Crosswords

I am a newbie to crossword puzzle construction. My first amateurish effort appeared here in October of 2012. I finished that first puzzle in about two days and it showed. In addition to a couple of “creative” answers, I constructed a grid that contained an isolated block of answers and unchecked squares. Undaunted, I have continued to litter my pages here with new attempts. One day, I hope to successfully emulate the style and conventions if not quite the quality found in puzzles of the New York Times.

Complete Crosswords:
DATE RATE TITLE
04/24/2020 ***** #k1: Meadow’s First!
04/20/2020 **** #24: Roadside Attractions?
02/20/2020 * #23: World’s Smallest!
06/20/2018 *** #22: Northern Dialect
01/30/2018 *** #21: Special Editions
10/10/2017 **** #20: Saints We’d Like to See
02/13/2017 *** #19: Themeless, but Dark
10/03/2016 **** #18: Shady Business
07/11/2016 *** #17: Ars Poetica
05/01/2016 *** #16: So It Goes
03/07/2016 **** #15: You Might Be Geeky If …
02/16/2016 *** #14: Take Turns
12/13/2015 *** #13: Wit and Wisdom
10/09/2015 **** #12: Don’t Eat That
03/05/2015 **** #11: Sometimes Wise
10/12/2014 ** #10: Wisconsin’s Playground
09/24/2014 *** #9: Themeless?
07/25/2014 **** #7: Escalation
05/27/2014 *** #8: Meet in the Middle
02/11/2014 *** #6: Papa’s Children
12/13/2013 ** #5: Seven Plus One
05/28/2013 *** #4: An Unlucky Mob
02/05/2013 ** #3: Hail to the Chiefs
12/04/2012 * #2: A Tale of Two Gentlemen
10/02/2012 #1: An Early Report

Rating system | An all-star panel consisting of the constructor and a select group of solvers too close to the constructor to be objective have contributed to these ratings. Here is how they break down:

*****5-starAlmost perfect and universally admired. Don’t hold your breath in the expectation of finding one here.
****4-starJust about as good a puzzle as ever can be expected here. A kudos-winning puzzle.
***3-starThis puzzle earns the Minnesotan “not too bad a deal” seal of approval.
**2-starA decent, if amateurish, effort. Some rough patches can be expected.
*1-starBadly flawed puzzle. Avoid.
0-starNo one outside of the constructor’s immediate family should ever find it necessary to look at this puzzle. It is embarrassingly bad.

All puzzles are available in PDF format. Starting with puzzle #3, downloadable AcrossLite *.puz files and links to online-solvable versions are made available.

Selected puzzles are co-published on the George Barany & Friends site, sometimes in slightly modified form. Access them here:

          #15: You Might Be Geeky If …
          #13: Wit and Wisdom
          #12: Don’t Eat That
          #11: Sometimes Wise
          #7: Escalation
          #6: Papa’s Children