Collab № 3 (Themeless w/ Adrian Johnson)

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Hi everyone - we're back with another collab! Apologies for missing the typical post on the 17th - I got busy with vacation and work obligations, but hopefully this puzzle makes up for it!

Excited to collaborate with Adrian, whose themeless puzzles have been everywhere lately (LA Times, Universal, & AVCX to name a few), and for good reason with such great entries and clever clues. He also has some older puzzles on his site ajxwords. This puzzle with its unusual 15x16 shape was quite a lot of fun to put together.

A note from Adrian:

Ryan is a true wizard of the crossworld, and it was a privilege to collaborate with him on this funky puzzle! As soon as one of my favorite songs burst out from my bottom seed corner, I knew I had to make a puzzle work. Who better to help me see it through than one of the greats?

Hope you enjoy!

Chasm № 10 (Themeless)

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Happy March! Another Chasm this month - this one a bit larger than usual, and perhaps with more video games references as well.  I have the New York Times Saturday puzzle this week and it also features a very similar wide open middle. I constructed that one a while back, and have since constructed and posted more puzzles on this blog with this trademark intersecting-quintuple-stagger-stack design.

Thanks to Will Nediger for test solving. Hope you enjoy!

Asym № 3 (Themeless)

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Happy December! This whirlwind of a month is finally slowing down with the holidays coming up next week. I'll be spending time away from home with family, and hopefully get some free time to finish constructing a bunch of in-progress puzzles! That and catch up on my puzzle backlog which has only grown since last month...

This asymmetric offering today began with the vertical stack in the NW and grew out from there. Thanks to Will Nediger for test solving. Hope you enjoy!

Asym № 2 (Themeless)

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Back again - with an asymmetrical grid this time! The story with this one is that I got the NE quad stack corner built, and then couldn't for the life of me find a compelling matching corner in the SW with rotational symmetry.  So, I switched things up and made a charcuterie board of black square shapes in the middle, including a T, +, and my ol' reliable staircase. 

I also have the Saturday puzzle over at the New York Times today! If you're hungry for a Chasm-like treat, check it out 😄

Thanks to Will Nediger for test solving (check out his Freeform Freestyles for more asymmetrical goodness!) Hope you enjoy!