Puzzle Ninety-Nine: Go Right Ahead Then (themeless)

Not-too-tough themeless today.

.puz / PDF 

I haven't mentioned this in ages, but the blog has a mailing list that sends PUZ and PDF files right to your inbox, plus bits of news that might not make it to the blog. If you'd like to be added, use the contact form on the site or email me at lexicondevillive /at/ outlook /dot/ com.

Slowly readying the 100th puzzle for the blog's fifth(!?) anniversary. Did I say puzzle? Singular? There might be more than one. 

I'm a regular taker of Buzzfeed trivia quizzes but hadn't realized until the other day that I could just make my own. My first attempt (I tried to give it a Buzzfeed-y title): If You Can Get Seven Or More Of These Shakespeare Trivia Questions Correct, You Are A Literary Expert.

Made by Richard D. Allen using PuzzleMe's online crossword generator

Puzzle Ninety-Eight: Cloud Storage (variety cryptic)

"Super Mario Clouds" by Cory Arcangel

The Lexicon Devil variety cryptic: a Packing Crates puzzle somewhere between midi and full-size. Includes a couple of risqué clues. You've been warned. Hope you enjoy!

The hard version requires solvers to find the box locations themselves.

Easy: .ipuz .jpz Hard: PDF Excel

Puzzle Ninety-Seven: Any Day Now

Still putting finishing touches on the JPZ version of the variety cryptic I promised, so here's a themed puzzle I hope you enjoy. .puz / PDF

As I approach the 100th puzzle here, and the blog's fifth anniversary (which I think is in August or September; hopefully I haven't missed it), I keep trying to think of ideas for a really cool meta puzzle of some sort and all I can think is that it will never be as good as Puzzle #100 on Paolo Pasco's blog Grids These Days, the mindbending "Remedial Chaos Theory," which you are required to attempt if you are reading this and haven't done so already. Paolo has constructed some other legendary metas, like his puzzle "The Butterfly Effect" for Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest; his July 2023 Barbenheimer puzzle for AVCX, and the meta puzzle he printed one copy of and left on the giveaway table at ACPT 2023. I solved it from a photo taken by Stella Zawistowski, who retrieved it; you really may have to do some legwork to find that one, but it will be worth it.

And you might notice the PayPal donate button below (again). As discussed in more detail in my last post, I have some extra bills to pay at the moment. So if you've enjoyed the puzzles on the site and care to donate a small amount to support it, I'd be grateful.

 

Constructed by Richard D. Allen using PuzzleMe's crossword generator

Puzzle Ninety-Six: Snack Break

I've always been fond of this puzzle (I actually thought I'd published this puzzle a while back). No .puz file, but you can download and print a PDF through the PuzzleMe applet below.

A Trans Person Made Your Puzzle just launched. Get a set of puzzles from an all-star list of trans and nonbinary constructors, including Ada Nicolle and Francis Heaney, for a donation of $10 or more to a US charity that aids transgender people. 

Up shortly: some cryptic puzzles I've been toiling upon with the help of better clue-writers than I.

And you might notice the PayPal donate button below, which hasn't appeared on the site in.a couple of years. I kind of hate to ask for money given all the other people in the world who need it more, but due to illness and death in my family, I had to take about four months away from work earlier this year, and though I have savings, I didn't budget for that, and bills have piled up. The cost of operating the site is only about $150 a year, but it takes a lot of time to make these puzzles, imperfect as they may be, especially the meta puzzles, which I'd estimate take about 10 hours a month to construct, post and do followup for (giving nudges, writing up answers, emailing winners, etc), which is why they don't always show up on the last Thursday of the month like I mean them to. So if you've enjoyed the puzzles on the site and care to donate a small amount to support it, I'd be grateful.

 

Constructed by Richard D. Allen with the crossword puzzle creator from Amuse Labs

Puzzle Ninety-Five: Colorful Character (meta)

 Easy (and small) one this time.

I had the Universal crossword back on February 18 if you want to backtrack, it should still be available.

The meta answer is a cartoon character. Entries are due at 12 PM, Friday, March 7.

Submit answers via Crosshare link below, which also provides PDF and .puz downloads. 

Puzzle Ninety-Four: The Limits of My Language (18x15 themeless)

My wife challenged me to construct a puzzle with 40-Across as a seed entry. 2 years later, it's here.

.puz / PDF

Apologies for the lack of a January contest meta, and for the delay in posting answers for Thanks I Hate It from October and the Super Secret Contest Meta, whose deadline was December 31. I have been dealing with a whole lot since December and where I have a number of non-meta puzzles already in the queue, I haven't had the mental energy to create a contest meta in a couple of months. I hope to bring it back, but for now the meta contest has to go on hiatus. 

I have a Universal puzzle set to run on February 18. I posted a few new PuzzGrids (Connections / Only Connect-style puzzles) this fall. And if you're a National Puzzle League member, I debuted as a contributor to The Enigma last issue with two flats.

Puzzle Ninety-Three: Reach for the Stars (meta)

Cassette cover scan by Rene Walter.

Once you're done with this puzzle, take a moment to check out my AVCX Classic puzzle, published yesterday: "All-Around Incredible," and my article on Crossword Craze, a chronicle of notable moments in crossword history during the pivotal year of 1924, about Foster's Cross-Word Puzzles, a short-lived crossword variant.

The meta answer is something that might be in the stars for a star. PDF and .puz available through Crosshare below. The deadline is 12 PM EST, Thursday, December 12, 2024.