Pun of a Kind

PDF  /  PUZ  /  Full-Screen Hello hello! Yep, it's me again - and here for themeless #2 for my blog. Working on fill and stacks - I like the one in the middle - would've liked another mini-triple in NW and SE, but that single black square always seems to help with quality of fill a bit. Have fun, and may all your solves be beautiful! Mikey G

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! Since my last meta, the Cubs game back against the Pirates, got knocked down by the Phillies, but came back to a 9-game winning streak, their first since 2016! (Against the struggling Mets and Phillies but still). Real test occurs tonight as we head out west. Posting a day early to avoid MGWCC conflict. --- Puzzle #174 answer:  ACPT Correct entries:  64 Shortest explanation: There are eight entries whose letters are in alphabetical order (including a couple of two-letter ones, had to do it!). This constitutes 22 letters of the alphabet; the remaining four, in alphabetical order, form ACPT , in honor of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament held that weekend! --- I like this one and committed myself to a symmetrical grid, which led to a bit of strain in fill. I'm thinking a solid Level 3 , even so. Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful! Mikey G The answer to the meta is a well-known 20th-century American.  

PDF  /  PUZ  /  Full-Screen Hello hello! Welcome to my first full-sized themeless puzzle for my blog. I'm numbering these as "MT1" for "Mikey Themeless" moving forward. (A normal number points to a meta.) The themeless bug bit me last year - and while I'm still going to be posting a bunch of my metas along the way (hopefully to hit 200 this year!), I will sporadically plan themelesses for every other Monday  going forward. (And my mini-themelesses can also be found on Crosshare ). Thanks for being here! Happy puzzling, and may all your solves be beautiful! Mikey G

PDF  /  PUZ Hello hello! Cubs' offense is as mercurial as ever, sometimes scoring a bundle of runs and other times squandering a great quality start by the opening pitcher. It's a long season, folks. --- Puzzle #173 answer:  EQUINOX Correct entries: 70 Shortest explanation: Take the word immediately before the animal, concatenating and reparsing with spaces as needed to form a new phrase. Find an alternate for that in the grid and, in animal order, you'll get EQUIN. Append the 2-letter animal "OX" to get EQUINOX , the apropos answer to our meta! --- I really do think this is a Level 2. We will see what happens? We always do, haha. Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful! Mikey G The answer to the meta is a 4-letter string in alphabetical order.