themeless no. 39

long time no see!

i made this puzzle to help alex test some software (is software even the word for it? don't fact check me on this) and now i'm posting it here so more people can solve it! i hope it's fun and breezy. 

since this wasn't a puzzle built for the blog, this post is more a "proof of life" than anything—i know i keep saying this and have little to show for it, but i'm always trying to find my way back here. with me, the perfect is often the enemy of the done, which prevents me from posting here as often as i would like. i'm still trying to be better about this, and you'll just have to believe me that i'm a lot less insane about it than i used to be. eventually i will get 100% better about it, but in the meantime just know that this blog will never be dead or defunct. 

dribs and drabs:

• the crosstina zine vol. 2 is imminent-ish, for real this time. here's a teaser image. i'm hoping to have it ready by mid-late september.
• the atlantic games hub is now on instagram! i would be honored if you gave us (aka me lol) a follow, and let me know what kind of content you want to see! 
• when i'm not here i do have puzzles elsewhere! i had one at defector in may that i'm really pleased with and would love for you to solve 

anyways, here's a puzzle. alex also made me a solver for the blog that has something we're calling kelsey mode! what does that mean? i guess you'll see! thank you alex! (if you hate it, you can always toggle it off) (i think) (jk you can't!) (you might need to hard refresh for it to work) (check out his patreon while you're at it!)

cheers!

themeless no. 38

some things i've been thinking about (because this is my blog and i can say what i want before i tell you about the crossword i made):

• the interview where alysa liu says, "i love struggling, actually, it makes me feel alive". trying to get on this wavelength, honestly!
• this tweet of perfect photos of the only man i've ever loved, george harrison
• i asked someone if he knew where i could get a chicago common brick, because i've always liked them and wanted one, just to have in my home. he offered me one of his own, and left it on his stoop for me to pick up. it made me so happy, i love it so much.
• i saw nirvanna the band the show the movie—i can't think of the words to describe it but it's really a triumph and has a lot of heart, and you should see it if you can! it's so incredibly cool that we have it because of state-funded art programs.
• midnight sun by zara larsson 
• my horoscope app usually feels like its negging me, but the other day it said "it's weather, not climate" as a version of "this too shall pass" and i was like wow that's good i should write that down
• i had a work trip last month, and we had a long conversation about sincerity & earnestness, and it all boiled down to the whole idea of "don't kill that part of you that's cringe, kill the part that cringes," and i'm trying to work on that.
• i turned 33 last month, which is amazing. i had a perfect day with my favorite person (myself). getting older is great, and i love it, and i have no concept of what 33 is supposed to be or feel like or what i'm supposed to do with it, which is very freeing; it's harder to micromanage yourself into misery in the pursuit of something this way (i hope)! life is harder than ever, but i am also the happiest i've ever been.
• i've been trying to enjoy ordinary days, in which i am present and calm and able to give thanks for ordinary days. 
• 
  
  
  
  

anyways, here's a crossword that i made today to distract myself during a hockey game THAT DID NOT GO THE WAY I HAD HOPED. the winter olympics are dead; long live the winter olympics. love you, be safe.

themeless no. 37

sometimes a 15-letter entry jumps out at you, and the urge to put it in a puzzle can't be silenced. i wouldn't say this is my best work, but it is my work, and i think it's fun. 

volume two of the zine is definitely underway, but i'm taking my time with it! i had really hoped to at least officially announce it this month, but it will probably be closer to the end of the year. here's a sneak peek! 

on a more serious note— if you've ever solved a puzzle on this blog, you know that my heart, my soul, and my love has always belonged to the city of chicago. as you've probably heard, ice and the national guard have been bearing down here lately. as i make this puzzle, men in fatigues are swarming my neighborhood and installing plate scanners. people in my neighborhood have been battered, abducted, and worse. children are afraid to go to school; their parents are afraid to pick them up. they show up at doctors offices and bus stops. people are being dragged out of cars and detained for daring to look nervous when a man in a mask with an semi-automatic rifle knocks on their window. they're descending on apartment buildings from blackhawk helicopters in the middle of the night and zip-tieing crying children. they're using chemical weapons in grocery store parking lots. if this isn't homegrown, domestic terrorism, i don't know what is. it is completely arbitrary that any of us are safe and happy in this life, and so many of us are not. if you can, please consider donating to ICIRR (or a local org. that is fighting to protect your friends and neighbors); i would appreciate it. 

that's all i've got for now. if you download the file, i'd suggest reading this blog post and using the new crossword nexus solver!

APPLET FOR MOBILE SOLVERS | PUZ DOWNLOAD | JPZ DOWNLOAD

if you're solving on a browser, keep reading!

themeless no. 35

 

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]

themeless no. 34: let's work it out on the remix

 

brat summer is over when we say its over! 

we actually had nothing to work out on the remix, but it was such a thrill to finally work with may (a self-described “long-time solver, first-time collaborator of the blog")!!! we've known each other since the 2022 lil avc x roster, and she was also on the midi roster at the modern (rip in peace, baybeee!) when may listened to the new charli xcx album she immediately knew [REDACTED] would shine as a seed entry in a puzzle that needed to be a collab! i was so honored when she hit me up and beyond excited (and probably should have replied to her text faster!!). we had a blast on this puzzle and are amped to share it with you! if you're looking for more from may, check out crossworthy.net, a free crossword construction platform she runs with her husbae, kevin! they just added the ability to live-edit a puzzle together, google docs style, which is huge!

xcxc crosstina & may

[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PDF]

themeless no. 33

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. 

e-sims for gaza

[ FULLSCREEN | PDF | PUZ ]

themeless no. 31

i made this puzzle as a joke, and then i got sick. i'm posting it now because i've been cluing it between 14-hour long "naps" and literal fever dreams and i think it's funny. you aren't obligated to tell me you like it, but *cough cough* it would make me feel better. there is no poster for it because i didn't feel like it :) changed my mind :) 

please check out these puzzles fund abortion 4, if you haven't yet. here is a list of ways you can support palestinians in gaza.

OH by the way did you know that manatees CHIRP? you're welcome!!!

[ FULL SCREEN | PDF | .JPZ ]

themeless no. 30

themeless no. 29

video of me writing clues for this puzzle

it's always great to be back here. it's not like i ever really leave, but it's kind of an 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' deal. the time i spend not constructing for the blog is spent longing for the creature comforts of home; i'm never happier than when i'm posting puzzles here. i hope that comes across, in some way. maybe it will be conveyed with the new CONFETTI POP feature of the nexus solver, under the jump!! i started half-jokingly asking alex for this feature a while back, and as an all-around good person who has long-suffered my insufferability, he actually took on the challenge to delightful result (if i say so myself). i think it's joyful. (p.s.— there is also a surprise for people who solve in amuselabs! volume ON)

if you're looking for some crosstina-in-business-casual-clothing, i have six (6) eight (8) puzzles running between late october and mid-december that i'd love for you to check out. i am very fond of all of them, especially an upcoming usat collab with amie walker. please enjoy!

i can't promise i will get another puzzle out here before the end of the month, so i do want to wish my beloved blog an early 2nd birthday! i started crosstina on 10/31/21 and...quickly realized this was something i really, really enjoyed. my first byline was a lil avc x on 3/28/2022, my print debut (usa today) was ~5 weeks later, and...the rest is history! as you can imagine, it's been a wild ride. there is no possible way i could have predicted any of this, and it makes it incredibly hard to guess where i'll be at this point NEXT year. however i really, truly, madly, deeply want to thank every single person who has ever solved, left a comment, sent a dm, etc. it has all meant so much and sharing this with you is the deepest well of happiness in my little life. 

[ nexus solver below the jump | amuselabs (fullscreen/mobile) | .pdf | .jpz ]

themeless no. 28 (feat. brooke husic)

*extremely airhorn sound effect moment* IT'S AN A. LADEE x CROSSTINA COLLAB! 

if i may get sentimental for a moment, having a puzzle with brooke on the blog is quite the occasion. when i had the opportunity to join the lil avc x roster last year, it felt completely out of left field and i had to pinch myself because i felt so lucky to get to learn from her. brooke was the first editor i ever worked with, and that first puzzle was challenging! i was as excited as i was clueless. from there, though, i like to think it has been onwards and upwards. fast forward ~18 months, and her guidance and friendship have been invaluable; her talent, humor, and patience with me are legendary, and i am never not trying to sponge up some of her wisdom. she has been a shoulder to cry on and, on more than one occasion, has helped intervene to stop me from throwing my computer in the trash and walking off into the sunset. brooke is so generous with her time, knowledge, and skills and we're all so much better off for it. this is not our first collab—if you count another one that is out in the world today, it's actually our third—but it feels very special to have someone who has always been so supportive of me finally appear on the blog (my baby, the thing of which i am most proud, my favorite thing to do). 

a note from brooke:

these barbies made today's new yorker! yee-haw!

and that's all we wrote (besides a few puzzles)! we hope you love this, because we're so fond of it and so excited to have both of these out in the universe today. xoxo 🧡💛

[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PDF ]

themeless no. 26

this time last year i was in a really shitty place, mentally. i made a whole puzzle about it, vaguely, if you will recall. i'm not going to go back and look at it though, because i (as some of you know) grade myself on all of my puzzles in a very unhinged spreadsheet, and when i revisit old ones i get the urge to downscore them because...reasons. i see a million little things i could have done better, or fill i wouldn't use now but felt fine using then. the lesson i learned last year (unrelated to crosswords), and why i am not indulging my worst habits now, is that it's okay to be nice to your past self. you didn't know everything you know now, and you should extend yourself the same grace that other people do/did. we're all learning! 

anyways. 

totally forgot what i was talking about. um. this puzzle did not come from a bad place! it came from a place of unadulterated whimsy and i think it's fun. i hope you think it's fun! i hope you're having a good summer, and so help me god i hope you are wearing sunblock while you do so. 

this was test solved by alex. huge surprise, i know. his new mondrian puzzle is so good, please check it out. (i should add that will nediger also made a mondrian puzzle??? [what is in the water???] so do that one, too, while you're at it)

[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PDF]

"themeless" no. 25

 

as someone who has never made a themed puzzle in my life, it gives me no joy to announce that this is maybe not a themeless puzzle. i'd call it a 'choose your own adventure' but, well... i chose for you! i tried to make this one pretty easy breezy because...y'know what? let me stop while i'm ahead. this puzzle was both encouraged and tested by alex, so please direct all your complaints to crossword butler. without further ado...

(ED. NOTE / SPOILER: gur nygreangr gvgyr sbe guvf chmmyr vf "bbcf, nyy qbjaf!")

[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PDF]

themeless no. 24

i didn't get around to posting a puzzle in april and, for the first time in crosstina history, i'm not flagellating myself over it! and that's on personal growth. a lot happened over the last month, not the least of which being a 'songs to listen to while solving crosstina puzzles' round in music league (which made me feel very blessed and highly favored, thank you erica) that brought this song to my attention, for which i am very grateful: lowercase IS my love language! i also have a new job, which is fun! not much else to say here— remember to wear your sunscreen, and fund compassionate health care, nonjudgmental support, and reproductive justice for all!

no one test solved this because i'm a gremlin who will never learn from previous mistakes.

[ FULLSCREEN | PDF | JPZ ] 

themeless no. 23

IT'S MY JORDAN PUZZLE, BAYBEEEEEEE!! JUMPMAN JUMPMAN JUMPMAN

have you ever seen the fake 30 for 30 on the space jam game? watch it and then get back to me. i'll wait.

common sense would dictate that i not post this puzzle—three puzzles in one month exists in perfect opposition to both "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and "you can't be missed if you never go away". only here's the thing: i've done the go away thing! i was miserable! and since this is my blog, where i make the rules, and everything is about me, you have to suffer through me posting another crossword. 

legend has it that this skeleton may have started out as a natan last puzzle? but i came across it as a paolo pasco puzzle, at which point i was like 'wow, what an incredible grid! i should ruin it!' and here we are. 

• this puzzle was test-solved by...brooke! have you bought her book yet?
• these puzzl3s fund abortion is here! please donate within your means/if you can.

[ FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PUZ | PDF ] 

themeless no. 22

two puzzles in two weeks? who do i think i am?! myself, from march 2022? 

no poster because clearly the keebler elves who run my photoshop have been busy! 

this grid had been sitting unclued on my computer for months after getting rejected in late 2022 and my subsequently...forgetting about it. you may notice a spanner that has appeared in an earlier puzzle, to which i say: mind your business! also, it's clued better this time, so leave me alone! [ed note: there is actually another earlier-puzzle dupe here that is not clued better. i contain multitudes!] there's not much else to say here— i hope it's fun?!

alex test solved this one, too. if you haven't done his puzzle with brooke yet, let me upgrade u.

shortest notes ever? maybe! please let me know how you like the new look; i loved the old header but i was craving more color. mission: ✅

[ FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PUZ | PDF ] 

themeless no. 21

i had a very long blog post written here, reflecting on a lot of things, including the unique loneliness that really hits you at like 2:30 am in mid-february when it's 11 degrees outside and nothing seems to be going quite the way you hoped. then i realized that the post read as...well, sad? and extremely self-pitying. and not actually representative of how i really feel—which is still kind of amazed that i get to spend any amount of my time doing this, which brings me such happiness! i also have so many of you to belatedly thank—a bunch of people i like/love/adore/admire/respect, etc. signed my birthday card in january and it is something i truly cherish and makes me feel very special. so thank you, to everyone, for the incalculable difference you all make in my life.

this post is not turning out much shorter. i'm wrapping it up, i promise!

i've decided, in my newly acquired age, that i think life is about like, maybe three things:

1. wearing sunscreen
2. finding/creating/multiplying joy
3. a little bit of mischief  

i can promise you will always find at least 2 of these things in my puzzles. i can't make you wear spf, but so help me god if you don't i'll make sure you never hear the end of it.

okay i'm done I'M DONE. there's a new puzzle after the jump. i am not going to fixate on the fact that it's march, i am simply here to offer it to you and ask that you be kind. alex tested it, and there's a new tag on the crosswordnexus blog for all my favorite puzzles, so you should bookmark that. xoxoxoxo

[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PUZ | PDF] 

themeless no. 20

hi, welcome back to crosstina. it's been a while, hasn't it? a lot has happened since we were last here, and two-plus months slipped through my fingers. i've been busy and life has been life—as in, all the good and bad and beautiful and terrible things that happen in life continue to happen. i've desperately wanted to post here, and i'm sure at some point in the past two months could have found the time, but i was also locked in a really negative head-space and have been very unkind to myself. to that end, this puzzle feels remarkable in that i even finished it. anything beyond that is icing on the cake!

i want to thank everyone who's shared their time/energy/eyeballs/laughter/creativity/passion with me this year. i had no idea what 2022 had in store, and was simply along for the ride. suffice to say, i love this ride. i'm enjoying the hell out of it. it is unpredictable and challenging and exciting and i feel very lucky to be on it. i couldn't have (and wouldn't have) done it if it weren't for every person who has done one of these goofy puzzles and enjoyed it. thank you, again, for everything.

that all being said! this is my official end-of-the-year puzzle— it is themeless, and only an 'end of the year' puzzle in that i have no plans on making another one in the next week. pet your dogs for me, tell the people you love that you love them, and celebrate your holidays in a way that makes you happy. see you next year!!

(thank you to alex for the test-solve— check out his latest doodad here!)

[FULLSCREEN | PDF | PUZ]

themeless no. 19 (feat. erik agard)

please welcome mr. back that azz up back to crosstina! this is now our third? collab? and hopefully not our last (can i say that? i'm saying it)— every step of making this puzzle was pure joy (i'm sad it's over!). you'll just have to take our word for it that, at one point, this was a really cute grid that looked like a panda. now? well, you'll see 😈.

in erik's words:

[erik could not be reached for comment? i think the grid got hi—]

END TRANSMISSION.

so, uh, anyways— have at it! we're currently accepting rave reviews only in the comments, but will take criticism, if you tweet it, in haiku. but please do drop a line if you stream it, etc.

[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PDF | PUZ]

themeless no. 18

…and not a moment too soon! i had some way, way, way overdue things i needed to get off my plate, as well as the chance to construct for lollapuzzoola (congrats to EVERYONE, you’re all winners, i loved seeing photos of the weekend), but as soon as i got those done i set to work on this! i love it. it's fun (i hope)! it's a themey themeless (the theme is, idk, stuff). i hope you like it, too. 

i’ve once again eschewed test-solving, so please let me know if you find any typos.

pet some dogs for me; wear your sunblock and re-apply every two hours; don't wrap pickles in tinfoil for a picnic, it makes them taste weird! xoxo

[ FULLSCREEN | PDF | JPZ ] 

themeless no. 17

happy friday! here's a puzzle. it's deep summer, so that's...all i've got. i hope it's fun. be safe, stay hydrated, wear your sunscreen (and reapply every two hours).

xo

p.s. this wasn't test solved! no one has vetted it! you'll just have to trust me. it was made in a shroud of secrecy and we'll talk about how much anxiety that gives me some other time.

p.p.s. aforementioned anxiety makes me want to defend this incredibly uninspired grid skeleton by saying this puzzle was originally intended for something else until i said 'fuck it crosstina eats first' and made a blog puzzle instead.

[ FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PDF ]