You Are Joking!
Difficulty ● ● ◐ ○ ○
Puzzle Notes
It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words, like "What about lunch?" ~A.A. Milne
Greetings Subscribers,
When I first started solving crosswords, I tried my hand at the weekly Sunday-size Maura Jacobson puzzle in New York magazine. I felt intimidated -- certain that I could never scale the Mount Everest of clues, long answers, puns, misdirections and bits of trivia needed to complete the puzzle. But slowly, with practice, the weekly trek became easier. Armed with a newfound appreciation of certain rivers (AARE, ODER, URAL, SEINE), a collection of musical instruments (UKE, SITAR, KOTO), and snacks (OREO, UGLI fruit, POI) -- I made it up the mountain and solved my first crossword, all my myself. Maura was a superb puzzle writer and wildly popular among crossword fans. Her puzzles left me feeling happy and smart.
Later, when I started writing puzzles, I realized that the unsung heroes of crosswords are the short entries -- 3-, 4- and 5-letter answers. The preponderance of short answers helps build the handful of longer answers. If we keep chipping away at the short answers, all will be clear!
Welcome to Week 620 of Crossword Nation. We humbly invite you to solve "You Are Joking!" as your crossword challenge of the week.
Be well and thank you for supporting our little puzzle shop. Until next time, I remain . . .
Cruciverbally yours,
Liz
Solvers of The New Yorker puzzles: Please check out my latest crossword, a "challenging" affair.
Mini Crossword Aficionados: For a quick solve, please try the Daily Mini Crossword in the L. A. Times. It's free! Simply bookmark and visit daily for a new puzzle.
Recovering Lost Puzzles: If, for some reason, our weekly puzzle email doesn't appear in your mailbox on Monday evenings, no worries -- you can always "re-send" the puzzle to yourself.
But first ....
- Please check the Spam folder. Sometimes the Crossword Nation emails are redirected to Spam folders. This can happen after a software or system update. If it's not in the Spam folder, then try Step 2.
- Visit the Subscriber Portal and Re-send the Puzzle To Your Mailbox. You can always send the latest puzzle (or any puzzle from our archive) to yourself. Visit here:
https://xwnation.puzzleanywhere.com/enable-account/
Choose the "Resend Puzzle" link at the bottom right of the page. From there, you can choose which puzzle to send to your mailbox!
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If you enjoy our 'indie' Crossword Nation puzzles, please give them a positive rating on Amy Reynaldo's blog, Diary of a Crossword Fiend. Your ratings help keep our little puzzle shop independent and strong!
Ade Koiki blogs our puzzle every Tuesday. Simply page through Amy's blog to find the Tuesday blog posts. http://crosswordfiend.com/
Happy solving and be well!
Liz Gorski