Hello, Puzzle People!
Thanks for stopping by. Today’s puzzle is likely the last standard crossword you’ll see for a while on Square Pursuit. So much cool stuff has been happening for me in crossworld that I’m finding it a bit tough to keep up with everything. Here’s the plan:
I’m going to keep the quiptics coming on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, because they’re a unique part of my constructing load and I know they’re a big solving ritual for a lot of folks. Full-sized and variety cryptics, like the standard crosswords, are going to pop up when it feels fun and there’s bandwidth on my end. It will end up being 2-3 puzzles per month instead of 4, but I’m always around! My cryptics will continue to run in The Browser and elsewhere, my variety puzzles at Square Chase, my themeless crosswords as part of the Newsday Saturday Stumper, and my themed ones when they come up in other newspapers. There will still be cool things on some Wednesdays here in addition to those quiptics, like a second Alphabetical Jigsaw in June!
Thanks to Brooke for the test solve!
Take care and enjoy the puzzle! I’ll be back in a week with a fresh quiptic!
solve online / puz / pdf / solution
Square Pursuit 
Not sure which dictionary is leading to this “off” clue that has popped up in the NYT too: A hootenanny is a folk music event, a concert that may involve sing-alongs with the audience, but has nothing to do with square dancing. In the 1960s folk era, you were never more than a few miles away from a hootenanny, no matter where you lived. I played with my folk group in many of them back in the day.
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I’m obliged for the background on this one. Thanks for sharing the knowledge and story and, of course, for solving! I’ll absolutely file it away should I be so lucky as to have it in a grid again. 🙂
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