Frazz by Jef Mallett for March 23, 2020

Abandoned

Trying to do some of these (the ones with the awful clues) always causes cross words.

“Toss it out” also has nine letters.

Don’t surrender yet, people.

Nine letter (and longer) words can be among the easiest in a puzzle…

IF you already have some of the letters anchoring a few spaces

(assuming you have a good grasp of vocabulary and spelling,)

there may not be a lot of different words that would fit them all…

whereas a shorter word may not have a pattern established.

I dunno, Susan. Is it like something you’ve got all sewed up?

Not a fan of crossword puzzles, but I love word searches.

“Surrender”.

Now they’re denigrating Mrs. O, behind her back. Not cool…

discarded That’s my usual choice for puzzles that insert numerals, hyphens, symbols, or multiple letters. When I know an answer but have to keep trying fit it, then I know it has been twisted to suit the puzzle design. Reminds me of a writer who writes his/her hero/heroine into an impossible situation, then uses some kind of contrived and unlikely solution to rescue the character. Disappointing for me but probably not for most true puzzlers.

What has four letters, sometimes 9 letters, but never has 5 letters.

A fitting start to American Crossword Puzzles Week.

“I’m crazy for crossword puzzles; so I got my old dictionary out of hock. And since the nights are getting, longer and longer; I’m building my home upon a rock.” - Rod McKuen. “Hit ’Em In the Head With Love”

“Acquiesce”?

I always thought the 7 letter words are the most difficult in English crossword puzzles as it seemed to be the most common length for synonymous words.

Resigning?

A bookkeeper noticed that the word “balloon” has two consecutive pairs of double letters, and wondered if there’s a word with three consecutive pairs. Is there one?

Yesterday’s NY Times crossword was the most clever one I’ve seen.

Ooh, I like this one Jef. It was subtle, but good.

Jef Mallett’s Blog Posts.

Frazz18 hrs · I know, I know. Trick question. In no language does “That is simply not done” boil down to nine letters. Although “Saturdays” has nine letters, and I’m guilty as charged if “giving up” means not starting it because you’re not yet at the level where you can get it done without setting the whole day off schedule.

Sorry. I don’t buy it. I think Mrs. Olsen’s smarter than that.