Sometimes I just need one fact that amuses me and I’m off to the races making a puzzle. That was the case here with 37-Across, which seems appropriate since this is my 37th regular themeless on the site. Hope you like it!
Tough as Nails Themeless #36
The seed for this puz was 49-Across, which I basically have memorized and is one of the two ’90s albums I can never, ever live without. (The other is…oh crap, it’d sort of be a spoiler if I said, but let’s just say the artist is Annie Lennox.) Hope you enjoy!
Tough as Nails Themeless #35
This one came out more (not-classical) music than usual for me, although I think you’ll be able to tell what my seed was and that it isn’t one of the music entries. Have fun!
Tough as Nails Themeless #34
No notes on the puzzle today, just a note that at this year’s virtual ACPT, I’ll be running a room to teach people about cryptic crosswords! The room is appropriate for beginners, not experienced solvers, as the curriculum will be the basic rules and clue types, with examples for the group to solve. Please spread the word! I’m an evangelist for this delightful puzzle type and I’d love to see lots of people virtually there.
Speaking of ACPT, I guess my reign as forth-place solver is about to come to an end. I’m not quite as fast as all them twentysomethings! Hoping to hold on to top ten, though.
Tough as Nails Themeless #33
This one’s a bit bigger than the usual — 16×15. So if you’re a smidge slower than usual, blame the fact that there are 75 words in the grid. Enjoy!
Tough as Nails Themeless #32
Here’s the latest themeless!
A general note on my process: I don’t have an editor or test solvers. If I charged for these puzzles, I would want both of those things. But I don’t, and therefore I make no promises about these puzzles being perfect.
If you want to point out an error politely, as happens from time to time, go for it; I do read the comments, and yours will likely help me do better next time. I probably won’t go back in and fix the puzzle, since keeping up this site is something I do on top of a full-time job and making puzzles and trivia for (not a lot of) money. So going back and making things perfect when I could be using that time to make a new puzzle for the site, doing paid work, or hell, watching Netflix, is not something I’m prioritizing right now.
If you want to snark, don’t. At least, don’t do it in the comments. I’ll delete your comment and I won’t change my behavior. Kisses!
Tough as Nails Themeless #31
One puzzle with a nod to the holiday is…one puzzle with a nod to the holiday. Doing it again, as I am today, makes it a tradition, I suspect. Gong xi fa cai, everybody! Note: In my family it is traditional to receive 4-Down until you are married. Then you have to start giving 4-Down to your unmarried relatives. This can get very expensive!
Tough as Nails Themeless #30
I thought about putting an image with this post for once, but it’d be a spoiler. 14A was one of my seeds; can you guess what the other was?
Tough as Nails Themeless #29
I suppose I’ve made you wait long enough for the first puzzle of 2021. Here she is! I promise I’m not as much of a lush as this grid makes it seem like I am.
Tough as Nails Themeless #28
Time for a 21x to ring out this wretched, wretched year with! I kinda love this puzzle and I hope you do too. Classical music! Science! Drag Race! And really, 70-Across?
