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...

  I started off wanting to make a nice, medium puzzle, or at least one for which I could write both easy and hard clues. But I was also feeling inspired by some recent themeless puzzles I've solved* that feature wide open grids with lots of white space, especially around the middle. I'm thinking of Ryan McCarty's "Chasm" McGrids , some of Brooke Husic's demi themeless grids , and Will Nediger's Freeform Freestyles , among others. * well, I admired the grids and filled in a few squares, but "solved" is generous This puzzle is my humble attempt at those kind of grids, but on a much more manageable (for this mere mortal) 10x10 scale. In the process of keeping the middle of this grid open, I ended up with some challenging but gettable fill. And then I kept coming up with pretty hard (I think) clues, so I gave up on the easy/medium possibilities and just tried to make this really tough but hopefully still fair. If it proves too tough, check back this ...