Puzzle #50: This Year, No Children (Cryptic)

Holy cow, a cryptic!

It's the one-year anniversary of this blog! Thanks to everyone who's solved any of my puzzles along the way.

This week, to celebrate Half Baked's birthday, we're back in cryptic land. I feel like I learned a ton making this puzzle, and I hope at least some of that comes across in the clues.

A huge thanks to Steve, who has both easy and trickier cryptics on Square Pursuit, and k0rmad-- they both were invaluable in their help critiquing this puzzle, and it wouldn't be half as good without them. Any errors/mistakes are mine alone.

This puzzle has a hidden theme! It's meant to be solved without any knowledge of the theme, so feel free to ignore it. If you'd like to try to puzzle it out, the first hint is the title.

Hint #2:

(Theme explanation down below)

Best of luck in solving, and I'd love to hear your feedback! Constructing a cryptic is a lot of work, but very fun, and I appreciated all the feedback on my first.

.puz

PDF

Solution

Mmm, peppermint Oreos!

Theme explanation (spoilers)

Comments

Puzzle #100: We Want A Pitcher (with Brian Thomas)

Hi friends, 100 puzzles! Wow. That's pretty crazy. If you've solved even one along the way--THANK YOU. There are too many of you to thank but I'm so grateful to everyone who has solved a puzzle, made a puzzle with me, and even just talked about puzzles with me. This week's offering is a themeless puzzle with Brian Thomas that's chock full of fun indie vibes. Go solve Brian's other puzzles too! I'm also very excited to be able to share an essay of mine that Daily Crossword Links has been kind enough to host, titled "No Scrubs" . It's a philosophy of solving crosswords that I hope will be beneficial to new solvers and competitive solvers alike. .puz PDF Solution (If OneLook prompts a log-in, try opening in a private window) Mmm, gooey butter cake

Puzzle #101: Code Words (with Alex Boisvert)

Hi friends, Got a themed collab with Alex Boisvert this week, coming at you in an oversized grid! Alex is the wizard behind Crossword Nexus and the AVCX solving interface . It was so great to see so many good friends at Lollapuzzoola last weekend. Tickets are still available for the Midwest Crossword Tournament , both in person and online, so I highly recommend getting one! I'll see you there. Mmm, white chocolate cherry cookies .jpz .puz PDF Solution Created by Wil Eisenberg and Alex Boisvert using crossword creator by Amuse Labs

Puzzle #99: Below Deck

Hi friends, Back this week with a themed midi. I constructed this puzzle on Twitch as a way to demo the construction software Ingrid . Spoilers for this puzzle in that video, obviously! Ingrid is fantastic, and continues to be my go-to software for construction--and it's free! Ingrid also has quite a few features that have been added since I made that video, especially a tool to add and change word scores. If you have an interest in construction, go check it out. And thanks to those who hung out on the Twitch stream. Their ideas helped shape this puzzle, including the title, which I believe was suggested by Dan . Go solve Dan's great puzzles, and congrats to Dan on his incredible 3rd place in the Mountain division at Westwords. Thanks to Norah for help in testing this one. .puz PDF Solution Mmm, pepperoni pizza

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