Here’s another puzzle in our American-style series, in digital and printable form.
For those new to the style:
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Every square is part of an across as well as a down answer.
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The clues are straight, if at first ambiguous, and crossing letters much more important.
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The entries contain fragments of phrases as well as “dictionary words”.
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An abbreviation in a clue indicates that the solution is an abbreviation.
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.puz files can be opened in Across Lite or Crossword Solver – solvers who don’t fancy that should use the print version.
This one is our second “themeless”, and the first I’ve set. When I started solving American puzzles, I couldn’t see the point of the themeless and preferred those puzzles where the long entries are connected in some way or where some gimmick makes the process a little like a doable Listener.
I was so wrong. A themeless puzzle can really exploit the ambiguity of the clues; the solver has to keep lots of possibilities open for longer, making for a more immersive solve. Themeless puzzles are now my favourite American-style crosswords. And having every square as part of two clues is absolutely vital.
Your own puzzles are very welcome. The answers to this puzzle can be seen in the digital version or in this pdf. And the previous crosswords are:
