Quid Pro

  1. Summer Swoon

    The idea for this theme came from exactly where you’ll think it came from after you solve it. But I’ll admit that the pay-off is...

  2. An It’s-Just-A-Number Midi

    It’s that self-indulgent time of year again: my birthday month. This year is a milestone number for me but saying anything more than that...

  3. A Poisonous Midi

    This is one of those puzzles which came from an all too real experience — the springtime acquisition of the item referenced in 11-Across. I’m...

  4. Live Each Day

    I recently lost my wife of 40 years, this is the not surprising reason my puzzle constructing has been sporadic over the last few months....

  5. A Bowie Extravaganza

    In late 2022, I spent some time trying to construct crosswords that were 100% themed — where every single clue referenced the puzzle’s subject in...

  6. A Midi with a Bone to Pick

    The topic of this puzzle moved around a bit. I ultimately decided that the theme would honor the start of baseball season and my home...

  7. Stop Bugging Me

    It’s been raining a lot in our part of town (as with much of Northern California) and after the soil gets sufficiently waterlogged, a certain...

  8. A Dutiful Midi

    I blamed our new puppy for the ish-ness of the theme of my last midi and I get to credit her with inspiring the...

  9. A Theme-ish Midi

    I described my last midi as “coming together quickly” and this week the puzzle gods got their karmic retribution in that this one never...

  10. I’d Settle for a Flurry

    This is one of those midis that came together quickly — and I think the theme kind of speaks for itself without needing much additional...

  11. Heading Home for the Holidays

    It’s that time of year when many people are on the move, heading home to see family or leaving home for warmer (or colder) climes....

  12. A Very Veggie Thanksgiving

    For the last two years, couples crossword puzzle solving has been a Thanksgiving tradition at our house — we’re not much for watching football on...

  13. A Mid-Autumn Tea Break

    The fun part about midis — to me, anyway — is getting to play with wackier formats. In a 15x15, I try to hew closer...

  14. A Somewhat Topical Themeless

    I had the idea for 17-Across burning a hole in my mixed metaphorical pocket and played around with a few themes using the same device...

  15. Taylor Swifties

    The idea for the theme to this puzzle came to me earlier this year and I’ve been honestly surprised to see no one else attempt...

  16. An End of Summer Midi

    I’ve been having fun constructing midis lately. Although I have been working on a few 15x’s on the side, I am finding that the smaller...

  17. Sensational

    This is the first 9x9 puzzle I have posted here, it’s not a dimension I normally gravitate to as it’s a little betwixt and between....

  18. It’s AAll AAbout Me!

    This is one of those puzzles that came out of nowhere; I haven’t really been in a puzzle making mood for a while but I...

  19. Not For GenX Only (May 2024)

    These days there are so many good Millennial and GenZ puzzle constructors with their hip, au courant puzzles that I thought I might throw a...

  20. Pals

    I constructed this puzzle at the end of 2023 during the winter holidays, it was one of those themes that came out of a different...

  21. A Spicy Mini

    The seed for this one was 9-Across, hence the title’s tang. As those who have followed my AlphaMini project have probably gleaned by now,...

  22. A Rousing Midwinter Midi

    The layout of this grid is one of my favorites, I used the same pattern back in November for another themeless midi. Let’s call...

  23. Rotisserie League

    I first finished this puzzle back in May 2023 and spent the rest of that year submitting to — and getting rejected from — various...

  24. Bad Sports

    After a run of themeless puzzles — many of them minis or midis — I decided it was time for a straight down the middle...

  25. A Thanksgiving Midi

    I had tried to make the theme for this puzzle work as a 15x for awhile before realizing it really wanted to be something smaller,...

  26. Themeless Midi (November 2023)

    I’m continuing to focus on smaller puzzles which, it turns out, are a lot easier to make than bigger puzzles. I know, it takes me...

  27. Themeless Mini (November 2023)

    This is my first themeless mini, continuing the thread from last month’s themeless midi of focusing on smaller puzzles. I did clue this one...

  28. Themeless Midi (October 2023)

    I am finding I enjoy making themeless midis, so I present you one for October 2023. When I have a good theme idea, I tend...

  29. Blame The Normans

    This puzzle harkens back to late last year when I was building puzzles that were completely themed — although this one is only about 25%...

  30. Themeless Midi (August 2023)

    I’m trying to write more mini and midi puzzles lately and this is a result: my first themeless midi. Given the smaller sized puzzle, I...

  31. Easy Peasy

    I’ve been thinking a lot about how it can be more difficult to make easy puzzles (say Monday NYT), in particular because of how clean...

  32. Themeless (June 2023)

    This 70 word themeless came together pretty quickly, both 20-Across and 49-Across have been in my list of longer phrases for awhile now and it...

  33. Ooh... A Midi

    I built this midi because I had a couple of phrases that I wanted to use that sort of had a theme, but not really....

  34. Themeless (April 2023)

    This is my first 15x puzzle of 2023 — I’ve been more focused on minis and other crossword projects of late. But it is good...

  35. Themeless #7

    I wrote this 68 word themeless back in September of 2022 before embarking on a run of more heavily themed puzzles. I haven’t had a...

  36. Film Buffed

    I came across a Charlie Chaplin quote that felt like a good starting point for a film industry puzzle. I had to paraphrase the quote...

  37. Something In The Air

    This puzzle was created in honor of my daughter Astrid, who is a few months away from finishing her PhD thesis. This year’s Thanksgiving...

  38. Unquote #1

    OK, I know you don’t like quote or quip puzzles: I don’t really either. This was one of the earlier puzzles I constructed, I finished...

  39. Tom Petty Mini

    As part of constructing crossword puzzles, I have been thinking a lot about heavily themed puzzles — more than just a few long theme entries,...

  40. Themeless #6

    This 70 word puzzle is a recent favorite among my themeless puzzles — I was happy with the four longer seeds. Although (as has become...

  41. Themeless #5

    This 70 word themeless was created back in May and was seeded with the two long 15s at 15-Across and 51-Across. The reason for the...

  42. For Smarties

    This is a 74 word themed puzzle that I created a few months ago. I am just getting around to posting here after I tested...

  43. Honey Bunch

    My newest creation was a present for my wife and my first attempt at something larger than the normal weekday 15x15. This themed puzzle comes...

  44. Dessert Treat

    This 72 word themed puzzle came together quickly as my mind wandered during a hike (see 17-Across) and it wasn’t long before I found three...

  45. Themeless #4

    For my fourth themeless, I wanted to do a super low word count — 62 to be exact. I also was interested in building a...

  46. The Ultimate Questions

    They say you can’t be a published author until you’ve been a rejected author and with this puzzle, I guess I’m halfway there. I finished...

  47. Dog Tired Jokes

    I had fun with the silliness of this one, I debated whether to submit it to a publication and ultimately figured it wouldn’t be to...

  48. Themeless #3

    I wanted to keep inching down on the word count for my third themeless, this one clocks in at only 66 words. Featuring two double...

  49. Themeless #2

    For my second themeless, I wanted to build a puzzle with a big open middle and relatively low (70) word count. My seed was 37-Across,...

  50. It’s Crisper

    This is my first attempt at a themed puzzle since returning to crosswording. The revealer is the same as a relatively recent NYT Sunday puzzle...

  51. Themeless #1

    This 78 word themeless is my first puzzle since returning to puzzle making. I knew from the start that the word count was too high...

15x15s - All Crosswords - Larger than 15x15 - Midis - Minis - Published Elsewhere - Themed - Themeless