puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

We’re back to themelessness on the blog this week. Seed entry was the spanner at 8-Down.

Inspiration for the title, though: well, it’s 17-Across, and if you know, you know. Even with that on the table, my favorite clues here have to be 5-Down and 46-Down (spoilers at all the links, and the 46-D one, if you’re anywhere close to my age, will push some nostalgia buttons pretty hard).

Comments welcomed, as ever. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, yall, and the next time you see Taylor Dayne, be sure to tell her you love her voice.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

We’ve got a themed puzzle on the blog this week. Keeping the commentary short this time. Favorite clue: 41-Across. If you don’t know the tune (or haven’t heard it in years), please enjoy. (Spoiler at the link, of course.) It’s always fun when I can bring something new to a piece of otherwise dull fill.

Hey, it’s the second week of the Boswords Fall Themeless League, and it’s not too late for you to sign up and catch up on the first couple of puzzles. Those folks do great work, and it’s great to have an online crossword tournament that doesn’t require competing at one set point in the week. Check it out and join!

As always, comments welcomed here. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, yall.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

I just had a great puzzling weekend. While I wasn’t able to get to the Midwest Crossword Tournament in person this year, I did compete in the online competition this past Saturday and came in third in the Chicago Fire division. If you didn’t take part, you can still buy the puzzles from the link above… and I’d encourage you to do just that.

And coming soon: I’ve got tomorrow’s mini puzzle (Wednesday the 7th) over at Bonmo (formerly Crossword Flow) for all you iPad solvers. And this Sunday the 11th, the Universal Sunday puzzle is a collaboration between my pal Kareem Ayas and me. It’s my first-ever published 21×21 puzzle (if you don’t count those that have appeared on this blog). Hope you’ll enjoy!

This week’s themeless on the blog takes its title inspiration from 1-Across as well as, I suppose, 10-Down. Not a lot of misdirection in this one, but I’ll still say my favorite clue is 39-Down.

As always, comments are welcomed here. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, friends.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

Two quick announcements: I’ve heard from some solvers that the embedded puzzle player above isn’t always showing up for everyone. If that’s the case, try 1) refreshing the page, 2) clicking the full screen link, or 3) trying a different browser. At least one of those should work, and if it doesn’t please let me know in the comments.

Also: this Thursday, October 1, the USA Today puzzle is by me. Please check it out at their site or over at GoComics.

This week, it’s a themed puzzle, and it should be a pretty smooth solve overall, though those corner stacks of 7-letter entries going down might put up a small fight here and there. Favorite clue: yeah, it’s 30-Down.

As always, comments welcomed here, folks. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, yall.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

This week, the blog offers a 68-word themeless, which is considered a somewhat low word count as themelesses go. Many solvers associate lower word counts with higher difficulty, which isn’t necessary the case all the time. The cluing on this one is not full of misdirects, but I’ve given you some trivia clues that might require some crossings to crack… which means there are some more straightforward things sprinkled about to help you gain a foothold (I hope). The cluing giveth and the cluing taketh away, I suppose.

Also, as I constructed this one, we wound up with a lot of sneaky vibes in some long entries, hence the title. Enjoy the long down spanner too!

As always, yall, comments are welcomed here. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, friends.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

Keeping it pretty short here this week, but I can tell you this: the seed entry was 25-Across, it’s a total jam, it’s the source of the title (along with, arguably, 11-Down), and if you click that link (spoilers ahead, obviously), it’ll be stuck in your head all day. That’s it.

Favorite clue: 17-Across.

As always, comments welcomed. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, friends.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

Back to a themeless here this week, as usual. This Saturday I’ve got a puzzle over at Bonmo (formerly Crossword Flow) for all you iPad solvers. Please enjoy that one this weekend!

This week’s puzzle came out of playing around with themeless grid design, mainly seeing if I could do those offset stacks of mid-length and long entries at top and bottom. It took some doing to make it all work, especially with the triple-stacks of downs, but I’m happy with the result, even as it’s all a touch heavy on the proper names.

Favorite clue: 43-Across. That struggle is real.

As always, yall, comments are welcomed here. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, friends.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

It’s the rare themed puzzle on the blog again. Because why not. I also sense this is some of the most gentle cluing I’ve posted here in a while. Take it easy, especially if you’re one of those folks who says that since it’s not Labor Day yet, it’s still summer (I’m three weeks into a school year, but hey, you do you). Enjoy the chill solve.

Coming up soon: I’ve got the themeless Saturday over at the LA Times, just ahead on the 5th. Check it out over at their site or on GoComics.

As always, yall, comments are welcomed. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, friends.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

This past week’s AVCX Classic is a very silly puzzle by me, but silly is not a crime. Check it out here if you’re a subscriber (and if you’re not, you should be, as all the branches of AVCX do great stuff). Also, I’ve got this Thursday’s midi over at Puzzmo; please enjoy.

The blog puzzle this time around is back to your usual themeless. Seed entry was 62-Across; if you don’t know the lovely track in the clue, give it a listen (spoiler at link). Favorite clue: well, I do like some of the misdirects in here, but it’s 55-Across.

As always, comments welcomed here (even though last few weeks I’ve been neglectful in responding to them… I’m catching up!). Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, friends.

puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here

Today’s Universal puzzle is a themed collaboration by my Lil AVCX pal Geoffrey Schorkopf and me. Check it out at GoComics or over at the Globe and Mail site!

Speaking of themes, the rare themed puzzle shows up on the blog this week. I came up with this concept and theme set, built the grid and all… and then found that another version of this general idea showed up elsewhere in publication not too long ago. It happens! That means I’d rather not send it out, but I’m glad to share it here for your enjoyment. Favorite clue: 46-Down is a touch stretchy, maybe, but I like it. But let’s be real here, 33-Down is the one (IYKYK, while we’re getting initial-y).

As always, comments welcomed here. Happy solving, friends. Hope you enjoy.