At least once a year I think I should put some ACPT-related content in the puzzle that goes up closest to ACPT, and every year I don’t do it in time. This year is no exception. Please enjoy this crossword that has nothing to do with ACPT other than that it is a crossword, and ACPT involves doing crosswords.
Send good vibes! A gal wants to make the finals.
I’ve had this theme rejected enough times to stop trying, but I still think it’s a pretty cool idea so I’m posting the puzzle here. For those who continue to come here for a Tough as Nails experience: This puzzle is NOT particularly hard. You’ve been warned!
This one has more black squares than is typical for a themeless. Let me know if you care about such things!
The seed of this puzzle might not be what you think it is, since it’s a mid-length entry (27A, to be exact).
I don’t often put the seed of my puzzles at 1A, but I did this time. Have fun!
The seed for this puzzle is a reminder to you all of my listening habits. Have fun!
For the folks who replied to my last post with “but I come here for hard puzzles!” — I have no plans to stop making hard themelesses and publishing them here every other week. The only thing that has changed is how I describe myself as a puzzlemaker.
As you may have noticed, the themelesses are offered free of charge. I do that because I like making them, and I know that the market for hard themelesses is not large enough that, were I to charge money for these puzzles, I would make enough to justify the extra work I’d have to put in for a paying audience (i.e., putting the puzzles through a test-solving and editing process).
But I now make a large part of my living making puzzles. In time, my goal is for puzzles and trivia to be the majority of my living, if not all of it. To do that, I need to sell easy puzzles. Which is something I’m good at making, and I enjoy making! Hence the rebrand.
So: Here is a hard puzzle that no longer bears the name “Tough as Nails.” Hope you enjoy it!
Here’s your first themeless of 2025, partly inspired by a vacation from 2019. Enjoy!
Happy New Year! Here’s a puzzle. It is decidedly not Tough as Nails — in fact, the stated reason it was rejected from one venue, and I think the unstated reason it was rejected from another, is that the theme is too easy to figure out. I mean…I think if I were solving it, I’d still have fun? You tell me. (No, seriously! If you hate it, I want to know, because I do trust my own instincts but would like to know when I shouldn’t.)
The last themeless of the year happens to fall on Christmas. As far as I know that’s not reflected at all in this puzzle. Sorry not sorry!
Crosswords and Trivia by Stella Zawistowski 