Skip to main content

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

Popular posts from this blog

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