Puzzle Thirty-Two: Summer Accessories (meta)

Hello solvers!

Be on the lookout for this Saturday's Universal crossword, entitled "Initial Directions," by yours truly. It features a grid that I'm particularly happy with. Many thanks to David Steinberg and Amanda Rafkin for their deft editing. 

It's time for another meta. Week 3 difficulty maybe?

The meta answer is a five-letter word for something you're likely to see at the beach in the summer. 

Thanks to Abide for test-solving.

Submit your responses before Tuesday, July 20 at 12 PM EST at the link below:

https://forms.gle/2ADo9AMQtJiy3Umu8

PDF / puz

Puzzle Thirty-One: Rare Design (Grid Charlemagne #1)

Back in May, Adam Aaronson released the first Grid Charlemagne – as you might expect, a Steely-Dan-themed crossword puzzle. Another followed in early June. Chris Adams got in on the action as well and now so have I. Apologies if you aren't down with the Dan. There is no .puz file posted because this design requires the AmuseMe applet. If you'd like a PDF, you can print that from within the applet as well. Enjoy. (And thanks to Chris and Quiara for test-solving.)

Puzzle Thirty: Takes Shorts (meta)

Meta answer is a two-word phrase. 

Answers go here:

https://forms.gle/MJ5v1LNk7fBF1rFw7

Deadline Tuesday, June 8, 12 PM EST. 

Congrats to Puzzle 28 winners Hector and FrankieHeck! 

PDF / puz

Puzzle Twenty-Nine: California Roll (freestyle)

Bonus puzzle today outside of the standard biweekly schedule. This past week saw the publication of a number of themelesses (see, e.g., Trent's and Quiara's) with equally rounded-off corners, what some call "cookie grids" and I privately think of as "sushi grids." I had been meaning to post this puzzle on a future date and figured I would bump it up. A slightly easier version has already appeared in Volume 2 of my puzzles in Redstone Games's Crossword Puzzle Free iPhone and Android app (there's also a paid version). 

It's about a year old at this point and contains three or four entries I might not use now, but I'm still fond of the long entries and one crossing in particular, though I can't say which without spoiling things. Hope you enjoy. 64 words / 43 blocks / 5/69 avg. length. 

puz / PDF

Puzzle Twenty-Eight: Opening Rounds (meta)

It's pretty hard to find clip art for this one without giving the answer away.

It's time for another meta. I'll call this one a Week 2.5. 

The meta answer is a two-word game. Submit your responses before Tuesday, May 25 at 12 PM EST at the link below:

https://forms.gle/3NdX8Gwqg1jEoraAA

Two winners will receive LD stickers.

Feel free to email with questions and comments.

Hint Policy: I don't give individual nudges. But if I get enough word from solvers that they're stuck, I will generally post one or more additional hints on the page and a notice of same on XWordMuggles, /r/crossword, and the Crosscord Discord server. So let me know if you're stuck, and where.

Congratulations to Puzzle 26 winners KitchenDiva and LuckyGuest! I'll post the explanation shortly.

PUZ / PDF

Puzzle Twenty-Seven: Shades of Red (freestyle)

Memorial to 32-Down in Zwickau, Saxony

Another freestyle on the hard side. 68 words.  Average word length 5.5 letters. Thanks to Quiara V. of QVXwordz for test-solving. She's got a new themeless up today so go solve that one too. 

TW: communism.

PUZ / PDF

Puzzle Twenty-Six: Pieces of Writing (meta)

Page from a draft of Randall Jarrell's "The Woman at the Washington Zoo," ca. 1960,
from UNC-Greensboro Special Collections

New full-size contest meta to celebrate National Poetry Month, which I have a sort of funny relationship with because I'm a poet myself and like all other poets I secretly want the attention poetry receives during April to last all year round. 

I'd put this one at a Week 1 or 2 on the Gaffney Scale, with the caveat that if you're not a devoted reader of US poetry you will likely need to do a little web searching to get the final answer. But the puzzle will show you what to look for, and that info should lead you to the answer regardless of your poetry knowledge. 

The meta answer is TWO American poets. It doesn't matter what order they're entered in, but you do need to enter their first and last names. 

Submit answers by Tuesday, April 27 at 12 PM at the link below:

https://forms.gle/7CgX8S6BoqLvjGZn9

Two winners will receive LD stickers.

Thanks to Abide and Will Nediger for test-solving. Feel free to email with questions and comments.

And lastly, And if you enjoyed this poetry-themed crossword, there have been at least two others recently that I highly recommend:

"The Cruellest Month" by Chris Piuma

"Voices" by Brooke Husic

PUZ / PDF