Beneath The Surface

PDF puz Online Solution I had to make a couple last-minute revisions to one of the marquee clues in this puzzle, first because its wordplay duped a grid entry (this probably isn't a puzzle killer, but I found it inelegant), and then because I accidentally slipped in an indirect anagram (which is  a no-no for many cryptic constructors, at least if you're striving to play fair with solvers). Suffice it to say there were lots of files to re-export and links to reset, but anyway, it's all here now with a couple hours to spare. I kind of like the layout here, a 28-word grid with all but two entries of length 6 or more. Hope you enjoy it!

I felt like practicing Printer's Devilry clue-writing so I made another 'impish' mini. This one is 6x6 with bars instead of blocks. Now, it turns out that Across Lite doesn't support barred crosswords (?), but PuzzleMe does. A quick tutorial in HTML editing and voila! You're welcome, computer solvers (but if you like paper solving, there's still a PDF). In my  first PD , all of the clues were examples of what could be called 'first-order' devilry, where removal of the hidden word from the clue passage only creates one new word (by joining the remaining ends of the original undevilled words). This puzzle contains several examples of higher-order devilry where the removal's effects extend beyond the resection point, such as 2A, 5A, and 4D. When making sense of these clues, the important thing to remember is that the original order of letters in the clue is unaltered .  Entries in this grid include one proper noun. Incidentally, the proper noun entry (n...

PDF PUZ online Solution Hope you enjoy this one! You can now find Beneath The Surface puzzles on Matt Gritzmacher's Daily Crossword Links newsletter! Sign up  here .

PDF PUZ Solution This is my first try at a ' Printer's Devilry '. The standard PD is a barred 12x12 grid, but I decided to practice by making a 5x5 mini with a cryptic-style block pattern, hence 'Printer's Impishness'. Printer's Devilry puzzles use a very different cluing style to that found in American crosswords and cryptics. Their nearest cousin is the 'hidden' cryptic clue, but they operate in reverse. Here's my version of the general instructions: Each clue in this puzzle is a complete sentence from which the constructor has removed a hidden word, closing up the gap and sometimes changing the punctuation but leaving the remaining letters in their original order. When reconstructed, the original sentences should make reasonable sense. Example : Cases are a staple of action movies. Answer: ARCH – C ar ch ases are a staple of action movies. If you haven't done a PD before, and want to see one deconstructed, here's an analysis of a recen...

I used the entry at this puzzle's 14-Across as the 1-Across entry, with a similar clue, for a cryptic I wrote for work colleagues last spring. I like this particular &lit surface a lot and couldn't resist using it again here.  PDF PUZ online Solution

Updated March 4 I was inspired to make a pangram midi last spring when Sid Sivakumar featured a few examples on his site. The original version of this puzzle, written in May 2020, had slightly different corners. In preparing to post it here, I added another pair of black squares to smooth out some less desirable entries. For those not familiar with the pangram midi format, here's the basic brief: every letter appears at least once in the solution. Solvers must work out where to place the answers--there is only one correct way to place all the entries in the grid. Solver can choose from two sets of clues: Regular and Challenging. For an extra dimension of difficulty, each clue set comes with a "plus" version in which enumerations are omitted. Enjoy! Regular (PDF) Regular+ (PDF) Challenging (PDF) Challenging+ (PDF) Solution

 Hello and welcome! pdf puz online solution