Took a few weeks off, but I'm back with a 15x themeless! Construction started with the 1-Across/54-Across combo, then some of the criss-crossing 15s, and then everything else fell into place. This ended up with a pretty low word count (an ol' 66er ) so I tried to crank up the clue difficulty to match, hence the categorization as "extra hard." Please let me know if this ended up too  hard (or still too easy?). Enjoy the solve, and share if you do! puz pdf fullscreen solution

There's a triple stack of 15s in this puzzle, and the entry right in the middle is where my construction started (and where your post-solve listening should begin). I'm thinking this will be kinda challenging in some spots and not so bad in others, but I'll give it a "hard" label to be safe.  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: [ ...

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 ]