SQP077 – Quiptic #1

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Happy Sunday, cryptic fans!

I’m trying something new with today’s bonus offering! It’s a midi-sized cryptic aimed at beginning solvers. I’m hoping that folks who struggle to complete the typical cryptic may be able to finish it, and that more experienced folks will be able to enjoy a quick solve with some laughs and aha moments.

The term “Quiptic” is not mine — it comes from a weekly full-sized Guardian puzzle in the UK which is also aimed at newer solvers. The smaller size idea comes from The Times’s “Quick Cryptic,” which is a weekday offering with a slightly larger grid than mine. Both of these puzzles are excellent, and I highly recommend them with the caveat that their difficulty level is more in line with a typical US cryptic, perhaps edging slightly harder in the case of The Guardian, depending on who’s doing the setting.

I can’t believe the amount of joy I’m getting from solving UK cryptics daily. It’s made me a much better solver, thus enabling me to solve more puzzles in a shorter time and have more fun. I perceive there to be a good deal of solvers in the US who might like a gateway puzzle into the harder stuff. I realize that my blocked cryptics (but not my variety cryptics) have been skewing a little harder lately, so here we are! Thanks to Will Eisenberg and my wonderful wife Arielle for test solving.

There are two versions of the puzzle, the straight up version, which I hope is one of the easiest puzzles available in the States to prioritize a smooth and misleading surface reading. The second version contains “helpers,” which reveal the clue type for each entry, like “anagram,” “double definition,” etc. I recommend this version for those who would like an extra boost to get them there.

I hope it’s fun! Take care, enjoy, and I’ll see you on Wednesday with one more non-cryptic variety puzzle.

plain: solve online / puz / pdf

with helpers: solve online / puz / pdf

solution and explanations

SQP076 – Variety Cryptic #6: “Takin’ Off!”

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**Hello! You’ve found one of my cryptics from before I figured out how to make cryptics well! Please enjoy the diamonds in the rough, but expect neither elegance nor fairness. It takes a while to learn how to do it right!**

Hello, cryptic friends!

It’s my favorite time of month again! Today’s variety cryptic is relatively gentle, as usual. I hope you enjoy it!

The cryptic fun just keeps coming! I’ve been plugging away at several UK puzzles daily and I’m starting to experience much smoother solves, and with them, a lot of joy. I’ve been getting a lot of practice constructing as well, and I must say it’s pretty cool to have you folks along with me solving my puzzles.

I’m thankful for several test solvers this time. Hayley Gold, who has an interactive crossword graphic novel coming out that I’m really excited to see (Kickstarter here), Nate Cardin, who keeps crushing the cryptic game over at The Browser, and k0rmad, who has given an excellent eye to my cryptics for over half a year. Thanks, folks!

Back at you with a bit more variety next week, and a whole raft of themed, themeless, and cryptic crosswords in April! Take care and enjoy!

solve online / pdf / solution and explanations

SQP075 – Themeless #28

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Greetings, Crossfolks!

I’ve just finished the process of cluing an extremely hard themeless, and I am thinking, why not do something a little gentler for the blog this week, so you’re getting one! If you’ve been finding the challenge extra steep lately, this one shouldn’t give you nearly as much trouble. That said, I’ve done a few devious things and there’s definitely some broad factual content in there as well.

Thanks to Brooke Husic and Will Eisenberg for test solving! May their suffering make this one smoother for you all. I’ll see you next week for a variety cryptic that I quite like! After that it’s a fifth Wednesday, and I didn’t make any plans for what to put out on fifth Wednesdays! Should I try something new?

Take care, enjoy, and let me know what you think!

solve online / puz / pdf / solution

Cryptic #8 – Deli Days

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**Hello! You’ve found one of my cryptics from before I figured out how to make cryptics well! Please enjoy the diamonds in the rough, but expect neither elegance nor fairness. It takes a while to learn how to do it right!**

Hello, cryptic folks!

It’s the first cryptic Wednesday at Square Pursuit, and I’m super excited to share this one with you. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been to the deli, and reader, I miss it. If you find yourself dreaming of Ashkenazi soul food like me, this may just be the puzzle for you. Even if it’s not your thing, this should be a typically approachable blocked cryptic with maybe a tiny bit more of a challenge than usual.

I’m super grateful for all my friends in the cryptic scene on both sides of the Atlantic, and today my special test-solving thanks go to Nate Cardin and k0rmad. If you’re hungry for a non-cryptic crossword, I’ve got one coming in another venue this weekend as well as the themeless next Wednesday here on the site.

solve online / puz / pdf / solution & explanations

Puzzle #54: “Creative Differences”

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Hello, crossword people!

I’m so glad to be kicking March off with a 17x themed puzzle! I’ve been dishing out the tough puzzles lately, so we’re dialing it back on this one. There shouldn’t be much to scare folks away this week, but it does have a bit more mustard on it than a newspaper puzzle of a similar type.

Speaking of newspapers, keep your eyes open in the next couple of months — I’ve got some ones I’m proud of dropping soon. As for the blog I’m really looking forward to the open schedule for year two, and have a fun cryptic coming at you next week. Thanks so much to Brooke Husic and Jake Eakle for the test solve on this one, and a very special thanks also goes out to my wonderful and supportive wife Arielle, who took the plunge and dealt with this one rather handily as well!

Take care and enjoy the puzzle! One week until the March cryptic, and two until a nice hard themeless!

solve online / puz / pdf / solution

Puzzle #53: Themeless 27

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Hello, crossword people!

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Square Pursuit is one year old today! 12 months and 70 puzzles later, this thing is still happening! Thanks so much for being a part of this project of mine — it’s so cool to know that people come back weekly to solve my puzzles. More about year two after the jump!

Today’s themeless puzzle pays tribute to one of my greatest inspirations as a young composer and keyboardist. He passed away a couple of weeks ago, and I’m very glad to get him into the grid. Thanks to Brooke Husic and Will Nediger who tackled this thing with the hard clues. Unlike them, you get to choose your own adventure, but neither path is a pushover this week.

My main goal in creating Square Pursuit was to give myself an outlet, hold myself to a schedule, force myself in front of an audience, and get better as a constructor. I’m very happy to continue the project for another year, but I’m going to be posting somewhat fewer puzzles, in order to allow myself more time for other venues, collaborations, and experimentation. Here’s how it’s going to go starting next week:

  • First Wednesday of the Month – Themed Crossword
  • Second Wednesday – Blocked Cryptic
  • Third Wednesday – Themeless Crossword
  • Fourth Wednesday – Variety Cryptic
  • Bonuses and other fun stuff when the time is right!

Thanks again for being part of this awesome crossword ride. See you next week with a themed puzzle!

Solve Online harder/gentler

PUZ HARDER!!!/gentler

PDF harder/gentler

PDF Solution

Variety Cryptic #5: “Spring Cleaning”

Posted in Just Learning!3 Comments

**Hello! You’ve found one of my cryptics from before I figured out how to make cryptics well! Please enjoy the diamonds in the rough, but expect neither elegance nor fairness. It takes a while to learn how to do it right!**

Hello, cryptic people!

I’m seldom happier as a constructor than on the days I get to drop a variety cryptic! I hope it’s fun for you too. It’s been a pleasure to keep learning and setting these things. As usual, the difficulty is gentle-ish, which is to say it should be approachable to beginners without being a total gimme. Thanks so much to Hayley Gold, Nate Cardin, and k0rmad for the invaluable feedback during the editing process.

I’m finishing out a week off of work right now and have enjoyed a lovely virtual vacation to the U.K., during which I’ve solved every major daily cryptic to come out there for five days in a row. That’s 35 British puzzles from The Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph and Times! As you might imagine, this was pretty time consuming! I’m a second-tier speed solver of non-cryptic crosswords, and this sort of endeavor would have taken me about two hours had the puzzles been straightforward. Instead, this took me about fifteen hours! Good thing it was fun! Some piping hot takes, if you’ll indulge me:

  • U.K. puzzles are much harder than American/Canadian cryptics. Even the easiest ones are often about twice as hard as today’s blog puzzle, in my opinion!
  • Each venue has a really strong house style and even within those, the setters show an incredibly diverse array of voices. It was great to get to know and savor their styles.
  • I think our cryptic rules here are too strict by comparison. There was some really wild and innovative cluing going on that certainly wouldn’t be kosher in a cryptic in the states.
  • The heavy use of abbreviations makes for shorter, more elegant clues while without sacrificing the challenge or entertainment factor.
  • British general knowledge, vocab, and idioms do play a part in making these puzzles difficult for an American like me, but a little bit of Googling and learning makes it a super fun way to engage with someone else’s culture!
  • Themes aren’t required but they do show up a lot and are a really fun addition to standard blocked cryptics.
  • Every single puzzle I solved showed real virtuosity in its construction. The standard is incredibly high, and I have so much to learn and aspire to as a cryptic setter.

If you’d like to share U.K. cryptic solving experiences, please hit me up. I’d love to chat!

That’s that! Take care, enjoy the puzzle, and I’ll see you Wednesday with a themeless puzzle on the one-year anniversary of Square Pursuit!

Solve Online

PDF
PDF Solution with explanations

Puzzle #52: “Fancy Footwork”

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Hello, crossword fans!

It’s themed week at Square Pursuit! I hope this puzzle gets you up and moving on a wintry Wednesday. It shouldn’t be as tough as last week’s offering but it’s got a few sneaky clues in there and some trivia I love.

This one was quite a challenge in its original form, and I want to give thanks to test solvers Brooke Husic, Will Eisenberg, and k0rmad for fighting through it and giving me some smoothing-out advice. Those who are looking for a rough ride can go back to the collab cryptic from last weekend with MentalPlayground or the choose-your-own clues themeless from a few days before. This weekend I’ve got a gentle-ish variety cryptic that I’m so excited about, and an anniversary themeless to follow!

Take care and enjoy the puzzle. Variety cryptic in 3 days, tough themeless in 7!

Solve Online

PUZ

PDF
PDF Solution

Bonus Cryptic #2: “The Book or the Movie?”

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**Hello! You’ve found one of my cryptics from before I figured out how to make cryptics well! Please enjoy the diamonds in the rough, but expect neither elegance nor fairness. It takes a while to learn how to do it right!**

Hey cryptic people!

I’m so happy to have teamed up on another cryptic with Chris Evans (MentalPlayground)! Chris makes lovely puzzles at an astounding rate and I highly recommend you solve them twice a week over on his site. He’s one of the first people I began talking about cryptics with and we’ve had a lot of laughs solving British puzzles together.

We made today’s offering with a tight theme and some British conventions, and I’d say it’s about twice as difficult as the ones I typically put up on Square Pursuit. I think it’s a really fun puzzle and you should totally give it a try! Here’s some stuff to watch out for, if you don’t solve British newspaper crosswords regularly:

  • We are using British words and more abbreviations than US solvers typically face.
  • We are using UK spellings in this puzzle. You’d surely realise this on your own, but I’m giving fair warning.
  • This puzzle contains cryptic definitions, which are not used typically used in American cryptics. There is no literal half of the clue! Think of a misleading and cute “?” clue from a NYT puzzle or something like that, and you’re pretty much there.

Take care and enjoy the puzzle! 4 days until a themed crossword, 7 days until the February variety cryptic, and 11 days until the one year anniversary of Square Pursuit! See you soon.

Solve Online @ MentalPlayground’s Cryptics

PUZ
PDF
PDF Solution

Puzzle #51: Themeless #26

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Hello, fellow crossworders!

I’ve been thinking a great deal about challenging puzzles lately and figured I’d set myself the challenge of trying making something harder than usual! It turns out it’s quite a difficult thing to keep things fun and fresh while also giving folks a really hard time. I don’t think I’ve achieved pure, unmitigated, evil yet, but I do think it stands a chance to entertain you!

The inspiration for using two sets of clues, of course, comes from friend and collaborator Brooke Husic, whose devious puzzles are no secret to connoisseurs. Thanks to Brooke for the encouragement and test-solving as well as Andrew Bradley and Mike Lieberman, who also suffered for the cause.

I’m two weeks out from the one year anniversary of Square Pursuit, and it with it will come some changes to the blog’s format, but I can promise there will still be lots of good puzzles coming in year two!

Take care and enjoy! I heard there was an interesting cryptic collaboration dropping soon…

Solve Online – HARDER

Solve Online – GENTLER

PUZ HARDER

PUZ GENTLER

PDF HARDER

PDF GENTLER

PDF SOLUTION