indie rock  or  beat tapes  or folk or  art rap  or  funky soul  or  acoustic guitar  or ... Enjoy the solve and the music, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct...

I'm experimenting with low-word-count themeless grids lately, so here's a 64-worder. This one started with a few of the four interlocking 15s, and then carving out the rest of the grid led to this chunky, block-heavy (47) arrangement. There are lots of 4s and 5s, too, but I don't actually mind all that so much, both as a solver and a cluer. Hope you agree. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ open in new tab ]

  Here's another 66-word themeless puzzle. It started with the two crossing 15s and everything else just happened as it happened. I think this will be fairly challenging, but I did try to put some fun and easy stuff in the clues to balance it all out. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ open in new tab ]

  I just dusted off this grid I worked on a while ago and forgot about. I revamped the fill and almost changed the pattern of blocks but then remembered why I liked this one: it has symmetry along both diagonals (which implies standard 180-degree rotational symmetry, as well). There's a nice flow with the interlocking 11s all around, although next time I'll try it without that block right in the center (swapping four fours for two nines [say that ten times fast]). After all that, I ended up writing the clues for the seed entries (12-A and 3-D) last, aaaannnnnd... here we are in the present moment. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ open in new tab ]

Just a small, rhymey puzzle this week. Hope this one is fun and easy-breezy. You might even pick up a few music suggestions from the clues 😄 Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ open in new tab ]

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 ]

This is a midi-sized, lightly-themed puzzle about which I will say no more than this, to avoid revealing anything. When you're done with the puzzle and want to understand the title , paste this URL in your browser, and delete the spaces...  https:// youtu.be / J465BEUDJnY 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...

  I have spent every day this week with my daughter and it has been absolutely wonderful. Heading into 2022 has me feeling introspective and, admittedly, sometimes dismayed, but every moment spent with her is truly joyous, which also has me feeling optimistic. And this puzzle was inspired by a chat about rhyming words with her today. I hadn't planned on posting a puzzle at all, but I mentioned 9-Across, and she came back with 15-Across, and eventually... it's almost midnight, but I made it: one last puzzle for 2021! I hope it gives you some joy, somehow. 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 ]

I hope you enjoy this silly puzzle! It all started when I was listening to a song by 26-Across and thought, "There's gotta  be a way I could use this name." After 34-Across came to mind, it was only a matter of figuring out how to fit everything into a grid, and I somehow ended up with this wide, short, mirror-symmetric oddity. Some of the corners and pockets may play like a tough themeless, but I hope the puzzle being "lightly themed"  overall will help you assemble everything together. I think this puzzle is a good example of something that could only ever appear on a crossword blog. Where else are you going to see a theme set consisting of just a 25 and a 15? (Speaking of which, I think the only possible connection I could make to the current holiday season is that one of the theme entries here is 25 letters long, and there's a holiday on the 25th this month. There's no special reason to run this puzzle this week; it's just what I happen to have r...

Minimal commentary this week as I'm in the midst of wrapping up a busy semester. This is a tough themeless puzzle that started with 16-Across and 19-Across, and then developed into an asymmetric grid to keep those two entries intact, and then became a real challenge when I wrote the clues. Hope it gives you a good mental workout. 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 ]

I've posted a lot of midi-sized themeless puzzles on this blog, and a handful of 15x ones (see here and here and here ), but this one feels like the first "proper themeless"  to me, for some reason. Maybe it's because I spent a little more time than usual on the fill and the clues. Maybe it's because, looking back at those other 15x puzzles, I realize I would do things differently now, even though they're not from all that long ago. Regardless, all of this is to say: I'm starting a new "Themeless" series right now with #1. I think this will be hard by my blog's standards because of some entries and clues, so I'll label it as such, but it might be much easier for you speed-solving whizzes out there, considering it has 74 words and not a ton of tricks. In other news: there's a few weeks left to support the Kickstarter campaign to expand the American Values Club Crossword (AVCX) . Even if you don't know what that is, just check ...

I have been working on variations of this theme for a while and I think something like this could work as a full-size puzzle, but this is the best I have so far. Let me know if you have similar ideas and want to discuss! (In particular, I wonder if something involving the  Four Tops might work...) This is also a funny grid with theme answers in the long downs crossing a central revealer, and with non-theme answers of the same length sandwiching that revealer. Perhaps not the best layout, in general, but I think it works out alright for this puzzle. And I hope you enjoy some of the bonus fill, including those central non-themers and the 7s in the top-right/bottom-left corners. In other news, I made my print puzzle debut* with the Universal crossword this past Saturday 11/13! (The puzzles are only available online for a couple of weeks afterwards so I can't link to it anymore. And to be honest, I didn't even get to see it in print myself until a couple weeks later because I assu...

This grid has mirror symmetry in both directions: left-right and top-bottom. What would you call that? I suppose it's not technically dual symmetry:  I think that means 90-degree-rotational symmetry in a square grid, but this grid here is rectangular, not square. Let me know if there's already a common term for this kind of double-mirror symmetry, or if you have an idea yourself! Regarding the stuff in  the grid: some fun long answers, some silly clues, and some educational clues (especially 20- and 21-Down, a person I want you to know about). But, overall, I tried not to make anything too challenging, so I hope this plays as a smooth medium  for you.  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 was inspired by 16-Down. As I note in the clue, my 3-year-old daughter loves the Cosmic Kids Yoga  YouTube channel : they have fun, interactive videos where the host, Jaime, tells a story that engages children through yoga poses. When I heard 16-Down mentioned in one video, I knew I had to make a rhyming theme around it, and I was lucky enough to find the other three answers you'll encounter in this grid. (And for 7-Down, I was lucky that it was actually "a thing"! I just thought of it as a rhyme but didn't know it was actually from a current show.) I think this will be fairly easy , overall: a few proper names, but some simple short fill, as well. 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 some experimentation with diagonal symmetry! I started this puzzle with the 14-Across / 3-Down crossing and tried to carve out some corners from there. The other spanners kinda fell into place, and I think the rest of the fill and clues are pretty fun and interesting. Let me know if this plays a little harder than usual; I tried to to make it tough but fair 😊 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 ]