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 #86: Financial Planning (with Kate Chin Park)

Hi friends, Got a really special one this week with the inimitable Kate Chin Park. You can solve her amazing puzzles over at Crosswords Schmosswords and see her work as an edit ör at the New Y ö rker . Thanks to Norah for helping test this one. I'm hopeful to keep this trend of weekly puzzles going, at least for a bit, this summer. If you're enjoying them, drop me a line! I'd love to hear from you. .jpz PDF Solution Mmm, strawberry rhubarb bars

Puzzle #93: I'm Only One Man (with Norah Sharpe)

Hi gang, Back with a new themeless after a little hiatus. The puzzle work continues apace! I'm part of a lovely leadership team over at Lil AVC X, along with Rafa Musa, Olivia Mitra Framke, and Sally Hoelscher. We recently finished putting together the team of editors for 2024, which includes Norah Sharpe (under her government name)! This puzzle, like every collaboration with Norah , was a joy to make. Norah says, "The structure of this one was inspired by some of the gridwork that Brian Thomas has been up to lately (see this one and this one ). My favorite clues are 16A, 39A, and 51D. Thanks as ever to Will for having me over. There's only a few days left to send in your applications for the 2024 Lil AVC X roster! Details here . And speaking of Lil, please try our "Happy Hour" midi from earlier this week." (If OneDrive prompts a log-in, try opening in a private window) .puz PDF Solution Mmm, mini smores cups

Puzzle #91: A Little Bit Alexis

Hi friends, Got a fun little themeless for you this week. Thanks to Norah and Alex for help in testing this one. Norah and I also have this week's AVCX Cryptic , so give that one a go! (If OneDrive links prompt a login, try opening in a private browser window.) .puz Solution PDF Mmm, chicken shwarma pizza

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