PUZZLE #67: "I'm Spent"

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

Midi-sized puzzle with a mini-sized theme today. Got the grid for this one going right after Boswords (a fun tournament with great puzzles, all of which you can buy now), and clued it up as a mid-week bonus—as always, hope you enjoy!

-Paolo

P.S. Ria and I had last Sunday's Atlantic puzzle, so check that out as well!

PUZZLE #66: Something Different

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

Hello!

I know my last post said "I promise the next puzzle will be more straight-down-the-middle," but... this puzzle is about as non-straight-down-the-middle as you can get. My bad! Normal puzzle next time, I promise.

This week's offering is a Something Different puzzle, which is a crossword where most of the entries are made-up. For example, the answer to the clue [Like Cole Sprouse's "Riverdale" character] would lead to JUGHEADESQUE, and the answer to [Havoc wreaked by the villain of "Cats" (2019)] would be MACAVITY CALAMITY. Two things that make this puzzle non-impossible to solve: the made-up answers are generally clued straight, so they can be inferred from the clues. And, most importantly, the short words in the grid are (mostly) normal, so they can act as good toeholds.

If you like this puzzle, check out some other good Something Different puzzles here, here, and here, as well as a whole folder of them here.

Hope you enjoy!

Expect the unexpected,
-Paolo

P.S. Boswords is coming up tomorrow! Will be there virtually—there's a stacked constructor lineup, so if you're not on that already, get on that train

PUZZLE #65: No Comparison

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

A few things:

Crossword Puzzles for Kids is finally out! 60+ puzzles that are kid-friendly, but based on the emails I've gotten, adults can enjoy it too. I'm graciously biting Chris King's style here with an offer: if you buy the book this week, let me know at pascopuzzles[at]gmail[dot]com and I'll donate $2 to The Bail Project, a bail-paying organization active in many cities, including my hometown.

Speaking of crosswords and making change, Grids for Good is out! It's 42 puzzles by an all-star lineup of constructors, just for a donation. Definitely hit it up, zero of the puzzles disappoint.

And, onto this puzzle! I know I said the last puzzle had a quirky theme, but this one has its fair share of quirks as well. I promise the next puzzle will be more straight-down-the-middle—three quirky puzzles, and I'll feel like Jughead from Riverdale.

Hope you enjoy!
Paolo