Beneath The Surface

  PDF  -  puz  -  solution July's puzzle is a regular midi. Enjoy!

  PDF  -  puz  -  solution Back to a regular cryptic this month - enjoy!

  PDF  -  puz  -  solution While cluing this puzzle I decided to create a seasonal mini-theme. Can you spot it? Enjoy! Also, hope to see some of you at ACPT!

  PDF  -  puz  -  solution I realized yesterday that I didn't have a March puzzle ready, so I threw together this 9x9. Thanks to Evan Jenkins for testing. As it happens this is also my 50th puzzle on this blog, which is a nice milestone. Enjoy!

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution For this month's midi cryptic, I chose to go with a grid highlighting 11-letter answers. Thanks to Evan Jenkins for test-solving and helping to improve 9A and 9D. Enjoy!

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution Here's my first midi of 2026! Hope you enjoy solving it. Thanks to Evan Jenkins for testing.

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution Hope my last midi of 2025 contributes a little more delight to your festive puzzling season! See you in 2026.

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution Well, I didn't expect there would be a gap of a few months between my last puzzle and this one, so apologies for the lack of activity here recently. Simply put, I didn't have much time to make cryptics, mainly due to demands in my day job. Also, I had some other crossword projects that needed attention, especially getting ready for the Midwest Crossword Tournament last month, where I was one of the constructors (a personal milestone, and a huge blast to boot!). Finally, I managed enough time this past week to throw together this midi and get it tested (thanks as ever to Evan Jenkins for testing it out). I think I should be able to make another midi next month, and then it will be time to reflect on where this blog goes in 2026. Solvers of The Browser's weekly cryptic will know that their run of puzzles will wrap at the end of 2025. I'm fortunate to have one more puzzle in the queue there so look out for it (likely ...

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution My favorite clue here is 8 (I'm a fan of the original source materials for the surface, though I've not kept up with the more recent entrants to its canon).  Have fun and stay cool! Back next month.

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution A midi for the month of May! I used this puzzle to practice with some wordplay that I feel I've underused in my work to date. Hope you'll enjoy it!

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution PDF Another regular midi for you to enjoy this month!

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  Solution PDF Happy New Year! Here is a new midi cryptic (11x11). I've resolved this year to return to regular monthly blog puzzles - 12 new puzzles (at a minimum) for the year ahead. One important programming change - I don't plan to make standard 15x15 cryptics a regular feature going forward. Instead, the blog will feature a mix of smaller regular cryptics (minis and midis) and variety puzzles. Happy solving and check back in February for a fresh puzzle!

  pdf  /  puz  /  online  /  solution pdf Midi cryptic (11x11 blocked) this month, and I hope you'll like it! Please do chime in with your thoughts on the puzzle. I'm especially happy with the surface at 5D, which alludes to my first date with my wife at a Chicago beer garden. (Spoiler warning! I'm going to talk a bit about Cryptic #16 " Delivery Confirmation " after the jump. If you haven't done it yet, go check it out!)

  pdf  -  puz  -  online  -  solution Happy New Year! It's been several months since I wrote any kind of cryptic crossword, but the start of 2023 felt like a good time to get back into it. In comparison to 2021, when I managed to post at least one puzzle a month here, 2022 was a much more challenging year in terms of competing demands on construction time (namely, work and caring for a toddler). My resolution for 2023 is to try to be more on top of time management for construction as well as being flexible in terms of what I'm putting up here, so that I can post more regularly. That could mean more midi-sized puzzles like today's offering, but I'll try to get at least a few more full-sized cryptics up in the coming months. In the meantime, hope you enjoy this puzzle, and thank you for stopping by!