#49: Gentlewoman Thief (Themeless #22)

 

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Hello to everyone visiting QVXwordz for the first time from the link in that Slate profile! I hope you're enjoying my work there... and I hope you aren't scared off by the difficulty of the puzzles on this site! Because what I have for you today is a 64-word themeless that I would call "sizzlin' hot," difficulty-wise. Shout-out to Lila Goldenberg, Will Eisenberg, and Colin Adams (what, no berg?) who all chipped in on the test-solves on this one. (And speaking of shout-outs, check out that 1-Down clue!)

Surprisingly, this is the first themeless grid I've published that was made using Ingrid, the super-cool (and super FREE!) construction software from Ryan Fitzgerald. I say "surprisingly" because I created the program's adorable mascot. She's so cute! The main consequence of this is that there's a couple entries in this grid which weren't on my personal wordlist but which exist on Spread the Word(list), and thus enabled some fun entries here.

What else is new? Hm, well - AVCX's submission window opened on Wednesday, which was nice. We got maybe a dozen submissions on the first day, and only one of them was about butts! I haven't figured out what to do with all the themeless grids I've been making - maybe I'll sell little packs of pay-what-you-want grids on Ko-fi or one of those sorts of websites? And there's always the Redstone app. Let me know what you guys would like, on that front. Anyway, as always, the applet is under the cut; enjoy.

#43: Back Me Up Here, Y'all (Themeless #19)

 

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This puzzle is a 68-word themeless, with a bunch of things about it that are impressive in the XWordInfo sense - yes, as that thumbnail shows, there's a triple stack of 15s in its center, and also, without giving anything away, let's just say that this puzzle is an equal opportunity employer of consonants and vowels. It is also a fairly difficult puzzle, particularly if you're not on my wavelength - I packed this one full of references to popular culture that I like, some of which are not particularly mainstream. (Tragically for 34-Down, winning the Record of the Year Latin Grammy does not make you "white famous," nor does it make you "crossworthy," and, yes, I am pretending that the latter is not code for the former.) But I think the songs and records name-dropped here are worth a listen - hence why once you solve the puzzle there'll be links to all the songs I namedropped. Maybe someday I'll make a Spotify playlist with all the songs I namedropped in these puzzles? Would require me to have a Spotify account, so probably not. (Now, a last.fm playlist... haha, just kidding. Or am I?)

Incredibly, I have gone something like 15 months without posting a themeless on this blog. Weirdly, this is not because 2023 was a fallow year for me puzzle-wise, since I made at least fifty midis for Crossword Club alone. (I like the one I did from this Tuesday, incidentally.) Oh, and I got a grid published in the New York Times, finally. Twice, actually! Really, 2023 was a banner year for me in puzzles. I got to work behind the scenes at ACPT! I was (briefly) in the top 5 at Boswords and Lollapuzzoola!! Robyn Weintraub hugged me like, a dozen times!!!

But yes, QVXwordz has been sadly neglected over the past couple months. That's why my lofty goal for 2024 is to go "fifty-fifty" - by which I mean, I'm aiming to get fifty full-sized puzzles on the blog this year, and to sell fifty full-sized puzzles to various outlets. And you can help with that - I'm looking to collaborate with as many constructors as is feasible this year. So why don't you (is she gonna say the thing? is she gonna say the thing?) back me up here, y'all? Shoot me an e-mail and say "hey, Q, let's make a puzzle together!" and we'll work something out.

Anyway, hope you all like this puzzle. Big ups to John Kugelman and RandomSaucepan for testing this one. I'm still working out a schedule for weekly-ish posting - when I started the blog the only indie site that regularly posted on Thursdays was BEQ's, but now I'm wondering whether I should start posting on the weekend? We'll see.

#39: For Sexy MFs Only (Themeless #18)

 

difficulty: middling (Friday)
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The dulcet tones of the Lady Miss Kier can only mean one thing - the return of QVXwordz themelesses! Holy shit!

Not too much to say here. Astute solvers will note that this puzzle has 74 words, which is too many for the majority of crossword outlets; I estimate that at least one of the clues/entries here is a no-go at most crossword outlets, too. (Hint: it's the one that says MOTHAFUCKIN' in all caps.) Thanks to Ben, Josh, and Riley for test-solving.

Puzzle under the cut! Although, I've also included a fullscreen link above in lieu of a PDF (which you can just make with the Amuselabs applet anyway), in case you want to solve it that way. Have fun!

THE QVXWORDZ FIRST ANNIVERSARY THROWBACK SPECTACULAR

 

This Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of QVXwordz, and I wanted to do something nostalgic to celebrate - so, here are some puzzles I QVXcavated for you.

Back at the start of the pandemic, when I lost my job and couldn't leave the house, I decided that I'd go insane if I didn't do *something,* and out of the blue one of my friends mentioned he'd been using a program called Phil to make his own crosswords online. After a couple months, I had finally made a pair of 15x grids that I thought were good enough to share with friends, so I sent them to this guy whose puzzles I had been enjoying. And that guy's name was Sid... something or other. I think he has a website, the name of which eludes me at the moment? Whatever. Anyway, Sid Something-or-other said he liked my puzzles, and got me in touch with Matthew Stock, who got me in touch with Erik Agard, and before you know it I'm the hottest girl in all of crossworld, getting commissions left and right, I'm published in all sorts of newspapers, etc etc. So you know, not to undersell my mad skillz, but let's take this opportunity to give thanks to Erik, and Matthew, and Sid - all famously wonderful guys, as anyone remotely familiar with the world of indie puzzles will attest - without whom I'd likely not be the phenom I am today.

And you know, let's add one more name to that list of giants whose shoulders I stand upon - Phil creator Keiran King. Keiran, are you reading this? You rock, and I literally would not be making puzzles at the level I am today if I hadn't chanced upon your site. Seriously, man, hit me up. Let's collab on a grid sometimes. I owe you my career, arguably.

Right, anyway: under the cut you'll find the first two 15x puzzles I ever made that approach "solvable." I'm selling myself short, actually - these are pretty damn good, considering I had no idea what a ""wordlist"" even was at the time. They got the Sid Something-or-other seal of approval way back when, which is no mean feat. So let's go. Here's to one year of QVXwordz, bitches. Applets below the cut; see you next week.

 

#29: I Studied Philosophy for Four Years and All I Got Was This Lousy Crossword

 

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difficulty: easy... maybe

No, I'm not bitter that I didn't major in comp sci, what gave you that impression? Jack the difficulty rating on this one up to "medium" if you can't tell Plato from Play-doh. Actually, even if you took Philosophy 101, or just watched The Good Place, one of these entries might still be a headscratcher (but is totally worth reading up on after you finish, imo). Anyway, probably going to do a themeless next week because I have some hyper-current seed entries I want to burn; hope this puzzle is a nice reprieve from that. Anyway, enjoy the puzzle. Applet under the cut.

#23: X Gon' Give It to Ya

 

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difficulty: medium

First of all, for the 500(!) new people who checked out last week's themeless per the Biz Quig's recommendation, hi! I'm Quiara, I make puzzles every Thursday (and usually minis every Monday), and sometimes they're pretty good. We operate on pretty similar wavelengths, most of the time, so I'm sure if you stick around you'll find something you like.

So anyway, this puzzle. Would you believe that it was concepted a week or two ago, and intended neither as a DMX tribute nor as a shameless round of one-upping Ricky Cruz's Boswords themeless?! It was originally called "All My Exes." But then, like, why not pay tribute to a dearly departed legend? (True story, in my past life as a journo I once worked not one but two DMX quotes into the headline and text of a tangentially related article. It was all downhill from there, folks.)

Anyway, enjoy the puzzle. See y'all next week. Applet under the cut.

#22: Evaneference (Themeless #9)

 

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difficulty: very hard (Saturday)

Been a while since one of these themelesses came out. This one is kind of a spiritual successor to Themeless 6 in that there's a bunch of long propers scattered throughout the grid, but it's a tad easier than that one. Still really hard, particularly if you don't remember the '90s, or if you're unaware of the hottest New Yorker since Lucas "Uses Venmo" Chi. (Don't click those links until after you've solved the puzzle, LOL.)

Thank you to Norah Sharpe and Brendan Quigley for playtesting this bad boy. (Yes, THAT Brendan Quigley. I know, how cool, right?) Applet under the cut; enjoy.

#21: 21

 

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difficulty: medium-hard (Thursday?)

No April Fools puzzle for 4/1,* but hey, it's 4/3/21, and look, it's puzzle #21, and it's titled 21, and the theme has something to do with the numbers 2 and 1, and there are two (2) dupes in one (1) of the entries. All of which was completely intentional, f'sure, f'sure. Anyway, this theme wouldn't fly in any major outlet, but it's very cute, IMHO. And it's a pangram! Anyway, hope y'all digit (number joke). Applet under the cut.

*Although, with last week's Something Different and the most recent Monday Mini, this site has had plenty of April Foolery for 2021.

Rice-A-Roni (Monday Mini #5)

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One of the best crossworld mini-trends of 2020 was the mini-surge in "pangram midis" - Sid Sivakumar kicked it off, and then Nate Cardin and Enrique Henestroza Anguiano tried to one-up him by making progressively tinier puzzles all the way down to 7x7. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Gordon/Longo "petite pangrams" Kickstarter which operated along similar lines. Anyway, this puzzle is a pangram, which you should keep in mind for some of the harder crosses here.

Puzzleme applet under the cut.

#11: First We Run...

 

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difficulty: medium

No mini yesterday, because this puzzle cannibalized what would have been that puzzle's extremely timely seed entry. Applet under the cut. No apologies for earworms.

#7: Countdown to Ecstasy

 

difficulty: "happy medium" (Wednesday-ish)
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So yesterday I looked backwards towards the bright spots in 2020, puzzlewise. Today, we look towards the future. My very bright future, because this puzzle is IMO the best of the themed ones on my site so far, and I definitely feel these puzzles sort of clicking into place in a way they weren't previously. So I have confidence that, with this newfound cruciverbal power under my (elastic pajama) belt, you'll be seeing a lot of me in more major outlets come 2021. Just a hunch. Grey Lady, here we come.

But enough about me. I'm definitely looking forward to Malaika Handa's daily 7x7 puzzles, and I'm not just saying that because this brilliant project of hers was directly inspired by one of my stupid questions (long story). And of course, the promise (some would say "threat") of an "et 2, etui?" has me shook. But honestly, considering just how many must-solve constructors came onto the scene this year who had never so much as even touched Crossfire not even six months ago, I have absolutely no doubt that my socks will be knocked into the stratosphere by someone who no one's even heard of. Who knows, maybe in 2021 this blog can be a launchpad for the next star constructor-in-the-making.

So yeah, enjoy the puzzle. Applet under the cut. I hope I'm not "dropping the ball" here. (Little New Year's Eve humor.)

#4: The Dude Abides

Let's start with the exciting news: earlier this week I made my print xword debut! Matthew Stock and I worked together on Monday's USA Today puzzle, "VR Headset." It's recommended for people who like my puzzles, but don't like their difficulty.

Speaking of which, I swear I set out to make an easy puzzle this week. Mission failed. Blame it on the proper names. It is, however, a pangram (and nearly a double pangram at that! stupid Vs), so it's not a total wash.

Many thanks to Claire Rimkus, Brooke Husic, Mali Handa, David Lazar, and Chris Adams for playtesting this bad boy. And speaking of Chris, have you seen his latest mini? It's very good. Especially that brilliant title. Then again, this here puzzle has an incredible title too, IMHO. Enjoy.