Some puzzles have themes, and some puzzles don’t, and some puzzles are in a weird liminal place, like this one. Also, this was my first collaborative puzzle! It’s by me and Brian Thomas, whose puzzles can be found on Puzzles that Need a Home. Brian was a lot of fun to collaborate with, and definitely pushed me to find things I might not have looked for on my own. So yes, enjoy the puzzle, check out Brian’s back catalogue, and hang out with us on my daily crossword stream (11am Eastern, 8am Pacific).
Skeddadle squabble
My brain was white noise yesterday (hmm, wonder why). I made this puzzle in order to give it something to focus on. If you need a chewy, unfair, hopelessly unbalanced puzzle today—perhaps while standing in a long line, or while trying to avoid the news—well, here you go. I promise there’s nothing topical in it. And if you’re phone banking today, hey, this puzzle will be here when you’re done.
Ten letters in circles
Normally, in North American–style crosswords, every letter in the grid is expected to be “checked”—which is to say, used in more than one clue. That way if you can’t get a letter one way, you can get it another way. It’s a pretty clever idea. But lately I’ve been thinking about what exactly it means for a letter to be used in more than one clue. Here’s another experiment along those lines.
Also, do what you want to make the puzzle more fun—reveal a few letters, google something, whatever. I want my puzzles to be challenging to get on your own, because I like a good chewy NYTimes Saturday–style puzzle, but there’s no wrong way to solve a puzzle. But I like it when I finish a puzzle and want to find out more about something I encountered there, and I’ll put a few (spoileriffic) links below the puzzle if you’re curious.
For more information (these are all spoilers for the puzzle): 24-Across (but more importantly). 33-Across. 34-Across. 47-Across. 13-Down. 38-Down (and then this!).
Sweaty spaghetti (Mikeystyle #6)
Mikey has other interests beyond not solving crossword puzzles, you know! So I made this puzzle to amuse him. Maybe it’ll amuse you too?
Also! I have a guest puzzled called “My name is Fifteen” up over at Ada Nicolle’s excellent site! She often hangs out during my morning crossword streams, and she makes delightful crosswords, and so I’m glad she was willing to give this puzzle a home. It was inspired by a certain Crosswordy Discord’s love of fifteen-letter phrases...
Huff, huff, cough
This circle-in-a-circle is not the end of my circle exploration, but I kind of never want to clue this many answers again. So the next one might be a collab. We’ll see. Enjoy!
