Pun of a Kind

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! Hope your October is nice and puzzly. For baseball fans, the journey of Adolis Garcia continues! What an incredible Game 1 against the Rangers and the Diamondbacks last night. I tend to root for NL always (because of the Cubs!), but the Rangers are proving to any of the naysayers that they absolutely deserve to be there. May the best team win! --- 1.  Puzzle #72 answer: JUST GOING FOR A DRIVE Correct entries:  51 , of which 35  or so were solo. Shortest explanation: Based on the golf hints (18-letter phrase, "course," AUGUSTA in the middle), 18 entries' start with PAR. Extract the n th letter from that word, where n  is the par of that respective hole on the Augusta course. The letters spell JUST GOING FOR A DRIVE , a fittingly putting answer for meta #72, total par on a standard golf course. For more minute-by-minute fun on how this was created (in an absolute blitz), see here . --- 2. This meta was not  written in 12 hours, h...

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! On fall break now, despite it being blustery in the region. Have a lot to do even after posting this puzzle, so let me post and continue tackling (some of) my adult responsibilities. --- 1.  Puzzle #71 answer:  JIMMY BUFFETT Correct entries:  56 Shortest explanation: Each of the four restaurant themers contain the double letters MM, FF, and TT; these, always in this order, along with the "anchor" entries of MARG + HUH + RITA ("margarita") suggest the meta answer of  JIMMY BUFFETT . --- 2.  This entire meta, from incipiency to grid to clues, took about 4.5 to 5 hours, all in a less than within a 16-hour period that included some semblance of sleep. I'll explain later, haha. This might be as low as a Level 2 or 2.5 for some and might crank up to close to a Level 4, I presume. I'll put it, perhaps a trickle high, at Level 3.5 . Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful! Mikey G The answer to the meta is an 18-letter phr...