Beneath The Surface

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  Solution Bonus offering this month with another midi cryptic, this time 11x11 (blocked grid). Hope you enjoy it! See you next month with a new full-size cryptic!

[ PDF ] [ puz ] [ online ] [ Solution ] Every Tuesday on Twitter, constructor Stella Zawistowski (@stellaphone) runs a cryptic clue contest, where folks are invited to create and vote on clues for words from her #crypticclueaday tutorial series. Last year I submitted entries for 25 contests, and when it came time to construct this month's blog cryptic, I felt the timing was ideal to look back at my creations and select a handful of my favorites* to seed a grid. Contest clues are indicated by date. (NB: the dates don't play any role in solving the clues) Thanks once again to Evan Jenkins for testing this month's puzzle. Hope you enjoy it. Happy New Year! *Incidentally, the clue for 25 tied for first place in the contest that week. My outright favorite of the group in this puzzle is 16A, with 10 close behind.

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  Solution Thanks to Evan Jenkins for test-solving this month's cryptic. Hope you enjoy it!

  PDF  /  puz  /  online  /  Solution PDF Hot off the press with this month's cryptic. Thanks to Evan Jenkins for test solving and providing feedback to tidy up a couple clues. Like some of my earlier cryptics, this one began with the four longest entries in the middle of the puzzle. 16A allowed the use of a rarer cryptic mechanism that I hope provides a nice "aha moment". Happy solving!

 [ PDF ] [ Online ] [ Solution ] It's been a few months since my last puzzle in the PD genre, and what better time time than Halloween to have some devilish  wordplay fun? After writing two minis earlier this year, I wanted to see what I could make work in a slightly larger grid. Most PDs I've seen are 12x12 barred grids with the longest entries being 9-10 letters long, such as this Azed grid which includes THUNDER GOD, INTERSTATE, ORCHESTRAL, etc. As a start I settled on an 8x8 grid with the longest answers being 6 or 7 letters. As mentioned in the instructions, the undeviled passage at 15-Down reconstitutes two proper nouns. There was a debate in my mind about whether this mechanism would be fair play; but in the end I went with it for several reasons, chiefly that I spent a long time investigating alternatives and could not come up with anything better! Besides, the undeviled passage makes sense, the two propers should be recognizable, and the solver has crossings for all ...

 [ PDF ] [ puz ] [ online ] [ solution ] We're back on schedule this month. This puzzle has slightly more anagrams/jumble mechanisms than most of my other cryptics to date, but also a couple rarer mechanisms to keep solvers on their toes. Oh, and if you don't get how 28-Across works, just keep looking at the clue a little longer--hope you'll get a nice 'aha!' moment out of it. Bonus variety puzzle coming Halloween weekend, and then another cryptic next month. Happy solving!

  PDF  -  puz  -  online  -  solution Lots of assorted family visits and other goings-on, plus a good deal of time needed for American-style crosswords (wrote and submitted a couple solo puzzles, plus working on two collaborations, including an upcoming debut publication for a mentee), means this month's cryptic is late--but better late than never! Thanks to Evan Jenkins for testing this out and suggesting some ways to tighten up the clues. I'll be aiming to get the October puzzle up on the 13th, but October's often a busy month at work so we'll see how things play out. Happy solving!