Puzzle #203: A Leaf Falls (After E. E. Cummings)

I have to admit, I would have preferred the falling leaves in this puzzle (pdf, puz, pdf solution) to be precisely symmetrical. But after all, the Cummings poem that inspired it isn't quite symmetrical either, and if a slight asymmetry is good enough for Cummings, it's good enough for me.

Puzzle #202: I'll Get to It Eventually

Here's a lightly themed 66-worder (pdf, puz, pdf solution) - if you don't get around to it right away, I hope you get around to it eventually!

Indie puzzle highlights: February 2023

February 12: All I Want for Christmas Is You (Brendan Emmett Quigley, The Hub)

February 17: Extra Sauce (Brandon Koppy, See 17 Across)

February 19: Secular Constitution (Ross Trudeau, Rossword Puzzles)

February 20: Untitled (Juliana Pache, Black Crossword)

February 24: Pets and Poker (Carly Schuna, AVCX+)

February 25: Themeless 32 (Paolo Pasco, Grids These Days)

February 25: 7 by 7 (Mikey G, Crosshare)

February 26: To Infinity and Beyond (Elise Corbin, Cruciverbology)

February 28: mommy don't know (themeless) (Ada Nicolle, Luckystreak+)

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All I Want for Christmas Is You (Brendan Emmett Quigley)

OK, given the theme, this presumably first ran in print back in December, but it landed in my inbox in February, so I'm counting it. Despite the fact that the theme is entirely predictable based on the title, I still found it delightfully specific; the theme entries are all Christmas-related phrases with a U added, with results that are wacky in a characteristically BEQ way: MIDNIGHT UMASS, TOYS FOR TOUTS, HARK THE HERALD/ANGELS SUING, THE LITTLE/DRUMMER BUOY, DURESS AS SANTA, PAUPER CHAINS, and VIRGIN MOUTHER (that last one clued as [One who's never lip-synced before?]). I don't know if it's intentional, but I also like that SAVIOUR is in the fill: a Christmas-adjacent word that has a U in there because it's the British spelling.

Extra Sauce (Brandon Koppy)

Some really nice cluing in this themeless. Granted, [French toast] for A VOTRE SANTE is a bit of a chestnut, and I've definitely seen the misdirect in [DC paper of note] for DAILY PLANET before, but that's just scratching the surface: we've also got [Gets darker during the day] for SUNTANS, [Fun-gicide?] for PARTY POOPER, [Meal served with extra sauce] for BOOZY BRUNCH, [One picking up speed] for RADAR GUN, [Slips between the covers?] for ERRATA PAGES, and more. And it's all anchored by a pair of intersecting stagger stacks, which is always tough to pull off but is done here with aplomb.

Secular Constitution (Ross Trudeau)

"Separation of church and state" is one of those phrases that just feels like it should be a revealer, but it's one thing to notice that and another thing entirely to come up with an elegantly crafted execution, as Ross routinely does. In this case, we have the names of three churches (ANGLO-CATHOLIC, EASTERN ORTHODOX, and UNITED METHODIST) from which a state abbreviation (CA, OR, and ME, respectively) has been separated by moving up or down a row in the grid. I'm no theist but it seems like a miracle that Ross found a set that works symmetrically.

Untitled (Juliana Pache)

These minis are so consistent that I could've picked practically any of them for this roundup - they're all squeaky-clean grids packed with Black content without seeming to break a sweat. It helps that the grids are generally free of crosswordese and filled with entries that can be clued in all sorts of ways - here, for example, we've got RED clued with a Malcolm X reference, PAINT clued with an "Ice Cream Paint Job" reference, TRIED clued as part of a song by The Internet, and more.

Pets and Poker (Carly Schuna)

A really zingy, prototypically indie themeless, with lots of fresh stuff that wasn't on my wordlist but should have been: MOSHABLE, WHAT IS TIME, THICK THIRTY, CAPTION THIS. The 1-Across clue, [Catrick Swayze and Winnie the Poodle, for two] for PUNS, sets the tone for the rest of the puzzle, which is lightly fun throughout.

Themeless 32 (Paolo Pasco)

If there's any constructor who can commit to the bit, it's Paolo. Here, he completes a bit that he started exactly five years ago with a puzzle based on the Rocky Horror quote "I see you shiver with antici... pation." The original puzzle never completed the quote, but this puzzle finally brings it home with [DOT][DOT][DOT]PATION in the central Across slot. Admirable restraint - I would've waited maybe a month, if it were me. If you never saw that puzzle (in which case you should really start solving Paolo's back catalog), this one is also just great fun as a themeless.

7 by 7 (Mikey G)

This one's an ongoing meta contest so I won't spoil anything. All I'll say is that it's very elegantly conceived, in a subtle way!

To Infinity and Beyond (Elise Corbin)

Props to Elise for being one of the very few indie constructors who regularly goes all out, themewise. You can usually expect something pretty high-concept, and this is as high-concept as it gets. There are two grids that can interlock to form an infinite loop - you can place one inside the other, making legit words in each slot where the grids overlap, and you can then further place the second grid inside the first, still making legit words, ad infinitum. Whoa.

mommy don't know (themeless) (Ada Nicolle)

This puzzle gets really weird and creative in its fill: the ape onomatopoeia OOH OOH AH AH, the "men writing women" classic BREASTED BOOBILY, the textspeak OH NVM... I can't say I expected to see any of those when I opened the puzzle. The more standard stuff, like EUROVISION, THIS OLD THING, and VOICE LESSONS, is also great, but what I love about Ada's themelesses is that you never know quite what you're going to find.

Puzzle #201: In Search of Lost Time (plus Themeless meta answer)

Here's a puzzle (pdf, puz, pdf solution) inspired by Proust's magnum opus. I failed to really appreciate it when I read it so many years ago but it's continually risen in my estimation the more I've thought about it (which is a sign I should probably reread, but on the other hand, life is short). Oh, and I lied last week when I said the puzzle was just a plain old themeless - the solution to the meta is below today's puz.

If you solved last week's "Themeless," you might have noticed a couple of odd clues. One, ["Nine Lives" by Aerosmith] is a weirdly specific way to clue SONG. Two, [Boxes may be carried out from here] is kind of an awkward phrasing for a RESTAURANT clue. And you might further have noticed that both SONG and RESTAURANT become legit phrases if you add THEME to the beginning. In fact there were a total of three THEME-less phrases in the grid: SONG, PARK, and RESTAURANT. Taking the first words of their clues in grid order gives you "nine central boxes," and if you look in the nine central boxes of the grid, you'll see the string TAANSWER around the central black square. TA ANSWER, of course, is a THEME-less version of THE META ANSWER, so that's the location of the meta answer. (A couple of eagle-eyed solvers noticed the TA ANSWER string without even needing the first part of the mechanism, which works too!) Congratulations to the prize winner, Casey Callaghan, chosen randomly from the correct answers.

Puzzle #200: Themeless

I was planning on doing something cool and special for puzzle #200, since it's quite a milestone. Maybe a meta puzzle where you could figure out the location of the meta answer and email it to me by the end of Sunday to be in the running for a sweet prize. But I just wasn't feeling inspired! So here's a plain old themeless puzzle (pdf, puz, pdf solution).

Indie puzzle highlights: January 2023

January 1: Proofreading (Ross Trudeau, Rossword Puzzles)

January 7: Mother Country (Andrew Ries, Vox)

January 15: Themeless 5 (Amanda Rafkin, The Modern Crossword)

January 27: themeless xxx ("thirty, flirty, and thriving") (Brooke Husic, xwords by a ladee)

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Proofreading (Ross Trudeau)

This puzzle takes an exceptionally common, basic theme type (hidden words) and elevates it not by adding any extra wrinkles to the construction but by using a creative revealer that provides a great aha moment. The theme entries have mysterious clues like [Tradition that describes itself as "Protestant, yet Catholic" (5/15, 33.3%) and [Whiteboard go-with (3/14, 21.4%), and the mystery is solved by the revealer ALCOHOL BY VOLUME, which indicates that the theme entries (E(PISCO)PALIANISM, D(RY E)RASE MARKER, JET EN(GIN)E, STEEL D(RUM), and ST(ABS IN THE) BACK) have liquors hidden in them and the parenthetical numbers indicate the just how much of the theme entries consist of alcohol. A simple but satisfying twist.

Mother Country (Andrew Ries)

A delightful original theme, of a type that we rarely see. As the title hints, the theme entries all contain the word MA followed by the name of a country: MANNY (MACHAD)O, EX (MACHINA), THO(MAS PAIN)E, CA(MACHILE), and (MAIN DIA)GONAL. Andrew's also a cryptic setter, and I wonder if that's what inspired the theme - it's easy to imagine cryptic clues with the phrase "mother country" in them for these entries. In any case, it works great as a non-cryptic theme too, and leads to some impressively long hidden strings.

Themeless 5 (Amanda Rafkin)

A delightful themeless with some fun spanners like MAKE IT MAKE SENSE and THE REVIEWS ARE IN, but the real attraction is the irreverent clues, including [Person who sort of has your back?] for BUTT DOUBLE, [Seemingly the only synonym not in the title "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"] for LOUSY, [www.stuffonmycat.com, for one] for URL, and [Bread that very nicely holds everything inside so the entire contents of your sandwich don't fall out the back] for PITA. It's great to see a mainstream-ish venue that encourages this kind of cluing voice!

themeless xxx ("thirty, flirty, and thriving") (Brooke Husic)

This one's somewhat gentle, as experimental puzzles go - it's even got a few gimme clues that provide footholds. But it's no less delightful than a typical experimental puzzle; in fact, I think it's got more top-notch clues than the average one. [Three to get ready] for PHONE WALLET KEYS, [Members-only jacket?] for CONDOM, and [Like a trail blazer?] for GORPCORE - and that's before we even get out of the NW corner. Also just a lot of stuff that I personally love to see, including ROSALIA, NLP, and clues referencing The Waste Land and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Puzzle #199: Shoddy Work (variety cryptic)

Today's puzzle is a variety cryptic (pdf, puz, pdf solution)! I think it's a fairly gentle one, with a good number of straightforward clues (relatively, anyway - variety cryptics are rarely easy), so if you're intimidated by tough VCs, why not give this one a try? Many thanks to Hayley and Steve for testing.

Instructions:

It turns out hiring unlicensed contractors to build this grid for me was a mistake. At a number of intersections, they chose Across and Down entries that have incompatible letters, and instead of fixing them, they just left the pesky squares blank. Luckily, they left the discarded Across letters lying around, so once you've finished solving the puzzle, you can place those same letters in the blank spaces in a different order so that the resulting Across and Down entries are all ordinary English words. In the original grid order, those Across letters will spell out a description of the contractors' work, and in the new grid order, they will spell out a description of your work.