Puzzle #68: The 4-H Club (cryptic)

Hi friends!

Super jazzed to bring you a cryptic this week. As usual, these are a lot of work and a lot of fun. Copious thanks to Norah Sharpe, MP, and Steve Mossberg, for helping to test and improve this puzzle, and to Frisco for some inspiration.

If you're completely new to cryptics, watching a stream is one of the best ways to start learning how they work. Here are some channels I've enjoyed that solve cryptics, some of which have been nice enough to stream some of mine:

A reminder that I include parses along with the solution-those will show you not only the answer but how the wordplay works. If you've got a question about any notation in there, feel free to ask--the most common is FODDER* to indicate those letters are being anagrammed.

Next week, a themeless with a novel method of seed generation! Talk soon.

.puz

PDF

Solution and parse

Mmm, banana pudding bars

Comments

Puzzle #103: Color Theory

Hi friends, I'm back, and a bit earlier in the week than I usually publish. If you solve the puzzle, you might find one reason why, but what better to do on New Year's Day than solve some crosswords? I hope your 2025 is filled with good friends and good solves. Thank you to Norah and Steve for testing this one! No .puz file or PDF this week. You'll see why when you see the grid. Mmm, chocolate nut toffee crunch Amuselabs direct link Created by Will Eisenberg with the online cross word builder from Amuse Labs

Puzzle #109: Steamed Hams but it's a Cryptic Crossword (with Alex Boisvert)

Friends, you're in for a treat! Today's puzzle comes to us via the incredible mind of Alex Boisvert, Simpsons fan and all-around boon to the crosswording community . Alex was kind enough to pitch this idea, and collaborate with me on this cryptic, which was a ton of fun to make. We think you'll enjoy it regardless of your level of Simpsons knowledge/appreciation. Thank you to Steve Mossberg and Tyler Hinman for their help in testing this puzzle. Alex says: "I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about cryptics from Will while working on this puzzle. Enjoy!" Mmm, donuts If OneLook prompts a login, try using a private browser window. ipuz can be solved with the Crossword Nexus solver . ipuz PDF Solution and Parses Created by Will and Alex using PuzzleMe's free crossword puzzle maker

Puzzle #107: You Can Call Me... (with Rich Iurilli)

Hi friends, I'm back home from ACPT, and what a weekend! It was, by turns, incredibly fun and completely overwhelming. I had a blast. I finished the tournament clean, coming 43rd overall, 20th in B Divison, and 3rd in Midwest. That was a lot of my goals for this year's ACPT achieved, so I feel great. This puzzle was made for the ACPT lobby. I printed 300 copies, which was woefully inadequate. Since it was made for folks at ACPT, it's definitely a little more "inside baseball" than my usual blog posts. But I got nice feedback on it, and hopefully it's enjoyable for everyone. This puzzle is a collaboration with Rich Iurilli , go check out Rich's other puzzles. Thanks also to Shannon Rapp and Matthew Gritzmacher for help in test solving. Rich, Shannon, and Matthew are all contributors to Daily Crossword Links , an invaluable resource and a great way to get even more into puzzles. And lastly, thanks to the person who inspired this puzzle, for being a good ...

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