puzzle 148: "scarlet letters"

pdf
puz
email me
subscribe
solution

bonus brainteaser: what sport and position within that sport could have been used as a semi-cryptic title to hint at this puzzle's theme? (probably could have worded this slightly better, but you'll know the answer once you see it.)

otherwise, enjoy this puzzle; more fun stuff coming next week!

puzzle 147: "split decision (freestyle 131)"

pdf
puz
email me
subscribe
solution

freestyle this weekend; some fun answers in there, and as always, hope you enjoy! as for me, been busy with a lot of stuff, including quite a few collaborations, but there's some good stuff coming up in the near future (including a soon-to-be released collaboration that i'm pretty excited for).

puzzle 146: "a bully is always a coward"

pdf
puz
email me
subscribe
solution

guest puzzle this week from adam aaronson, who you may recognize from his nyt debut a week ago. definitely a good constructor; give him a follow on twitter (where he's already posted this puzzle) if you haven't already. as for this puzzle, adam says: "after a friend reminded me of a certain classic sentence (spoilers / explanation here), i decided to whip up this twisted quip-style puzzle. hopefully it doesn't bully you too hard."

elsewhere, crossnerds just had a nice podcast episode with chris king; check it out when you have the time.

and finally, i have today's la times crossword, which can be solved online here; i think you'll enjoy that one as well.

puzzle 145: "spanner in the works (freestyle 95)"

pdf
puz
email me
subscribe
solution

i have this thursday's la times puzzle, in case y'all would like to solve that. as for this puzzle, it started with what is now 32-across, except it was the full name as a grid-spanning answer. but sometimes you finish a puzzle and it just doesn't feel good (iffy fill, tough crossings, etc.)...so i scrapped the spanner, kept what i could (and what i liked), and redid most of the rest. this is the result; as always, hope you enjoy.