thank you to kelsey for having me back on the blog! enjoy! 🙇🏻♂️
thank you to kelsey for having me back on the blog! enjoy! 🙇🏻♂️
a while back, i declared that i had discovered the meaning of life, and that it's three relatively simple things:
i stand by that, but want to add one other thing—hell is not other people! i'll be taking that with me into 2025, and hope you are all able to take forward things that serve you and leave behind things that don't. onwards and upwards!
NOW, WHERE SOLVING THE PUZZLE IS INVOLVED: YOU HAVE SOME OPTIONS!
so thank you, thank you, thank you. just like anyone, i get lonely and, oftentimes, it's not a great situation when it's just me, alone, with what's going on in my head. i can very confidently say that the warmth i am still feeling from this project has really buoyed my heart in a lasting way. i can't believe i'm tearing up AGAIN as i type this—embarrassing! thank you.
ideally, i would have capped this post off with a puzzle, but it's just not in the cards. i didn't want to force myself to make something just to say i did it when this post had a very clear intent. i may get another puzzle up before the end of the year, but i might not! i'm (for once in my life) not going to worry about it (too much). if i don't see you, have a safe and happy holiday season; wear your sunblock; tell your people that you love them.
xoxo
people always ask me "what comes first, the puzzle or the poster" (no one has ever asked me this). usually, it's the puzzle! this time, it's the poster. happy earth, wind, and fire day to all who observe! the holiday inspired my choice of muppets from space for this poster because of this iconic scene. also, gonzo is such an aquarius; we're very spiritually connected. ANYWAY— this might be one of my favorite posters i've made! i''m so happy with it. the puzzle? it's just okay. the date was really just a happy accident— i sat down a week ago to make a grid and realized that, if i hustled, it could be ready by this glorious occasion. so here it is!
i had a much longer blog post here originally, because i have a lot of things simmering in my heart and on my mind at the moment, but i reckon you guys are here for a crossword and not my meditations on what it means to be a person in this world. i will say, though, that lately i'm working on a few things for myself: accepting that trying and wanting are not embarrassing, shameful things; not replying to compliments by telling someone they're wrong, actually; no longer taking every bit of criticism as a referendum on me as a human being. i've had mixed results so far (it's mostly just really hard to rewire impulses you've been working with for [redacted] number of years), but i do feel that i am ultimately happier just for the effort. i guess i'm sharing this here for accountability reasons!
('get a diary!' the crowd roars. 'i have one but i get so anxious about whether or not my handwriting looks nice that i never write anything in it!' i yell back in tears)
so anyway! here's the puzzle. i'm 80% happy with it, and i decided that was good enough for me, for now. i promise my puzzle next month (for the 3rd birthday of crosstina, holy shit) will be better. it wasn't exactly test solved but i did make kate look at it first but PLEASE I'M BEGGING U tell me if you find a typo. i'm just a girl!
[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PDF]
i don't know where this summer went, truthfully. i blinked and it's almost august— what the hell? the past few months have not been without tremendous amounts of emotional pain, existential crises, and love island binges, but that's just the stuff that makes life worth living. we're here now, and that's what counts! i don't have much to say about this particular puzzle, but i hope you have as much fun solving it as i did making it. thank you to kate for kicking my ass to make it and then reassuring me that i was not going to humiliate myself in posting it.
over the next ~6 weeks i have 6 puzzles running all over the place, so keep your eyes peeled for those. i'm also excited to be a constructor for the midwest crossword tournament— see more here.
be kind, be safe, wear your sunscreen.
[ FULLSCREEN | PDF | PUZ ]