Mental Judo: A Cryptic Blog (11)

This puzzle—a twist on a classic trope—is a joint venture with herzwesten , my oldest and greatest partner in cryptic construction crime! If you solve or stream or love or hate, lemme know! (joeadultman on Twitch   and Twitter ) [ fullscreen ]

This puzzle relates to a specific location—can you use the themed answers to figure out where you are before the grid spells out the answer? Thanks to Steve Mossberg of Square Pursuit and the Rackenfracker 's dadgumituh and jmsr525 for their help, not just for their invaluable help with this puzzle, but for their dedication to uplifting the cryptic community and improving things for solvers and constructors alike! If you solve or stream or love or hate, lemme know! (joeadultman on Twitch   and Twitter ) [ fullscreen ]

Nine of this puzzle's answers debuted in a specific year—can you figure out which? Spoiler: the answer shows up when you complete the puzzle. Many thanks to The Rackenfracker 's dadgumituh and jmsr525 for their continued efforts in saving me from myself! If you solve or stream or love or hate, let me know! (joeadultman on Twitch   and Twitter ) [ fullscreen ]

Today's cryptic crossword is a collaboration with the one and only pkmnfn! It's a Pokémon-themed cryptic like none other (except for our first Pokémon cryptic), so y ou'll want some familiarity with Pokémon's first few generations (and/or access to bulbapedia ). Thanks to mentalplayground for his help in improving the puzzle—check out his many wonderful cryptics! If you solve or stream or love or hate, let us know! (joeadultman on Twitch   and Twitter ; pkmnfn often hangs out on Tuesdays on Twitch as part of The CrossNerds ) Good luck, and we'll smell ya later! [ fullscreen ]

This puzzle's final answer is either a Britishism or its American counterpart—you get to pick! Many thanks to the Rackenfracker   duo of dadgumituh and jmsr525, as well as Steve Mossberg of Square Pursuit , for their expert assistance in improving this puzzle! If you solve or stream or love or hate, lemme know! (joeadultman on Twitch   and Twitter ) [ fullscreen ]

Here's a little puzzle about a bird!  As ever, I owe a great debt to The Rackenfracker 's duo of dadgumituh and jmsr525—and check out their open call for collaborators! I can't recommend them highly enough for upping your cryptic game. If you solve or stream or love or hate, lemme know! (joeadultman on Twitch and Twitter ) [ fullscreen ]

In this puzzle, we’ll finally settle the age-old debate: which is the best pet? Eternal gratitude to dadgumituh and jmsr525 from The Rackenfracker (check out their cryptics!) for their expert assistance—any remaining stumbles are studies of my own stubbornness. If you solve or stream or love or hate, lemme know! (joeadultman on Twitch and Twitter ) [ fullscreen ]