puzzle 192: "musical numbers"

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i've got next tuesday's 7xwords puzzle, which will probably be the most-hated puzzle i put out this month, although this one might be a very close second. i don't apologize for anything, and i'm looking forward to all the hate mail while i sit here and go "yes...ha ha ha...yes!" like the sicko i am.

in all seriousness, this puzzle started with the three seed entries, which of course i had to stack (hashtag nediger bait, since it's worked twice before; also shoutout to will and quiara for test-solving this and convincing me to maybe make it less unfair). the theme entries very much cater to my interests (especially the third; give that a listen after solving), as does the rest of the puzzle (i mean, bowie! talking heads! the unitaskers! ao3! obligatory car seat headrest clue! *resets the "weeks since making a gratuitous car seat headrest reference" sign to zero*)

so, lots of pop culture and trivia means massive YMMV w/r/t solving experiences, but ultimately i *think* the crossings are fair, or at least can be figured out via logic and/or magic. also, extra credit if you know other potential themers here.

finally, a reminder that i'm open to make custom puzzles for just about anything. alternately, if you want to throw some cash at me for non-custom puzzles, the arcseconds puzzle suite is still available for purchase.

oh, and as for the bottom middle of this puzzle: building around the stacked theme answers kinda forced a large chunk of black squares, but i decided i'd rather have a disconnected section just for funsies instead (it's not the first time i've done this, or the second, or the third, and each time there's been a different little something going on in those isolated parts).

puzzle 191: "if i only had a brain (freestyle)"

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bit longer than i'd anticipated since the last puzzle, which isn't to say that i haven't been making puzzles—they've just been submitted with fingers crossed that somebody likes them. a couple of commissions as well, which serves as a reminder that i'm open to make custom puzzles for just about anything. alternately, if you want to throw some cash at me for non-custom puzzles, the arcseconds puzzle suite is still available for purchase.

in other news, simon from cracking the cryptic solved the phistomefel crossword as a bonus video and called it "a very clever thing" and "really very fine indeed". the video itself is also very fine and a joy to watch, and i recommending doing so after the solving puzzle (if you haven't already). 

also, i've got the 7xwords puzzle on the 23rd, and i can't wait for all the hate mail i'm gonna get for that (insert evil laugh here). not saying my construction process was the "yes...ha ha ha...yes!" sickos meme, but not not saying that either.

as for this puzzle, it started from the seeds, which of course i had to intersect and then build a grid around, even though that made the whole process harder (when? when? when? when? when? when? when will i ever learn?). that said, i particularly like the entries surrounding the central intersection, and i kinda like the weird quote mark utah shapes floating in the middle of the grid—they've really grown on me. anyway, as always, enjoy!

puzzle 190: "phistomefel ring (feat. ricky cruz)"

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this puzzle is a semi-collab with ricky cruz (who i previously collaborated with on this puzzle). we've discussed the idea of a phistomefel ring crossword before, and i stole borrowed with permission the pair of seed entries (from here; spoilers, obvi) for an extra theme layer; ricky also provided a lot of valuable thoughts and feedback about how this puzzle works, without which this puzzle would be much, much worse. all in all, i really like how this one turned out.

since this puzzle contains bars, there's no puz or pdf file this week, though you can print it from the solver below. and, if you haven't heard of the phistomefel ring before or don't know what it is, there's an explanation here (but again, spoilers).

also, i had a collab with kate chin park at her site; we both had a lot of fun making it, and you should check it out if you haven't already! and finally, arcseconds, a puzzle suite consisting of twenty freestyles, is still available for purchase! 

puzzle 189: "arcseconds puzzle zero"

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exciting announcement: i've just released arcseconds, a puzzle suite consisting of twenty freestyle puzzles. more info on the tab, but suffice it to say i had a lot of fun making those puzzles. here's a teaser puzzle that's not part of that suite, but that very well could have been if i had chosen which puzzle to use on a different day. as always, enjoy!

puzzle 188: "what's in a name?"

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a puzzle with a nice little minitheme and a lot of weirdness for how small it is; enjoy, and more to come soon!

puzzle 187: "shaken and stirred"

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a normal puzzle for once, with the promise of more news (and puzzles!) next week! as always, enjoy!

puzzle 186: "fireworks"

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absolutely no surprise what the seed entries (clues, really) were here, but i had lots of fun stacking them and getting weird(tm). many thanks to quiara vasquez and will nediger for test-solving and providing feedback! as always, enjoy!

puzzle 185: "what are thoooooose? (a grid charlemagne puzzle)"

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puzzle inspired by adam aaronson's ongoing grid charlemagne series, and as a fan of all things dan, i had to get in on this. bit wonky of a grid, but i like it, and there's some fun stuff here.

puzzle 184: "landlocked (w/ daryl sng)

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puzzle made in collaboration with daryl sng, and it's a large one! daryl notes that this was his first sunday-size crossword, and after we chatted about the reveal, there was one particular theme entry that we both loved, and that we felt meant we had to make this puzzle. shouldn't be too difficult, though, and we hope you enjoy it!

puzzle 183: "ricky don't lose that puzzle"

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way overdue puzzle made for ricky cruz, who says "i have never been more turbo-naticked in my life". it's a hard puzzle, made even harder by me leaning very hard into weird crosswords (15) when cluing, so good luck with solving this!

(also, apologies for the lack of puz/pdf files; the clues are very long, and i did not feel like making them shorter.)

puzzle 182: "group shot (w/ matthew stock)"

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freestyle collaboration with matthew stock to go along with our puzzle in this weekend's wall street journal. lots of fun stuff in both puzzles, and i hope you enjoy these puzzles as much as i enjoyed working with matthew on these.

about this puzzle, matthew notes:

chris’ blog was one of the first indie puzzle sites i discovered, so it’s great to make a co-constructing appearance here with this themeless! we started this one off with 32-across as a seed we had both been thinking about using independently, and i think we managed to build out a good bit of fun from there. i especially enjoy chris’ pair of entries he stacked at 16-across and 18-across, and my favorite clue-answer combo is 20-down. hope you enjoy! 

in the same vein, i love the sw corner (especially 49- and 55-across), which is matthew's; i'm pretty sure he's also responsible for most / all of the good clues here.

in other puzzling news, i also collaborated with rachel fabi on the fireball puzzle from earlier this week. if you're a subscriber, i hope you enjoyed it; rachel and i certainly had a lot of fun making it, and we both like how it ended up.