Half-Baked Puzzles

 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

 Hi friends, It's been a minute! While I haven't blogged in a while, you can find my puzzles in other places, including a 2000's-themed book (where I have two collaborations with Shannon ) and in the Puzzmo book , where Shannon and I have a collab, and I edited a few of the others. I'm closing in on a full year of being part of the leadership team for Lil AVCX , and what a year it's been! Watching the success of all the editors and mentees involved has been a pure joy. I recently wrote a few words about what Lil AVCX means to me. If you'd like to support our work in 2025, AVCX is in the midst of a subscriber drive . Gift subscriptions make a great present, too! Every cryptic is a labor of love, and I hope this one makes you smile. Steve Mossberg was instrumental in pushing this puzzle where it needed a push and reminding me to trust my instincts, too.  You can find Shannon and me with a themeless this week at AVCX+. I've got puzzles on the Crossword Flow ...

 Hi friends, Here today with a barred cryptic style that's shamelessly cribbed from the New Yorker . The New Yorker's cryptics are some of the easiest American cryptics around, which I think is a real resource for newer solvers. With enough experience setting cryptics to feel like I can make one that's truly easy (it's much easier to make an impossibly hard cryptic than a very straightforward one), I'm throwing my hat into the ring. Let me know what you think, especially if you're less experienced with cryptics--I'd love to do more of these.  Thanks to Norah , Steve , and Chris for help in testing this one.    (If OneDrive links prompt a login, try opening in a private window. ipuz files can be opened in the Crossword Nexus solver) .ipuz PDF   Solution and parses   Mmm, apple pannekoeken

 Hi friends!  It's been a while since I've had a cryptic puzzle on the blog. If anything, that's been due to how MUCH cryptic setting I've been doing lately. You can see some of that work in the Browser , AVCX , Lemonade Disco , and editorially at the Rackenfracker . If you solve any of it, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks to Norah and Steve for their help in making this puzzle the best it could be. I've left a note after the solve in rot13 for those who are interested in learning more about the puzzle.   .puz   PDF Solution   Mmm, banana cheesecake bars with homemade malted milk balls SPOILERS (rot13): Avar ragevrf va gur tevq ner anzrf be avpxanzrf bs Cerzvre Yrnthr sbbgonyy grnzf: PVGL (Znapurfgre Pvgl), NEFRANY, JBYIRF (Jbyireunzcgba), FCHEF (Gbggraunz Ubgfche), ZNA H (Znapurfgre Havgrq), ORRF (Oeragsbeq), PURYFRN, OYNQRF (Furssvryq Havgrq), naq CNYNPR (Pelfgny Cnynpr). Gur grnzf V hfrq jvyy nyy or va gur Cerzvrefuvc va gur 2023-2024 frnfba. N terng jnl ...

 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: mentalplayground Liari Crossweird   Glentopher Joeadultman Dan (and Babka) elderism Catherine   brknfixie   Will Nediger/bewilderingly   Haruib0 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....

 Hi pals! Super excited to be back with another cryptic today. There's been no end of really great indie cryptic puzzles lately, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intimated by the volume and quality of cryptics out there lately. The more I learn, the more I feel I have left to learn. Still, I remain committed to being the best setter that I can be. To that end, Steve Mossberg and kormad were both invaluable with their feedback on this one. I'd love to hear from you as well. PDF .puz   Solution and parses   Mmm, oatmeal creme pies

 Hi friends, Cryptic puzzle for you today that I'm really excited for everyone to solve. I'm hopeful each one is better than the last. As usual, Steve was a huge help with this one, so go solve his cryptics too! .puz PDF Solution and Parses     Mmm, carrot (birthday) cake!

 Hi friends! Sorry to miss my usual schedule last week, but I'm hoping to have puzzles up at the usual time for the next few weeks. So if a cryptic isn't your thing, I'll see you next week! Huge thanks to Steve Mossberg and kormad for helping improve this one with tremendous insight and patience.  I'm including an explanation/parse of the clues for the first time, so if you find that helpful please let me know! .puz PDF   Solution + Explanations Mmm, apple pancake  

 Hello once again! Very excited to be putting another cryptic crossword out into the world. I feel like I'm learning a lot with each puzzle and hopefully you can see improvement as well. Thanks to Steve Mossberg for testing, and be sure to check out his cryptics. .puz Solution PDF   Mmm, apple-cheddar bread

 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: The grid is themed around a certain band/artist Show/Hide    (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,...

 Hoo boy, here we go! If you don't know what a cryptic puzzle, I recommend watching the video and reading the explanation from the New Yorker . Things work a little differently in cryptics, but ultimately it's still about that same love of wordplay and clue-solving that we love about American-style crosswords.  The New Yorker's new cryptic puzzle is a great place to start--here are a few more: Joeadultman's "Cryptic 101" puzzles, which each only use a certain cryptic device, and Steve Mossberg's Quiptic series , which can be solved in a "Helpers" version.  A huge thanks to Steve and k0rmad, who went above and beyond in helping me create my first cryptic puzzle--a very intensive and time-consuming feedback process which I'm super grateful for!   I've already rambled on too much. Go give the puzzle a try!  Mmm, blueberry scone     .puz PDF   Solution