Something different today: a 7x7 easy, themed mini designed for kids! My daughter is off to kindergarten in a few weeks (😲) so I've been spending a lot of time with her this summer (🤗). She has enjoyed working on the Grids for Kids puzzle pack  with me, so I wanted to make a special puzzle just like those but with some of her interests included. The paired theme answers here (9-Across and 12-Across) fit together well and reference some books she has been loving, too. She ended up "solving" the puzzle with lots of guidance from me, but I do believe it's doable by anyone who is able to read the clues. (If you're so inclined, please try it for yourself and let me know what you think about the age-level.) Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf fullscreen solution

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...

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 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 ]

Just a fun and easy rhyme time puzzle! This was inspired by hearing 23-Across in a TV show and quickly realizing that 17-Across could go with it. I searched my brain and the internet for other possibilities but nothing good came up (although I did find  [theme spoiler alert!]   this obscure tumblr blog  that you may very well be interested in). This is my first time sharing a puzzle with  mirror symmetry , as well! I like how this grid fits the two theme answers and several long down bonuses, and I'm hoping the abundance of 3s and 4s will make this one truly  easy-peasy  and fun to solve . 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 ]

  Special bonus puzzle this week! I already have a post staged for tomorrow (Friday) morning, as usual. But, I was reading an article earlier today and realized that a lot of relevant words match lengths and...  well, a couple hours later, this puzzle was the result. Whether or not you know the theme answers, I'm hoping you'll enjoy the puzzle and find it smooth-sailing, overall. (And if this one is fun, perhaps I'll share similar puzzles like this in the future, making this one of a series...) When you're done, you can find the article I was reading SPOILER ALERT!!! 👉  here . 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 the closest to a "standard" 15x15 themed crossword puzzle that I've posted in awhile, so I hope you enjoy! The idea was inspired by an upcoming event at my place of employment, and I found a couple of entries to go along with that one. Overall, I'm calling it a "mini theme" because it's not especially inventive or tricky, but it's just enough for a fun, little puzzle like this one 😊 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 ]

  As promised in the previous post , here is a (hopefully) nice and easy puzzle for your weekend! I made some tweaks to the 10x10 themeless grids I've been using lately and ended up with this one: there's a ton of 3s and 6s and not much else. Some of the 6s form a theme, too, and I bet I'll be able to make more like this, which is why I've labeled this (ambitiously, perhaps) as #1 in a series. As usual, some inspiration came from my life, as my 3-year-old daughter has been all about rhyming lately. (Example: "Cucumber the bucumber the doocumber!") We've also read the book referenced in 6-Down a lot recently. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. (In particular, I'm wondering... is this too easy?  More like this one? More like this but harder? Let me know 😊) Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]        Direct link: [ play online ]

New themeless puzzle today! A few entries and clues were inspired by recent events and pop culture, and I'm also continuing to experiment with grid designs (which I'll say more about in the "harder clues" post ).  This post has the "easier clues" version of this puzzle. As with the last midi themeless puzzle , I had my parents in mind as a stereotypical solver for this version, so I'm hoping these clues are doable for them and enjoyable for anyone else out there reading. I specifically tried to make some of the shorter clues really easy so that you can make inroads on the longer entries and, hey, maybe you'll learn a few fun things, too! (If you're looking for more of a challenge, click this link here for the "harder clues" version of this very same puzzle.) Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]

I'm having a lot of fun making these 10x10 themeless puzzles, so here's another! On the constructor side of things, I am finding these immensely helpful for pruning my word list and gaining experience in filling a grid with decent entries. On the solver side, I hope these "bite-size" puzzles are quick and fun. And just like with the previous puzzle, I've written two sets of clues for this puzzle so you can choose the challenge that is appropriate for your level. This post has the "easier clues"  version of this puzzle. While writing these clues, I honestly had my parents in mind! They've told me my puzzles are tough for them, so I'm hoping this one is... well, maybe not necessarily super easy , but I did try to make sure this one is doable for them :-) (If you're looking for more of a challenge, click this link here for the  "harder clues"  version of this very same puzzle.) Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedba...

I'm continuing to work on themeless puzzles this week, and I'm finding these 10x10 puzzles to be a good size for practicing filling and cluing. They've helped me hone my word list and problem-solving skills while constructing. For this particular puzzle, I wanted to work on cluing and setting an appropriate level of difficulty. To do that, I actually wrote two different sets of clues for the same puzzle. I'm calling them the "easier clues" and the "harder clues" because I'm only certain of how they compare to each other. For y'all out there solving: I'm hoping you might share your thoughts about which version you tried and whether it played to your expectations. Below is the "easier clues" version, both in the embedded applet and the download links. Click this link here to open a post for the "harder clues" version of the same puzzle. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is alway...

I'm trying out some theme ideas these days, and this is one that screams "fun blog puzzle!" I even posted a question on Twitter about where to submit a puzzle like this, and I want to thank @eliabroadbk and @rafaxword for testing the puzzle, sharing some suggestions, and helping me to eventually realize that I should just post it here for anyone to try. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! Constructive feedback in the comments is always welcome. Download links:   [ puz ]   [ pdf ]   [ solution ]