Friday, August 21, 2020

PUZZLE #71: Themeless 18

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PUZ
SOLUTION to the last puzzle

Got another themeless today! I've always been partial to 14-letter entries and 5x5 corners, so I dropped both into today's grid. Hope you enjoy!

Quick plug for my Writing the Clues First project; feel free to drop a clue or two in there, and I might use it in a puzzle! Help me complicate the answer to the "Do you write the clues or the answers first?" question.

-Paolo

P.S. Check out the USA Today crossword this Monday (8/24)!


Sunday, August 9, 2020

PUZZLE #70: Themeless 17 (by Matthew Stock!)

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PUZ
SOLUTION to the last puzzle (and the SOLUTION to the mini puzzle)

Very excited to be running today's puzzle! It's a guest puzzle by Matthew Stock, who's quickly established himself as a banger voice in the crossword scene. Apart from his indie site (linked below), you can also see his uniformly fun and excellent work at The Atlantic, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and more. I know I'm in for a good puzzle when I see Matthew's byline in general, but I was especially wowed when he sent the grid for today's puzzle (esp with the marquee 36-Across entry). I'm honored to be sharing his work today, and I hope you enjoy the puzzle as much as I did.

And, some words from Matthew!

I’ve been solving Paolo's incredible puzzles here since I first found out that indie puzzles existed, so I’m absolutely stoked to get to share one of my own here this weekend. I try to emulate Paolo often in my puzzlemaking, and this puzzle (especially its clues, which I had a ton of fun with) are very much a product of that. If you enjoy, hit me up on Twitter @1MatthewStock and/or check out my fledgling site, happylittlepuzzles.com. Happy solving!

The feelings are mutual—he's one of the cluing greats, (as you'll see below), and I find myself trying to bite his writing style way too often. Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, August 6, 2020

PUZZLE #69: Nice

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PUZ
SOLUTION to the last puzzle

Hello! Easy puzzle today. There's also an unrelated mini-puzzle (pdf, puz) that came from some of the brainstorming for this puzzle. Hope you enjoy at least one of these!

And, of course, any relationship between this puzzle's number and its title is a coincidence. 

(also! slight spoiler, so wait until after the solve, but if you haven't heard about the site referenced in 55-Across, check it out now it's so good)

-Paolo


Sunday, August 2, 2020

PUZZLE #68: Themeless 16 (Pasco Pinwheel)

PDF
PUZ
SOLUTION to the last puzzle

Shoutout to Sid Sivakumar of sidsgrids dot com, for being the first person to call the double-Utah clump of black squares a "Pasco" on this Chris Adams stream. Today's grid, with four Pascos in all, is my attempt to legitimize the term. Hope you enjoy!

-Paolo

Also, Adam Aaronson and I have yesterday's NYT! Check it out (and then hit up Adam's website)