Tales from the Cryptic

Cryptic Mini #000000109:   "Brat Summer's Followup" difficulty level: let's discuss Hope everyone is enjoying their *checks notes* normal-ass Thursday! Big thanks to Tookey for testsolving this one!

Cryptic Mini #000000099:   "Marie Antoinette's Dog" obscuration level: 🌒 (i burnt my pancake) In celebration of puzzle #99, here's a 9x9! And so I guess next week... I'll make a... 10x0? I dunno, you do the math. Special thanks to Tookey and Sandy Weisz for their help on this one! Enjoy!

Cryptic Mini #000000087:   "Be A Furry" obscuration level: 🌓 (🌑🤝🌕) Back to the mini grind! Or midi? Either way, here's a puzz with some funky freshness. I tried to balance out the tougher parts with mellower parts... but who knows how it'll all come out in the wash? Hopefully: fun!

Cryptic Mini #000000063:   "Laid-Back Wrestling Moves" obscuration level: 🌔 (maybe a little less) Congrats on surviving Friday the 13th in October! (well, if you survived. if not, i'm sorry that happened to you / congratulations). Here's a breezy guy for ya. Might even be a 🌕, but who knows anymore. A full moon? In this economy? Anyway, enjoy!

Cryptic Mini #000000054:   "Beef Focus Group" obscuration level: 🌑 (bring plenty of glowsticks) A real doozy today, for all you true cryptic sickos out there. Hopefully the 3-letter answers will give you a foothold or two. Send any and all complaints to the comments section! 😈

Cryptic Mini #000000050:   "Under Stephen King's Home" obscuration level: 🌓 (the best of both moons) Happy 50th cryptic mini, solvers! 🥳 To celebrate, I bring you a collab with the inimitable Quiara Vasquez , who helped reshape some of the clunkier parts of the puzz. If there's anything still clunky about it... I take full credit :) Enjoy!

Cryptic Mini #000000047:   "End Human Suffering" obscuration level: 🌒 (80% cacao) This definitely has a lot of 🌑 energy, but I tried to water it down with some easier bits. Just a splash of milk in the coffee. Hope it's how you like it!

Cryptic Mini #000000038:   "Borat/Ellen Segment" obscuration level: 🌓 (bit o' naughty, bit o' nice) Apologies to everyone for making you imagine what a Borat/Ellen segment might look like. Good thing the clue says it got canceled!

Cryptic Mini #000000033:   "Ms. Head-Over-Heels" obscuration level: 🌑 (my toughest yet. a total eclipse.) This week I let the devil on my shoulder write most of the clues. The angel made some revisions, but they were mostly vetoed. It the end, this puzzle isn't the hardest in the world... rather just in this blog. Let me know if any stumped you completely!

Cryptic Mini #000000027:   "Sonic & Laverne Cox" obscuration level: 🌓 (like a walk in the park... a very hilly park) I finally started working with a decent wordlist! Watch out... hot answers, comin' through! Hope they inject some freshness into these grids. Bon appetit!

Cryptic Mini #000000017:   "San Diego Zoo" obscuration level: 🌔 (friendly neighborhood misdirection) Weird shape, I know. I played around with this one a *lot*, but I think it's settled into a nice place? Hope it's not too hard for the newbies, or too easy for the experts!

Cryptic Mini #000000015:   "20 Cents" obscuration level: 🌒 (some toughies, and some softies!) Okay, this is really a 🌑 that's been watered down with some 🌓s and maybe even a 🌔. I have a feeling some of you are going to frown at some of these clues... but hopefully more of you will smile! 🌝

Cryptic Mini #000000011:   "Secondhand Video Center" obscuration level: 🌒 (don't believe what you see) Big and tough! Like me (jk I'm neither). Enjoy, sickos :)

Cryptic Mini #000000008:   "Peachy Mushroom" obscuration level: 🌔 (maybe more like 🌓) I can't tell if this one is 🌔 or 🌓, but either way, hope you like it!

Cryptic Mini #000000005   obscuration level: 🌓 (chins may get scratched) Bigger, badder... and actually not so bad. Still trying to keep things light, for the newbies. Let me know how difficult it was for you!