Eight Cryptic Nights #8 – Zot Chanukah

This is it, Chanukah puzzlers!

It’s the last night of Chanukah and final installment of Eight Cryptic Nights! It’s been an absolute pleasure making these puzzles for you and a great time interacting with folks along the way. I hope they’ve brightened your holiday (or just plain old) week. Thanks to everybody who’s supported this project and helped me promote it in the last month!

This one’s a little bigger and a little more involved than the others, but that’s how it should be — big full menorah, tummy stuffed with fried food, friends and family, and so on. You’ll notice the “nudges and solution” document at the bottom of this post. Please proceed carefully, because if you advance through it too quickly you’re going to see spoilers.

Now I’ll ask you one more time:

What makes the best-tasting latkes?

Take care and enjoy the puzzle.

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper — in fact it’s time to pull out all of the papers you’ve been solving it on. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle. Please read the “nudges and solution” document carefully to avoided spoiling the puzzles for yourself.

pdf / solve online

nudges and solution (scroll carefully)

Eight Cryptic Nights #7 – Sufganiyot

Hello again, Chanukah solvers!

Let’s get stuffed! I love a good sufganiyah on Chanukah. There’s a lot of stuffing going on in today’s puzzle too, which I hope is entertaining for you.

There’s one space left in the menorah and one puzzle left in the suite. Tomorrow night is bigger and trickier than the ones before it, and then there’s the meta to contend with as well, but I know you’ll be able to take it down just beautifully. I hope you’re keeping warm and eating plenty of fried stuff.

Hey, stop eating that Stove Top! Sufganiyot are supposed to be jelly donuts. Now that you mention it though, stuffing-stuffed donuts do sound nice. *Stuffity-stuff-stuff* *nom* *nom* *nom*. I’d say gravy on top is the way to go, but how about solving this thing first?

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle at the end. If you solve on paper, hang on to those completed puzzles until night eight! Hints and solutions will be available when the last puzzle drops.

pdf / solve online

Eight Cryptic Nights #6 – Ma’oz Tzur (Rock of Ages)

Hello, Chanukah puzzle die-hards,

So glad you’re still with me in the back half! So far this suite has been all “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel,” but today’s puzzle is themed to the real classic among Chanukah songs. “Ma’oz Tzur” is an all-time seasonal favorite, but there’s no need to learn it to solve!

Did you see the Easter egg, err… haminado in yesterday’s puzzle? There are a few more of those showing up in the next couple of days. I absolutely love haminados, but they’re not particularly Chanukah-ish. For that we’ll need something different tomorrow.

I see you googling haminado recipes over there, but that can wait — the puzzle is ready to consume right now! See you tomorrow with another foodie challenge.

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle at the end. If you solve on paper, hang on to those completed puzzles until night eight! Hints and solutions will be available when the last puzzle drops.

pdf / solve online

Eight Cryptic Nights #5 – Shin

Hello, holiday puzzlebuds!

So nice to see you on a night a little shorter than the one before it. Shin is the worst spin you can get in dreidel, and it means you actually need to put something from your own personal reserve back into the pot. That means you’ll have one less chocolate coin, jelly doughnut, or Pokémon card than you did at the beginning of the turn.

As I write this, plenty of solvers are formulating their theories about what makes the best-tasting latkes. There’s already a longstanding debate about what is best on TOP of them, applesauce or sour cream. My brother recently told me about a place in his neck of the woods that does pastrami between two of them, in a sandwich configuration, but why gild the lily, I say? Let’s keep it cool. For me applesauce and sour cream work best when applied in tandem.

Hey, stop trying to find the pastrami-latke thing on DoorDash — it’s puzzle time! I’ll see you tomorrow night.

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle at the end. If you solve on paper, hang on to those completed puzzles until night eight! Hints and solutions will be available when the last puzzle drops.

pdf / solve online

Eight Cryptic Nights #4 – Hei

Welcome back, Chanukah puzzlers!

With this puzzle, we reach the halfway point of the set. The menorah is half-full, and we’ve almost explored all the possibilities dreidel has to offer. This puzzle is also about doing things halfway — a hei means that you get only half of the pot, which means you have to leave behind as as many M&M’s, malt balls, or mini-chopped liver sandwiches as you take.

In other Chanukah puzzle news, I enjoyed another nicely-shaped midi over at Vox last night from Juliana Tringali Golden last night, if you’re looking to stay in the spirit between installments.

What am I, chopped liver? For this I made you a cryptic? Get solving! See you tomorrow night with the next one.

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle at the end. If you solve on paper, hang on to those completed puzzles until night eight! Hints and solutions will be available when the last puzzle drops.

pdf / solve online

Eight Cryptic Nights #3 – Gimel

Hello, holiday solvers!

It’s nice to see you again. Tonight we’ve got gimel on the dreidel. This is the best one, since you get to take everything in the pot (pennies, candies, Totino’s Pizza Rolls™, what have you) when you roll it. You’ve got to take stuff out of the answers in this puzzle too, but none of things I just mentioned.

Want some more holiday fun in between solves? Constructor Jesse Lansner is doing Chanukah-themed cryptic clues on Twitter for each night — go check them out!

Hey, put down that Pizza Roll™– it’s solving time! Enjoy and I’ll see you tomorrow.

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle at the end. If you solve on paper, hang on to those completed puzzles until night eight! Hints and solutions will be available when the last puzzle drops.

pdf / solve online

Eight Cryptic Nights #2 – Nun

Hello, Chanukah solvers!

Back for more? Glad to hear it. We’ll keep playing dreidel for a few more puzzles, now that we’ve done our initial spin. Weak effort, though, if I’m being honest! Nun is not awesome. It means that the player gets nothing from the pot. In my house the pot is full of almonds, but you could fill it with chocolate, raisins, gelt, actual money (high stakes dreidel) or anything else you want.

When you finish this one, why not check out another Chanukah crossword? Rebecca Goldstein has awesome ones up at My Jewish Learning and USA Today (edited by Jewish food expert and all-around cool crossword person Amanda Rafkin). There’s also this gorgeously shaped little one by Madeline Kaplan (edited by also-super-cool crossword person Chris Piuma) over at Lil AVC X, where I’m very excited to be doing some editing myself in 2023.

Quit opening that pair of dreidel socks and get solving, why dontcha? See you tomorrow night with the next episode.

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle at the end. If you solve on paper, hang on to those completed puzzles until night eight! Hints and solutions will be available when the last puzzle drops.

pdf / solve online

alt pdf

Eight Cryptic Nights #1 – Sov (Spin)

Chag sameach, cryptic fans!

And we’re off! I’m so excited to be doing Eight Cryptic Nights with you. These medium-sized variety cryptics are linked as a suite with an overarching metapuzzle, and will be dropping every night at 5:00 PM ET, right around when my family and I will be lighting the menorah.

This project was a real labor of love for me, and I couldn’t have done it without the feedback of a bunch generous puzzle friends. Some checked the vibes, others checked the Hebrew, and others found jagged edges for me to smooth out. My deepest thanks go to Nate Cardin, David Gold, Hayley Gold, Rebecca Goldstein, Will Nediger, Will Eisenberg, and Brendan Emmett Quigley.

Puzzle #1 – Sov (Spin) is dreidel-themed. I hope you’ll enjoy giving it a whirl. See you tomorrow evening with the next one!

This puzzle suite is best solved on paper. If you choose to solve online, you will also need to have a look at the pdf version in order to complete the meta puzzle at the end. If you solve on paper, hang on to those completed puzzles until night eight! Hints and solutions will be available when the last puzzle drops.

*UPDATE* clue number typo is fixed in the .pdf version! Thanks for the catch, Jess!

pdf / solve online

SQP153 – Alphabetical Jigsaw #2

Hello, Cryptids!

The last time I did one of these puzzles, it was the beginning of winter, and people really seemed to love it. Now it’s the beginning of summer and I think I’m going to make it a twice-yearly tradition.

For those who haven’t done an alphabetical jigsaw, it’s a cryptic crossword in which the clues are listed alphabetically and at least one answer begins with each letter, A-Z. The catch is that you don’t know where to put them, and need to do some inferring along the way using the clue order, length of entries, crossing letters, and trial and error.

Commonly this kind of grid has 26 entries, one for each letter, but I’m choosing to go with a 28 entry variety in which two pairs of entries share the same square in the grid (and first letter to go with it). I first encountered this sort of layout in the Financial Times, where alphabetical jigsaws are in the very capable hands of Julius (Knut). That extra little break-in point helped me out a lot, particularly as a new solver at the time. I’ve also followed his lead in making many of the first letters of entries checked, as opposed to unchecked, as you often see in jigsaws.

That said, this is still not an easy puzzle as mine go, and it’s definitely a stiffer challenge than last December’s offering. I’ve come to enjoy doing some harder clues than we typically see in the States when posting full-sized grids here. I hope it’s tricky in a fun way and that you enjoy solving it!

Thanks to Mental Playground and the fellas at The Rackenfracker for test solving.

Take care and enjoy! I’ll be back in July with quiptics and more.

pdf / ipuz (squares.io or Puzzazz on mobile) / solution & explanations

SQP142 – Variety Cryptic #16 – “Take Your Time” with Nate Cardin

Hello, Cryptids!

Have I got a treat for you today! It’s a variety cryptic I made with the wonderful Nate Cardin!

Nate and I are both teachers and began making cryptics around the same time. We’re regular co-conspirators behind the scenes, test solving each other’s work, kicking around clues, making cool puzzle plans and the like. You can find our stuff in some of the same venues outside of this blog as well. Nate’s a tremendous force for representation and empowerment in our field — he’s always working to lift up others and dismantle inequitable structures in crossworld and beyond. The Queer Qrosswords packs he helped put together were hugely educational and enjoyable solving experiences for me back before we even connected (if you missed them then, please stop reading this and go try them now). In addition to being a great supporter of his fellow constructors (myself included), Nate’s a cryptic wiz, as you’ll see in today’s offering.

Here’s Nate:

How lucky am I to get to collaborate with Steve on a variety cryptic?  He has been such an invaluable sounding board as I’ve gotten into cryptics and I respect him so much, not only for his puzzling talent but also for his thoughtfulness in the types of clues and answers he does (and doesn’t) include in his puzzles.  I’ve enjoyed solving his puzzles throughout his cryptic evolution and will one day be brave enough to explore British cryptics like he has been.  🙂  Fun fact:  My path as a crossword constructor started with meta crosswords, then onto themed and themeless crosswords, and THEN onto cryptic crosswords.  Seeing how I started with metas, you’re right to wonder why it took me so long to write a variety cryptic (which essentially pairs meta aspects with a cryptic crossword), but here we finally are, thanks to Steve’s encouragement.  I sent him the idea for this puzzle and we were off to the races.  We hope you enjoy the puzzle!

Thanks so much to Mental Playground and Hayley Gold for test solving this one. I’ll be back in a week with a gentler quiptic. Take care and enjoy the puzzle!

solve online / pdf / solution & explanations