Puzzle 135 - Themeless #100 (Toot Toot Jazz Sounds)

Once again, it's been a hot minute. Ah well, contact me for a full refund. Also this has ended up being a longer post but I have Things That I'm Excited To Share!

Back in April, we took a trip to New Orleans to visit some family for a couple days, and be tourists for a few more days. 10/10. I don't know how many people think of New Orleans as a family destination, but it was fantastic. Stayed in the French Quarter, in the middle of everything, and everyone had a blast. One of the seed entries here is 100% a New Orleans inspiration. Couple of highlights from the trip:

• Finding an arepas joint right next to an ice cream shop on the streetcar ride back from the zoo. Delicious and just what we needed.
• Taking the ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers Point & exploring the neighborhood, finding a cute little cafe with probably the best breakfast scramble I've had in my life, and spending a couple of hours running up and down the walls of the levee, and skipping rocks & using driftwood to hit pebbles into the river. Super fun.

We were chilling at the hotel one night after a day of exploring/having fun/whatever we did, and I fired up lichess on my phone. I've played chess off and on my whole life, just online, but it's been a few years. Caught the chess bug again, but this time found out my brother also had been recently playing. We started playing both each other & online, talking about chess for the next few weeks...come to find out there's actually a Spokane chess club, and they meet once a week just a few blocks from my house.

Finally visited a month or two ago and I'm completely hooked to over the board play, in person, where just you and your opponent are concentrating on one game with no distractions for 2+ hours. It absolutely rules. And turns out I am maybe at least okay at chess! I went 2/4 in a quick tournament (15 minutes/side) and in my very first classical game I drew a 1945-rated player! I don't think it was a fluky draw either, it felt like a very well played game on both sides. I'm playing Sean (my brother) tomorrow and will play the many-time club champion next Thursday. Probably not going to get a point out of that one but I'm going to give it a good go.

I remember ~10 years ago getting into making crosswords and it was all I could think about in my spare time. Just kind of latched itself into my brain and the journey of building the skills to construct, iterating and improving, and getting to a point where I am really happy with my construction abilities & output was an absolute joy. I truly love learning new things. Right now, chess feels very similar to those first attempts at making a puzzle. I'm just hooked! I have a couple books I'm studying, really enjoying playing in person, play with the kids (they enjoy it but don't want to play as much as I do right now, and I'm never forcing that on them). I don't have a set chess goal or anything - just going to keep learning and improving and seeing where this goes.

Anyways, I don't think you're here for chess monologues that aren't really about chess. As a bonus for those who read all that (and I spose those who didn't), this puzzle is 16x15 so you get more bang for your $0!

PUZ - PDF - Solution - Window - Chess

Puzzle 134 - Themeless #99 (Come On Over)

Quarterly check in on my New Years Resolutions before another 17x below:

1) Keep the garden alive. In progress, too cold to really tell still - I did plant lavender starts from a neighbor & buried tulip bulbs a few months ago. The violas I planted last year, which I thought were annuals, have actually come back surprisingly well so not bad so far!

2) Go to the gym consistently. Check! I feel great! Even had to get some new shorts as there's a little more junk in my trunk than there was last year.

3) Post a crossword every month. Still check (but barely)! This one was like 75% clued 3 weeks ago & then I never quite finished. Playing Stellaris & binging the West Wing again w/ Mrs. Puzzles That Need A Home took up most of my nights after kids went to sleep. No regrets :)

PUZ - PDF - Solution - Direct

Puzzle 133 - Themeless #98 (Fatherhood)

Been playing with 17x17 grids lately and I REALLY like them! There's so much flexibility & fun with grid shapes compared to a traditional 15x15. Plus, I get to bust out some 16 & 17 letter fill that normally wouldn't see the light of day. This is far from the last 17x grid you'll see here in the times to come! There would be another 17x right around the corner...but I didn't realize just how phallic a diagonal symmetry puzzle could be, so there's some regridding in my future.

PUZ - PDF - Solution - Fullscreen

Puzzle 132 - Themeless #97 (Up and at 'Em)

First off, thanks to Quiara for the incredibly kind shoutout, and b) alerting me about AI infesting AmuseLabs (nothing like a nuclear explosion thumbnail to pique your interest). Sad to say that I'm so used to AI slop being everywhere, I didn't even notice how much AmuseLabs had changed. Gonna use Crossword Nexus for now, it lets me pick out the pretty colors which makes the my lil dopamine receptors happy.

Actually started building this puzzle before the last one, but could never quite get the central stack to work nicely. After a gazillion grid shapes, finally it was removing a pair of blocks that enabled the grid to flow, avoid nonsense, etc. There was a block where 3-Down & 21-Across intersect. I was genuinely shocked that getting rid of it was the key to making the stacks work.

There's also a great clue for 34-Across out there. I just can't find it for the life of me. Drop a comment if you have one - I might even update the puzzle with it. No promises though, I'm lazy.

PUZ - PDF - Solution - Fullscreen