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. 36 feat. erik agard

 

as i'm sitting here to write the intro for this blog post, i find myself with both too much and... nothing to say, which is... i can't unpack all of that right now. so here—i'll shut up and keep it simple. below the cut is a themeless puzzle; it's a 21x; it was made by me and erik; we hope you like it. 

OKAY WAIT— i will say that i like the poster. making movie posters doesn't really move me like it used to, and i was so excited and energized by this puzzle that i felt it needed something wholly unique. i hope you like the poster, too. but that's secondary. i hope you LOVE the puzzle, and it's okay if you like the poster.

and now a word from my co-conspirator:

thank you to kelsey for having me back on the blog! enjoy! 🙇🏻‍♂️

.jpz | nexus solver | full screen solve | (if you really need a pdf i will make one i guess just ask)

p.s. there will be a zine vol. 2 this fall 

crosstina aqua-zine-a, vol. 1

i posted my first crosstina puzzle on october 31, 2021—a bamboozling three years ago. i'm not really sure where the time has gone, both in terms of crosswords or just my regular, degular life. i knew that i wanted to celebrate the occasion of this passion project turning into a threenager, and that i wanted to do it with more than a regular puzzle. (i did briefly consider a rows garden, but that was easier said than done) (which is not to say that this was easy either lmao). i've spent a lot of time thinking about what it means that crosswords are essentially ephemera, and i decided i wanted to create something with more permanence—something that was visual and tactile. so what i did was make a crosstina zine—a crosstina aqua-zine-a, if you will. with some art, some personal thoughts, some personal photos, and 14 midi puzzles. i hope you like it, but it's okay if you don't! it's very personal, and i'm very proud of it.

i want to thank kate, for listening to all of my unhinged ideas (always, but especially with this), alex for some tech support, and will nediger for test-solving. there are extended thanks, including one for you—yes, you!—within.

if you would like to indulge me* ** and receive an actual, physical copy of the 20-page zine in the mail, please fill out the google form here: google form

* i really, truly, genuinely want to send these to anyone who wants them. *extremely sabrina carpenter voice* please, please, please take me up on this

** i bought cute stamps and everything please i'm begging 

you can also solve the puzzles online, in acrosslite/xword/the nexus solver by downloading them here: zip file download

additionally, you can download the PDF of the zine, including the essays and accompanying foofaraw here: pdf download (answer key)

thank you all so much for everything, from the bottom of my heart.

xoxo

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. 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. 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. 27

 

i've spent the past ~3 weeks convinced i had completely forgotten how to make a puzzle and was truly descending into complete madness.

then at midnight on wednesday, i had a eureka moment. curse, broken. crops, flourishing. snakes, no longer manifesting in my home. this puzzle is hopefully breezy enough that it does not require any intimate knowledge of the bear, but....go watch the bear. that said, no one test solved this because i've gone rogue.

also, i have the universal on saturday. it has approx. 1600 characters in it. this one has...more than that. 

click here to see what this grid was supposed to look like before amuselabs told me it couldn't connect to a server and i lost all my progress

[FULLSCREEN | PDF | PUZ]