Mental Judo: A Cryptic Blog (11)

Some cryptics I’ve constructed have had very lengthy or complicated instructions, so for this one, I’ve decided the instructions are not included. Thanks to Brad , liari , and skaldskaparmal for testing! [ online ]  [ pdf ]  [ puz ]

This past Sunday was Westwords ! I had a fantastic time meeting online friends (and some new folks!) and solving a bunch of really great non-cryptic crosswords. I brought this little puzzle along with me and thought I'd post it here for those who didn't get a chance to go this year (or grab one while there). [ online ] [ pdf ] [ puz ]

Well, herzwesten and I are back on our bs (bud stuff), this time with a murder mystery, so don your deerstalkers and pack your pipes, gumshoes! Here's herzy:  "I'm very excited for people to crack this case! It takes me back to a time when I used to edit logic puzzles professionally and in every issue we'd have a linked series of them all around a central mystery. The name of our fictional detective was Ivan Inkling, though sometimes his niece Anita Clew would take center stage. But don't worry, this puzzle doesn't contain nearly as many groan-inducing puns!" Thanks as ever to the stalwart skaldskaparmal for his very helpful test. (As with our text adventure cryptic, this puzzle makes use of the magic of spreadsheets.) [ solve online ]

Deanne is awesome, and I would say she's destined for big things—but she's already accomplishing them all over the crossworld ! I'm beyond honored to be a part of her first cryptic, and I know I won't be the only one waiting impatiently for her next one... Deanne says:  “Joe reached out to me to encourage me to take advantage of the opportunity to audition for an AVCX cryptic so, naturally, I roped him into collaborating with me. Joe was amazing to work with and we had so much fun writing clues that we made this fun little bonus 5x7 (link below).” Big thanks to Steve Mossberg  for his editing and the rest of the AVCX team for making this puzzle possible! Hope you enjoy the puzzles! [ AVCX puzzle ] [ 5x7   solve online ] [ 5x7 jpuz ]

When Bob Weisz asks you to make a cryptic with him, you say "yes please!" before he changes his mind! Bob was as fun to work with as his puzzles are to solve (that's "very," for those uncertain), and I also enjoyed learning about the subject he picked. Speaking of which... This puzzle relates to a specific someone—can you use the thirteen themed answers to figure out who before the grid spells out their name in the circled squares? Many thanks to our test solvers this time around! skaldskaparmal (check out his puzzles  here ) Brad (check out his puzzles  here ) catherinewheel8 (check out her stream  here ) Hope you enjoy the puzzle! [ solve online ] [ jpuz ]

This puzzle is the first in a new series! Every answer word is from a specific book, and when you enter a correct answer in the grid, you'll get a quote from that book that contains that word. Can you guess the book before you finish the puzzle? Test-solve thanks to the Rackenfracker duo of dadgumituh and jmsr525, who, in addition to their usual variety cryptic tricks, have begun a series of smaller puzzles geared toward folks newer to cryptics! [ solve online ]