Pun of a Kind

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! This has been one of the most exciting playoffs in years, even with the juggernauts still doing their thing! We might get a classic Dodgers-Yankees matchup, or perhaps even a Subway series if the Mets can get past Freeman, Betts, and Ohtani (all of whom I love...but I'd love them even more if they were Cubs, of course!) --- 1.  Puzzle #110 answer:  FALL SHORT Correct entries: 57 Shortest explanation: About a Level 1.5 sounds about right here. The four silly themers all have AUTUM, which is almost AUTUMN, but the synonym for fall  is short  a letter, hence FALL SHORT , the answer to our meta (confirmed by the anchor entries SEASON and MARTIN). --- 2.  This one's a bit more complicated this time around, but it's definitely manageable! Even with my past at underestimating these, I can't quite see a Level 4, but who knows! I'll put a Level 3.5  and see what happens. Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful! Mikey G The answer to the meta

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! The Cubbies have their final two games this weekend, and then I'll be jumping on the bandwagon for some franchise for the playoffs. A lot to choose from! I wouldn't mind seeing any of the Phillies, Yankees, Orioles, and Royals go all the way. --- 1.  Puzzle #109 answer:  TOUCHÉ Correct entries:  48  (maybe about 20 solo solves or so) Shortest explanation: Definitely a Level 4 this time. Seven symmetrical entries are words or proper nouns with diacritical marks. Their letters spell NICE ONE, a great phrase but not a single 6-letter word! Two clues start with the words "nice" and "one": TWO and SHAY, respectively. Phonetically, they suggest TOUCHÉ , our final answer, a word with a diacritical mark, and a word that often means  "Nice one!" anyway. Whew! --- 2.  This should be a Level 1.5 , at most. Really. Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful! Mikey G The answer to the meta, 2 words in 9 letters, is what I hope this

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! The Cubbies are pretty much out of it at this point, so that means it's Broncos time. (Maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up there either.) We're back on a biweekly schedule for the rest of 2024, but we still have some solid challenges ahead (and liquid and gaseous challenges). Onward! --- 1.  Puzzle #108 answer:  THAT'S ALL, FOLKS! Correct entries: 51 Shortest explanation: Eight across entries start with a Looney Tunes character (note the middle column, which also serves as auditory confirmation!). Those clues' initial letters spell out PORKY PIG, whose apropos three-word phrase THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!  was the perfect way to end the Summer of Solves! (The constrained clues for LOON KNEE TUNE all begin with T-A-F, as further confirmation.) --- 2. Since Super Tester and I have been underestimating the difficulty lately, we'll put this first September challenge at a Level 4. I see it more as Level 3/3.5 , but I want to play it safe, haha. Good

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! The Cubbies have one month left of baseball. They played incredibly in April, July, and August, but will an abysmal May and June affect their playoff chances? Stay tuned! Oh, that's right, you're just here for the puzzles, haha. Last grid for the Summer of Solves  today, and we'll go back to biweekly after that for a bit. --- 1.  Puzzle #107 answer: LUNCH BOX (also accepted LUNCH BAG). Correct entries:  71  (initially, this was playing like a Level 3+, but that was likely the grid/rebus aspect of it; the revised prompt probably helped!) Shortest explanation: Four boxes contain a word that can precede LUNCH in a common phrase - hence LUNCH BOX , the answer to the meta! Note my contrived attempt at grid art to match the meta. Mailbag: "Not familiar with 'sack lunch,' so wasn't quite sure!" This was also another factor that may have thrown some initially! Possibly could be a generational or regional thing, but I was always taking

Update : This puzzle has been updated to a Level 3 about 2.5 hours after publication, and I've fiddled around with a few of the clues, none of which affect the mechanism. Note the new prompt below! PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! On the Cubs front, our newest upstart of a player Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA) hit an inside-the-park home run last night, and it was incredible to see. On the coffee front, I'm drinking it. And on the crossword front, we've got two more puzzles in this Summer of Solves ! We'll go back to biweekly after that in the autumn months, at least. --- 1.  Puzzle #106 answer:  BALLOON Correct entries: 42  (I thought a Level 3, perhaps, but this played like a Level 4, for sure; I'd reckon only about 20  or so of these were solos.) Shortest explanation: The main component of air useful to us humans is oxygen, whose chemical formula is the diatomic O2 (in retrospect, for this to be a Level 3, there should have been a nudge to that in the grid). Seven symmetrical