Themeless (!!!) Crossword #1: Buns, Hun (with Izzy Culver)

Hello all! Super excited to share a first attempt at a standard themeless with you all, especially since it was a collab between me and one of my best friends Izzy Culver (make sure to follow her and give her a warm welcome to crossword Twitter!). We've constructed a few puzzles together, and we think that this one is super fun (huge thanks to Paolo for test solving). A lil' blurb from Izzy about the puzzle:

Hi all :) I’m Izzy (she/her) and I’m a sophomore at Brown. I've been solving crosswords for about two years now, and I’m just getting into constructing! Please reach out if you want to talk Veep, powerlifting, anything that Sacha Baron Cohen has ever done, or if you wanna see pictures of my labradoodle (my pride and joy). Hope you enjoy solving our puzzle as much as we enjoyed making it!

Grab the puz here, the pdf here, and the interactive solver below. Happy solving all - and keep your eyes open for a bonus cryptic tomorrow!

Blocked Cryptic #8: A Slice of Pie(t)

Welcome to 2021, all! Hope the start of the year has been filled with some fresh puzzles, and that you all are staying safe and well. Starting off the new year with a bit of a ridiculous puzzle: I hope that the novelty of the grid shape can excuse the double unches (and if not, blame et tu etui for inspiring me to make this). Many thanks to Steve for test-solving and providing me with fantastic feedback. Find the puz file here, the pdf here, and the interactive client below. Also, I'm going through my old posts and adding solutions, so keep your eyes out for new additions to them over the next two or three days. Enjoy!

Update February 2021: Find the solution doc here!

Blocked Cryptic #7: Odd Ones Out

Hello all! Sorry for the long wait between puzzles, it's been a rocky few weeks recently. Trying out my hand with a themeless puzzle today, with some fun 15s in the mix. A couple of odd clues (ba dum ksh), especially 19A and 8D, but I hope they're fun - would love to hear any feedback or thoughts, as always. Hope that you all are staying healthy, both mentally and physically, and enjoying the puzzles!

Grab the puz file here, the pdf here, and the interactive solver below. For anyone tired of blocked grids, don't worry: some fun barred ones to follow in the coming weeks!

Guest Cryptic #2: A Snack from the Cookie Jar (by Nate Cardin)

What's this? A Wednesday cryptic? It sure is! Brought to you by the one and only Nate Cardin, fantastic constructor/human whose puzzle I am honored to host here today :) Nate claims to have nothing interesting to say here, which I doubt, but fair enough: he's been busy these past few weeks! A few of my quick thoughts/praises before the puzzle:

I solved this puzzle over breakfast last week and it made the start of my day absolutely radiant. There's so much to love here: 2D and 13A were laugh out loud moments for me, 1A and 10A have some of the cleanest wordplay I've seen in a while, and 25D is probably just overall my favorite clue I've seen all month. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and make sure to tell Nate how great it is on Twitter! The more puzzles he writes the better the world will be :) Find the puz file here, the pdf here, and the interactive grid right below.

Finally, another all-call to my friends in the crossword community: if there are any LGBTQ+ folx (or allies, or anyone who cares about crosswords and equity in any way) who are interested in collaborating on any type of puzzle, please reach out! DMs always open, and my inbox could use more crossword content, so drop a line! Enjoy the puzzle, and stay well, all.