This puzzle goes out to all the misunderstood night creatures waiting impatiently for Halloween. We know it’s not easy being a ghost, ghoul, vampire, werewolf, or other monster-American minority, but remember — you got your special day long before the secretaries, left-handers, and pirates got theirs. So don’t be afraid to go out and shine (or skulk, howl, or manifest, if that’s more comfortable for your particular ethnicity).

Title: What Kind of Monster….
Difficulty: Thursday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

Sorry folks, but between long-weekend travel and a software release, this week has just been too hectic to pull together a solid crossword. I promise that everything will come together next week for a solidly horrifying — take that as you will — Halloween puzzle.

As I’ve noted before, the really difficult part of creating a good puzzle is coming up with a decent theme. Cluing requires time and a twisted mind. Building and filling the grid requires good software and persistence. A good theme requires remembering what you’ve done in the previous puzzle and what others have done in various syndicated publications in hopes of not repeating an old stand-by; coming up with something which is clever, enjoyable, and can be fit into the rather rigid constrains of a standard grid style; and making sure that it doesn’t result in a puzzle that is too hard or too easy for the target audience. In this case, you can thank -M- for listening to my original theme idea, pointing out that it was pretty lame, and suggesting a workable alternative. (Better yet, all this happened before I built the grid, so that I didn’t have to rip it all out and start anew.)

Title: Adam and Eve
Difficulty: Thursday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

Sometimes puzzles take on a life of their own. I knew the title of this one for the last week, but assumed that it meant something completely different. When I started fleshing out the theme, it fought back and insisted on adopting the form you see now. Don’t get me wrong: it’s a better theme than I expected — it just came as a surprise to me.

Title: Shifty Characters
Difficulty: Wednesday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)

Crossword connoisseurs may notice that this grid is rather oddly shaped. That’s because the theme entries are a combination of lengths that no sane constructor would put into a puzzle. Luckily, sanity is not a requirement for this particular vocation, so we applied a shoehorn and some grease, sat on the words to compress them a bit, and finally got them all into the grid. The result, oddly enough, makes for a somewhat easier puzzle than usual because the important entries couldn’t be squeezed in without dividing up the rest of the squares to make shorter-than-normal entries. Don’t let that discourage you, though. We’ve still got a pretty lively fill, with some uncommon words and phrases, some annoyingly misleading clues, and a bit of general sadism thrown in for the fun of it. Happy solving!

Title: Contract Negotiations
Difficulty: Wednesday
Download: Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)