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 ]

Here's a 66-word themeless puzzle. I hope the clues make you think a little bit, and maybe some will make you smile, as well. I chuckle at the juxtaposition of 15-Across on top of 17-Across, and I also like the clues for 5-Down, 12-Down, and 57-Across. I feel very much out of the loop with crossworld lately and, just in general, pretty overwhelmed with work and life and everything going on in the universe. If you're feeling the same, I hope a puzzle (maybe even this one) can provide you some helpful and satisfying mental respite. And best wishes to everyone participating in ACPT  this weekend. Solvers: may your words flow smoothly and quickly from brain to paper! Constructors: may your puzzles receive nothing but praise and admiration! Anyway, 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 ]

  I like experimenting with different size grids that support theme sets that probably otherwise wouldn't appear in standard puzzle outlets. This one started with 19-Across, and then I found 24-Across and 36-Across in a word list, and that seemed like enough for a puzzle, even though it's not a particularly inventive theme. Maybe this is more like a midpoint between a fully themeless puzzle (with no "connective tissue" among the entries) and a fully themed puzzle (with a tightly-defined, exhaustive set of theme entries); hence, the "lightly themed" tag on this post. However you interpret it, I think there are some fun entries and clues in this one, and solving will hopefully teach you some things and tickle your brain. 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 ]