I felt inspired to construct over the last few days for the first time in a while and ended up with this wide midi puzzle that's lightly themed and probably not too challenging. I hoped to post this yesterday, Tuesday, but didn't quite finish in time. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf solve fullscreen solution

Just a quick break from themelesses for this silly little puzzle, inspired by a phrase that came up in conversation. Warning: one theme entry has some vulgar language; not recommended for kids. Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf fullscreen solution

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

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...

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: [ ...

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 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 ]

Just another small themeless puzzle this week. I quite like this grid layout because it has both 90° and 180° rotational symmetry and no 3s!  Indeed, the length distribution goes like this: 16 x 4 letter entries, 16 x 6 letter entries, 4 x 7 letter entries, and 2 x 11 letter entries. (In fact, if you shorten those fingers of blocks to be all three squares long instead of four, that makes the grid much more chasm -like in the center and opens up four more 11 letter slots around the middle.  Hmm, I wonder if I could actually fill that grid...) 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 a 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 ]

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 ]

This puzzle was inspired by a Tweet that I caught on my feed a few months ago. When I saw it, I said, "BINGO, rhyme time puzzle right there!" I was happy to think of a third rhyme to round out the set and then this little puzzle fell into place. [SPOILER alert: here's that Tweet .] I typically aim for these rhyme time puzzles to be pretty easy, so I thought I'd change it up and make this one a little more challenging. I think the fill is pretty fair, but there are more tricks and misdirects in the clues than usual. So, I'm calling this one hard  but I think it's more of a fun, just past medium  and less of a mind-bending hard . Big thanks to all-star test solver Norah Sharpe for trying the puzzle and pointing me to a section that needed improving. I think this version is much better, thanks to her feedback. Speaking of Norah and midi puzzles, after solving this one, you should go to her site for Bricks , a series of fun 9x9s (which are also available on the R...

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 ]

  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 ]

  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 ]

  This one almost looks and feels like a themeless puzzle, with this wide open grid. Indeed, just 6 blocks in a 7x10 grid amounts to 6/70 = 3/35 ≈ 8.57% of the grid, which is the lowest I've been able to achieve in any puzzle. Still, I think the shorter fill and knowing the rhyming theme will help you crack into the puzzle. Just now when I did the calculation 3/35 , I noticed a pattern in the decimal digits that is quite interesting and reminds me of another fantastic number: 142,857. If you multiply that number by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, the result is a cyclic permutation of the same digits; for instance, 142,857 × 4 = 571,428, found by starting at the 5 and "wrapping around." I'll leave it to you to read a bit about this number and it's connection to 1/7, and then ponder why you think that same pattern shows up in the 3/35 calculation I mentioned. Finally, this is set to post on the Friday just before the 1st week of classes of my Fall 2021 semester. I expect to be p...

  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 ]