cross worms

every day in october i make a tiny crossword puzzle based on a drawtober list. you know the drill. puzzles are likely messy and silly. day7: space (a grid ripped directly from paolo's atlantic puz today cause i like the open spaces) day 6: sport (a puzzle about survivor, the only sport i follow) day 5: look-alike (a puzzle with clues of look- and other-alikes) day 4: animal (happy birthday snoopy!!) day 3: young (a puzzle with clue/fill references that feel younger and younger) day 2: formal (a puzzle entirely in iambic pentameter) day 1: normal (a puzzle made of clues i would not usually allow into a normal puzzle)

i know people have been frothing at the mouth to see a puzzle from franci on cross worms. to those people i give a big middle finger because this is a genius puzzle from PAOLO PASCO. yes, it is the first puz on this blog since 2022 and luckily it's the best xword ever made. this is a huge honour for two reasons: firstly, paolo's 2021 "entry level stuff" puz is the reason i started making puzzles at all. secondly, it is a tribute to the greatest hater in the world and UNIFIER of the PLANET.  solved it and still lost? fret not and enjoy this post-solve poetry Made by Paolo Pasco with the crossword builder from Amuse Labs

can you believe it? i'm going to do that silly thing where i try to put out a puzzle every single day in october again!! will it happen? i hope!! do i need it? so badly!! this year's iteration is called CROCTOBER. full of holes, but sensible and fun with light-up elements. enjoy week one of puzzles below baby!! day 1 prompt: cave day 2 prompt: redacted day 3 prompt: cowboy (this is barely a puzzle and hugely a shitpost) (need help?)

pictured: me, frantic, underslept, having just eaten so many breakfast potatoes with stunning women constructors. it's also one of the only photos of me to exist at ACPT and honestly it captures the energy best of all. I had such a wonderful time at ACPT this year reuniting with friends and making new pals who inspired me to bravely publish my xwords with a bit of a pseudonym and keep myself out of trouble. have a puz! thank you so much to Jacob AKA Conflux AKA the brilliant mind behind puzzles for progress  for the test solve.

BIG DAY!! my employer has finally cleared me to keep my blog going and I am VERY excited - this means I do have about 20ish puzzles sitting in my lap from creatober where I made a puzzle a day. they'll roll out slowly, but for today, enjoy 3 minis entirely clued by the urban dictionary community. keep in mind that all clues are urban dictionary definitions, sometimes playful and at times bafflingly idiotic. #just4fun

my workplace is full of super talented artists all participating in creatober (an inktober alternative for all creative endeavors) and I am doing my best to participate with a mini puzzle each day. I'll plop them all here unless any of them are worth a full post, but just trying to bone up on my constructing skills. enjoy! (prompts hidden so not to spoil each puzzle's theme - highlight if you need a hint!) day 13 prompt: fuzzy anagrammy! today's puzzle is actually a format created by  sara cantor , who is creating some wonderfully unique puzzles. they've even put together  helpful resources to get you started on constructing anagrammies!   thank you sara for the excellent challenge!! I'll let them explain how this puzzle works: The answer to every clue is a word that is an anagram of another word, and that’s the word you use to fill in the grid! Clue words and entry words can be ANYTHING (proper nouns, multi-word phrases, etc.) other than initialisms. So a clue migh...