Wednesday's Crossword: "Magazine Stand"

A subtler theme than previous ones. I recycled the clue for 27A from a previous puzzle, so to make up for it, I included more wordplay in other clues. Solution available here.


ACROSS

1. Friend of Jerry and Elaine 5. Drains a maple 9. Utah ski resort 10. Respectful gesture 13. Shakespearean king 14. Like leftovers 15. Part of a s'more 17. Center of activity 18. Belonging to the Irish 20. Actress Long 23. Two of the Spice Girls 25. Attorneys' titles

27. ___ Lay Dying 28. Like string on a spool? 29. Understand 31. What a busy penpal might be 36. "La Danse" painter 37. Royalty org. 38. Many a circus performer? 39. Pulitzer prize-winning musical 40. Christianity to Judaism, originally 41. Talk show host Banks, et. al.

DOWN

1. Composed 2. Olive's genus 3. Tabloid founded by Rupert Murdoch 4. Bog 5. Hitler adversary 6. The Goonies setting 7. ___ Big Adventure 8. Thesaurus offering, for short 10. Weigh down 11. Uno for girls 12. One who frees 16. Dampest, maybe

19. Old money? 20. Fresh 21. Quarantine 22. Steve Zissou adjective 24. Blocked? 26. Fix something crooked 30. Director Gilliam 32. Half of a dangerous fly? 33. Water structure 34. "Daily Planet" employee 35. People from New Orleans 36. Things in an SASE, perhaps

Monday's Crossword: "Dinosaurs!"

I'm asked whether I use a computer program to compile the crosswords. In a word, no. In a sentence, I use a blank Excel spreadsheet to create all the crossings and clues. It's "the long route" but it's more enjoyable than anything automated, at least in my opinion.

This puzzle's about terrible lizards. I'm wondering whether 6-Down is a valid clue. Solution available here.

ACROSS

1. USSR spies, collectively 4. "___ me up, Scotty!" 8. Winged thing 11. Water cutter 12. Grapefruit hybrid 13. Pulp Fiction co-star 14. List of favored sites 16. Dodge model introduced in 1981 17. System for bats or subs 18. William and Harry's mum 20. Equine movements 23. Nicholas II, for one 24. Prepares equipment 26. ___ spumante

27. Caesar's bear 28. Alpha kids, sometimes 30. Flair 31. Like the Sahara 32. Man from Riyadh 34. White-___ crane: Mongolian bird 37. Abbr. from a doctor 38. Major Venice exhibition 41. Soccer star Freddy 42. Hence 43. Titanic opening? 44. Attention-getters 45. Attraction at 8-Down, for short 46. Fish in Japan?

DOWN

1. African antelopes 2. Tribe in Northern India 3. The Land Before Time's Littlefoot 4. Donkeys 5. Something boosted 6. Without exception 7. Less spicy than spicy 8. Prehistoric Disney World? 9. Send forth 10. Japanese sauces 15. Minnelli matriarch

19. Like 26-Across 21. Brass instrument 22. ___-of-the-moment 24. Time to be fat? 25. Where to find Mickey Mouse 29. Victor over Vitali 33. Beginning of a wager 35. Tickle-me toy 36. Lucy's love 39. Econ. percentage 40. 1972 Can album: "___ Bamyasi"

Sunday's Crossword: "Kids' Puzzle Redux"

There's a certain plateau, I'm convinced, in terms of crossword-solving ability. You start out doing the puzzles in Zoobooks or Highlights (side note: is Goofus really still lying about the spilled milk? That kid will never learn) and you think, "This is pretty sweet for like, nerd stuff" as you fill in your grid with WILLY WONKA and PORPOISE (both of which I've already used in my puzzles).

Later, when you first become someone who "does" crosswords, you get really good really fast. Most of this skill comes from learning puzzle conventions, patterns, and commonly-used words. Like EPEE (a blunt sword; immensely important but non-toxic) and OTOE (an Indian tribe with perfect vowel structure). Another part altogether comes from accumulated pop culture knowledge and an advanced vocabulary. Ten years ago, for example, I could never have filled JOSEPH CONRAD for 23D: Kind of racist author.

After that your skills pause somewhere between the New York Times' Tuesday and Wednesday puzzles. I think that's where I am right now. Completing Wednesday is 30/70 for me; I can fill in all the squares 30%-ish percent of the time, but usually I need assistance, whether it be from a friend or from Google. Damn you, 15A: Russian Orthodox church feature! Though a quick internet search tells me you're an ONION DOME.

What's more, I think I might be getting slightly worse, despite completing a few puzzles every day. So I drew out this graph to encourage myself to keep the goal in sight. Being a competition-level Saturday solver is really only a few puzzles away. Preceeded by a sharp, painful plunge and a probable existential crisis. Where'd I put my Zoobooks? Solution available here.

ACROSS

1. Former Buccaneer 5. Chat room FAQ 8. Shakespeare's commotion? 11. Like Mousavi 12. Tee finisher 14. 90s kids show crime fighters 16. A Kennedy 17. Org. with hat tricks 18. Comment on a bad essay 19. Largest state 21. Robert ___ Butler 22. Keyboard abbrev. 23. Noted (above!) common word

24. Game with Mustard 26. Pikachu's owner 27. Joel or Ethan 28. Hitchcock classic 32. Reckon 33. One of Goodall's friends 34. Command for Forrest 35. 90s kids show crime fighters 38. Like used butter? 39. Noted (above!) common word 40. Aye it is not 41. Chemist's abbrev. 42. Bumper bruise

DOWN

1. Omnipresent man? 2. The Little Mermaid 3. Frequent Zoobooks cover animal 4. Sack lunch staple, for short 5. "To boot!" 6. Dementor's craving 7. 35-yr. marriage, say 8. Chromosome part 9. One Ramone 10. War of the Worlds adapter 13. Sedentary man's reward? 15. Length for a dress

20. Stroll 23. German food 24. Mexican Budweiser 25. Breathing room 26. Horrify 27. Neutered rooster 29. Greek island 30. One of the Great Lakes 31. Where Brad Pitt might be? 33. Folk singer Guthrie 36. CD-___ 37. Jesus or his father

Animation: "The Adventures of Tiger Boy"

One of the first animations I drew and still one of my favorites. Inspired in retrospect by the Disney film The Jungle Book (1967). A precocious series of non-adventures that helped me learned how to animate a person walking, a bear-person sleeping, and the ever important "Fin" at the end of any film worth watching. This set of characters would basically start my predilection for drawing children in animal costumes.

Friday's Puzzle: "Pure Imagination"

I skipped yesterday to work on a super awesome puzzle that I wanted to submit to a national newspaper. I didn't finish. Solution available here.
ACROSS

1. Allots 7. Place for a frog 10. Stage direction 11. Over there 12. Dutch grandma 13. Like Puerto Rico, for short 14. My Little Chickadee star 16. Emergency room shout 18. Month in printemps 19. "___ is me" 21. Austrian painter 25. Moves heavily 29. Lamb opposite?

30. Ship direction 31. Type of power 33. One of the Fab Four 35. Reaction to a nose pick? 36. Edge 38. Partner of Barnes 42. General Lee nickname 46. Lunch time 47. Rower's need 48. Author Wiesel 49. Shoe securer 50. Aloha! 51. Accompaniment

DOWN

1. Winter Olympics feat 2. Father 3. Neapolitan third 4. Sweat lodge? 5. Mr. Chomsky, to friends 6. Be stealthy 7. Usher creator 8. Morning hrs. 9. Not dis 10. Word for the lazy 15. Dahl's factory owner 17. Wade opponent 20. Uncertain sounds 22. Three, to Caesar 23. Jamaican address 24. Star Trek spin-off, initially

25. Vegas opening 26. Last: abbrev. 27. ___ culpa 28. Short title for Jeanne d'Arc 32. Grass appendage 34. Axed, slangily 37. Double agent 39. Birthplace of Beethoven 40. Booty 41. Tolkien creature 42. ___stopper: 15-down creation 43. Role for Oscar winner Jamie 44. "___ we there yet?" 45. Frat letters

Wednesday's Crossword: Five Puzzles Deep

My friend Michael bought a subscription to the New York Times Crossword online and was kind enough to share his password with me! Did Tuesday's in 10 minutes, but I'd have to halve that time to be competitive, and at that point it's just not fun anymore (...right?). Today's crossword is a theme-less wonder, but I think it's my best so far. Solution available here.

ACROSS

1. Start to drop 6. Eastern mystic 11. Christmas thief 13. Courage 14. Fast man 15. Violet beginning? 16. First place 18. CPR performer 19. Edible mollusk 22. Van Gogh's loss 24. Terra ___ 25. Soda denomination

27. "Extra! Extra!" callers 29. Sphere 30. Traffic tkt. 31. Like Monroe 33. 28-down, auf Deutsch 35. Poet's black 36. Close-up, in photography 38. Historic Theatre 42. Partners of sirs 43. Acceptable in comparison 44. Great success 45. Supernatural

DOWN

1. Chicken alternative 2. Constellation that crosses the Milky Way 3. Actor Diesel 4. Final stage 5. Learned persons 6. Law & Order spin-off: abbrev. 7. Whip result 8. Rock sub-genre 9. One way to be wounded 10. Roth ___ 12. Pile of earth 17. Driver's lic. info

19. ___ Newton 20. Crucial 21. Dolphin relative 23. Dream state: abbrev. 24. Radio regulator initially 26. Like Miley Cyrus 28. Female pronoun 32. Magician's word 34. Bombeck, e.g. 36. Fr. señorita 37. Movie songs, abbrev. 39. Application req. often 40. French pronoun 41. Keats' work

My grandfather at the Omni, 1977

Cool photograph my mother dug up. On the left, my late grandfather opening an art show at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta. The woman in the center is the current Atlanta mayor, Shirley Franklin.

My granddad was pretty awesome: he was an artist by trade, and he used to paint political landscapes, weld graceful sculptures, and piece together detailed three-dimensional mosaics (like this one) down by the quiet creek behind his bungalow-style house, listening to Coltrane and Davis, cursing Kenny G.

A few more of his sculptures can be found at the California African American Museum. Thanks, mom!