Mental Judo: A Cryptic Blog (11)

Hello, puzzlers! Juff and I agreed that we don’t generally enjoy alphabet jigsaws*... so we decided to make one for you! *An alphabet jigsaw has 26 answers, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet, and you must figure out where the answers fit in the grid. But wait! We made different versions so you can choose your difficulty level; these are roughly in increasing order of difficulty. If you just want to solve a regular cryptic (with enumerations and locations of the answers given as normal) that just so happens to have one answer per letter of the alphabet, click here ( pdf ). However, if you want to try an alphabet jigsaw that gives you… …the length and starting letter of each answer, click here ( pdf ). …the length of each answer, with clues alphabetized by their answer’s starting letter within each length, click here ( pdf ). (If you don't know which version to pick, this is the one we recommend.) …the starting letter of each answer (but not the length), click

Hello, friends! I had the great fortune of working with Dan Feyer at The Browser  to construct a puzzle for that publication's weekly cryptic crossword , which is available with a subscription. (If you're not subscribed, there are free sample puzzles available.) Dan's excellent editing greatly improved the puzzle, as did help from The Browser's bevy of testers—my thanks to all of you! If you have the chance to solve the puzzle, I'd love to hear from you.

Herzwesten is back for another collaboration, this time with a relatively small and approachable variety cryptic. We hope you enjoy! Many thanks to skaldskaparmal and juff  (both excellent cryptic thinkers, solvers, and makers) for their helpful feedback! [ online ] [ pdf ]* *Instructions: The final answer to this puzzle must be entered in the barred box. The circled letters (reading by column: left to right, and then top to bottom), will give you the key to reading the final answer (in the same order as the circled letters). You will also need to enter more than one letter in some squares.