Puzzle #12: MLK Day I wanted to do something to commemorate MLK, and it seemed like it would be disrespectful to do a wordplay theme, so this is a straightforward tribute puzzle with a list of phrases and places from MLK's ... Read More

Puzzle #11: Extra LETTER This puzzle's theme is very meta, in that a letter has been added to the first word of every theme answer to make the second word, and the added  letters spell LETTER. Trippy. I had fun ... Read More

Puzzle #10: Cut Out the MiddleMAN This puzzle’s theme is more gridplay, riffing on the concept of a middleman. I was pleased to find 3 15-letter phrases with MAN in the exact middle, and the use of the MAN isn’t just ... Read More

Puzzle #9: Rock Band After last week’s slightly vertical grid, I thought I would try a slightly horizontal one (I owe you 4 more squares). Thinking of landscape images, I thought of Mount Rushmore. The lack of symmetry in the names ... Read More

Puzzle #8: Sleigh Ride Santa’s reindeer’s names do not lend themselves to being arranged symetrically, until I realized they could be paired together like I’ve done here. This way, they comprise 3 13-letter entries and 3 5-letter entries. Getting the 5’s ... Read More

Happy ho-ho-holidays! It’s been a while since my last update, but things have been humming along here at the Puzzle Workshop. I’ve been teaching crossword construction lessons via join.me, and it’s been going great. It’s so fun to pass knowledge … Read More

Puzzle #7: Mixed Feelings This puzzle has an anagram (scrambling) theme. A feeling is given as a clue and an anagram in the grid. I tried cluing the grid entries normally and putting the feelings in parentheses, but that seemed too easy. ... Read More

Puzzle #6: Out on a Limb This puzzle has a word swapping theme, but rather than give the new phrases wacky clues, I kept the original meanings and explained the theme in each relevant clue. The two swaps are also limb-related, as ... Read More

Puzzle #5: Working for the Weak End This puzzle has a letter change theme of the E-to-A variety. In an attempt to make it as elegant as possible, I further confined myself to 4-letter words with the form of _EA_. I ... Read More

Puzzle #4: Hop, Skip, and Jump This puzzle’s theme is more gridplay than wordplay; theme answers hop, skip, and jump over black squares to span the entire grid. There were surprisingly few good options for this pattern, but the 3 I ... Read More