Craig's Crossword and Wordplay puzzles

Craig's Crossword and Wordplay Puzzle Page
(Fancy logo pending)

June 22, 2003: It's now two months after my last update, and I'm taking advantage of finding a PDF Writer that's free for non-commercial use (RoboPDF by e-help.com). Puzzles posted from here on in will now be posted in PDF format instead of HTML. I've added two regular crossword puzzles, one of which was topical in late May (my "double triple stack"), and one of which is a short-attention-span puzzle in reference to a recent event that did not go unnoticed at the NYT Crossword forms. I've also added my latest NYT Cryptic Clue Forum "Cru Cryptic" as well, and Jeffrey Harris has provided me with a Siamese Twins puzzle I'm sure you'll enjoy. Or you can download a single PDF file (about 130K) with all four of these puzzles.

Apr. 21, 2003: I have added a crossword puzzle here with a theme that struck my fancy, although it wouldn't really be publishable. Since I was doing this one up solely for my entertainment (and yours), I allowed myself to go wild on the clues a bit more than usual. I hope you like it.

Apr. 6th, 2003: This puzzle is appropriate on both this page and my "other" page, so I've added it here as well.

C --- KPEASSP --- LERDISRU --- ENTENCYCLO --- DICPOL --- OPYLENELA --- INTHINEMINUT --- HAR --- INERPENTA --- ETE
hint

I'm also finally adding a link to the cryptic crossword I had sent along to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in my absence. And the crossword appearing Tuesday, April 8th [Was April 9th, actually - ck] at Garfield Games will be mine (or so I'm told) - my first published puzzle of the year. I also have puzzles appearing every month until September right now; I will try to highlight them as they get published.

Lastly, here is a themed micro-mini (7x7) crossword, presented as a diagramless:
Across: One of a dozen, usually / Atlanta-based medical org. / Overly / Treasure, to a Spaniard / Dance enthusiastically / Landownder in Scotland / Snore / Aspirin ingredient / Narc employer / Old-style pronoun / Uri Geller's claim
Down: And so on: abbr. / Hearty dish / Made one's escape / Rust / Lackeys / Gear / Feel under the weather / Put one's feet up / Clod

Feb. 5th, 2003: Courtesy of Jeffrey Harris, I've added a variety crossword entitled "Heading Home" here.

Jan. 3rd, 2003: Courtesy of Jeffrey Harris, I've added a miniature "Marching Bands" puzzle here.

Dec. 26th, 2002: I've posted a cryptic crossword here that originally appeared in the December 1995 issue of the Enigma (the monthly publication of the National Puzzlers' League.)

Dec. 19th, 2002: I've added a crossword here for your solving pleasure. I hope you enjoy it. (Updated Dec. 26, 2002)

Dec. 14th, 2002: After a considerable period of time where I was too tired, too busy, or too distracted to do so, I have returned to constructing regular crosswords. I have a few sent off to freelance markets for consideration already and I intend to supplement those soon. I may post puzzles that fail to qualify for professional publication here if I think they're good enough.

If you like the puzzles and musings here, you are encouraged to do one of the following things:

Drop me a line. I can be reached care of: craigkas@myway.com
Tip me. (Coming soon) I can't afford to support myself solely as a puzzle creator at this time, much as I would like to. If you tip me for the puzzles I put up here, it enables me to spend more time making puzzles to post here (and less time doing other things.
Hire me. I can construct pretty much any kind of puzzle, for pretty much any kind of solving audience.
Host me. To be more precise, host my site. (This is only important if you mind the ads my free hosting provider inserts onto these pages.)

On the other hand, if for some reason you don't like a puzzle or puzzles, let me know, but please tell me why you feel that way. (In other words, constructive criticism is always welcome.)

Enjoy the puzzles!

Craig K.

December 14th, 2002 - Christmassy Cryptic Word Square

Clues:
1. Start of shopping trip in kind of mall (5)
2. Identical way one is wrapped up with string (5)
3. It's for roping in Santa at first... leaving, backing up a stair (5)
4. Lay to rest "Christmas season's starting late" (5)
5. Partridge Family tree initially likes Jewel? (5)

About the constructor:

Craig Kasper is a Canadian puzzle constructor in his early 30's. He has a degree in computer science (and accordingly currently works in the IT field). He has been fascinated with puzzles of various kinds since he was in elementary school, and is capable of constructing and solving puzzles at a high level including crosswords (both US-style and cryptic), wordplay and language-based puzzles, math-based puzzles and logic puzzles.

Craig was a constructor for the World Puzzle Championships in 2000 and 2002, and supplied puzzles for the 2001 and 2002 US Team qualifying tests. He hopes to someday represent Canada as a competitor.

In March of 2002 Craig was able to attend the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut, where he placed 1st in the foreign division, 3rd in the Rookies classifiaction, and 55th overall out of over 400 participants.

Craig's other interests include playing games, reading (mystery novels in particular), recreation sports, walking, and socializing.

Except as noted, puzzles and articles presented on this page are the copyrighted intellectual property of Craig Kasper.
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