puzzle #10: crosswordESE (by lyle broughton)

hey guys! long time no see, which is 100% my fault. i had a really cursed puzzle ready to upload, but then my conscience appeared and told me it was a bad idea. lyle (@joas98Machines on twitter) actually sent me this really really fun puzzle a while ago, but i've been busy trying to self-justify posting the Bad Puzzle (which you may or may not see later this week). 

anyway, you guys should be excited as hell for this one, because from the moment i saw the grid, i knew i needed to share it with the world. if you like it, which you definitely will, please join me in bugging lyle to make more crosswords. or actually, please join me in bugging lyle to make the world's first crossword slash chain reaction machine, which he'll definitely probably be able to do. (you can find all the machines he's built so far on his youtube channel jackofallspades98--check them out!! they're pretty sick)

a couple words from lyle:

I was largely inspired to make this by a Jackbox Game Night that the crossword community hosted on Discord. Getting to hang out for a few hours with some of the biggest names in indie crosswords was such a blast, and it was so much fun getting the full tour of all the crossword memes, including one of my favorites, the entry at 62-Across. Eventually the game night morphed into a mega-collab on a themeless puzzle, which planted the seed for me to want to make my own puzzle, but the lightbulb moment came when I realized I could build a theme around 62A and it's equally-lengthed counterparts, 18A & 40A.

I feel obligated to inform you, the solver, that there is one theme entry missing from this grid, because it was pointed out to me weeks later by Adam Nicolle on the Discord. I won't spoil it, but perhaps you can figure it out by its would-be clue: ["What tHE Hell is all this crosswordese doing in my puzzle!?"]

A few of my favorite clues are for 47A, 8D, 45A, 20D, and especially 37A, of which Ria and I traded several iterations back and forth before we finally felt like we nailed it!

Finally, I want to say Thank You to Ria for offering to post this puzzle on this blog, basically no questions asked. I actually posted the full (filled-in) grid to the Discord mostly as a joke, and mere minutes later, she volunteered to publish it if I wanted to write up clues. I don't have my own crossword blog or anything, so without her, this puzzle never would've seen the light of day. Writing the clues and going back and forth in the editing process was so much fun, all because she is so easy to work with and is such a great collaborator. Thanks, Ria!

the link to the crossword discord lyle's talking about is here! it's such a fun time.

puz

puzzle #9: sorry to tell you, but... (by sophia maymudes)

hi!! puzzles are going to be coming a lot more sporadically from now on, but here's a really good one! when sophia (@smaymudes on twitter) first tossed this my way, i got really angry (you'll see why), and then since misery loves company i had to share it with all of you. it's actually a really really great puzzle minus one particular entry that for some reason is in the center of the puzzle. almost like sophia built the puzzle around that entry, which would be cruel and unusual, so i'm choosing to believe that it was an accident. 

if you're familiar with sophia's work, get excited, and if you're unfamiliar with sophia's work, also get excited and then do her recent puzzle on matthew stock's site, her monthly puzzles in the provincetown independent, and her past new york times work.

a couple words from sophia!

Shoutout to Ria for running this puzzle even though I know nothing about 100 gecs (and for having an amazing crossword blog - yay for indie site representation!). As you probably guessed, this puzzle was built around the central answer. Apologies in advance. 

i forgot how to read just now, so i'm still assuming the center entry was a mistake. 

puz

puzzle #8: trash talk (by max)

yet another guest puzzle guys!! max sent me this because he thought i'd like it, and i love it! the theme is super fun and super relevant to this website as you'll discover, and i'm really excited to put this up! you can find more of max's puzzles at his website, maxpuzzles.blogspot.com, and i highly encourage all of you to check it out!!

now, a couple words from max:

When I first saw this blog I thought it had to be a coincidence that the name looked like 100 gecs. Well that guess was wrong. Anyway then I thought about ways to take a conventional theme type and plug gecs into it - and quotation puzzles seemed like a good fit. So here we are.

puz

(also, shen bapiro is a real person. i just talked to him a couple days ago. he's making more puzzles)

puzzle #7: plish plash (by shen bapiro)

hey guys! budding constructor shen bapiro emailed me this puzzle hoping for a guest spot, and after taking a quick glance through the file, i decided that i had to share it with you all. it's absolutely incredible, especially for his first puzzle ever!

also, i hope you guys all had a great time at lollapuzzoola yesterday!! it was my first crossword competition, and also a ton of fun. congrats to everyone involved, & im forever in awe of everyone who chose to compete downs-only, and if you're looking for more puzzles by lolla constructors, check out this post on sid sivakumar's site!

a couple words from shen:

Thanks to Ria for running my first-ever puzzle!

puz

puzzle #6: degree in strategy (by brooke husic)

hey! super fun guest puzzle by the incredible brooke husic (you probably know her from her usa today work and her recent(!!!!) debut at the new york times with sid sivakumar last saturday--please check it out!! it's amazing). she's also constructing for lollapuzzoola, which is this saturday, so register for that if you haven't already!

some words from brooke:

all i have to say is that the puzzle world is infinitely better with ria in it. you can find more of her work on grids these days (i'm still in awe of her cluing on that one), in this charity pack, at the atlantic, and on happy little puzzles.

brooke told me i had to post that without editing it so here it is. but also she (1) is a simp and (2) forgot to mention that the puzzle world is also infinitely better with her in it!! love everything abt this puzzle & here it is:

puz

puzzle #5: mini two

 hi!! big puzzle coming tmrw. in the meantime, take this small lil 8x9 thing! going back to my roots (gecs) with this one, which is kinda fun. 

sorry abt the lack of puzzle yesterday; i was busy watching the new sabrina carpenter movie on netflix, which is cool and fun and a lot like the new-ish sofia carson movie also on netflix, if ur into that kinda thing. i am 100% not ashamed to say i am into that kind of thing. sabrina carpenter nails the boring-type-a-nerd-who-learns-to-loosen-up role yet again. 

anyway, onto the puzzle!

puz

puzzle #4: mini one

hey!!! a baby 9x puzzle this time. i've been listening to the song mentioned in 15-across pretty much non-stop, and you guys should 100% check it out. please don't click the link before you do the puzzle because it'll spoil that entry but here it is! 

also, i know some of you may be thinking that i'm a weeb based on yesterday's puzzle and the image down below, but i'm here to tell you that i'm not a weeb. i don't know what "anime" is and i've never heard of a "manga" in my life. these words make no sense to me. they're crosswordese, in my head. 

in other news, i have a guest puzzle up on et tu, etui? and it's one that i personally think is really fun. take a look at it!! (thank you adrian powell. you're the best.)

hope y'all like it!

puz