Beekeeper Crosswords Themed Puzzles from Beekeeper Labs

This puzzle is another split-level special — Wednesday-level theme; Thursday-level vocabulary; and Friday-level clues. If you don’t *want* Friday-level clues, check down below — we still have a “reduced difficulty” version available which knocks the clues back down to Wednesday-level. (You still get the Thursday vocabulary, of course, but that just makes it more fun.)

Title: Down the Drain
Difficulty (hard): Friday
Download (hard): Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)
Difficulty (easy): Wednesday
Download (easy): Across Lite or printable PNG

To be, or not to be. That is the question….that is better asked of a Shakespeare scholar than of this lowly puzzle constructor. Thus I’ll put away my slings and arrows; stop playing the lottery in hope of an outrageous fortune; and simply give you a crossword. Thus, you may take up pens against a sea of troublesome clues and, by scribbling in the boxes, solve them. And we have it on good authority that this weeks clues are indeed troublesome — our testers proclaimed the puzzle to be seriously abusive and rated it at a Saturday on the NYT difficulty scale. (Luckily, if such a challenge seems beyond you, we’ve prepared a simpler set of clues which you can find by following the “easy” links below. The choice is yours.)

Title: Existential Angst
Difficulty (hard): Saturday
Download (hard): Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)
Difficulty (easy): Wednesday?
Download (easy): Across Lite or printable PNG

Well, how do you like it? If you like your crosswords hard, we can give you hard. If you like ’em easy, we can give you somewhat easy-ish. But mostly we hope that you like them full of lively words and cleverly annoying word-play, ’cause that’s what we aim to give you in spades, shovels, and clubs. If you are working the hard version, the management makes no apologies for 41 across: if you don’t understand it, look it up.

Title: How Do You Like It?
Difficulty (hard): Friday
Download (hard): Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)
Difficulty (easy): Wednesday
Download (easy): Across Lite or printable PNG

The management apologizes for the fact that there was no puzzle for the week of April 29. Apparently the lab was struck down by a sever case of PVSD (post-vacation slacker disorder). However, we’re back on track now, with this week’s puzzle delivered on time. Even better, with a bit of extra time to polish it up, we can deliver a puzzle with an especially twisted set of clues to enhance your suffering enjoyment. Our reviewing panel awarded the hard version 8 groans and a sigh of exasperation. We choose to interpret this as praise.

In keeping with our standard policies, we present the same puzzle grid with two subtly different sets of clues to allow you to choose the level of difficulty that you experience. Choose whichever you prefer from the links below. (If you choose the Applet/image above, you will get the harder version, but the applet can also give you hints, so it can’t hurt to give it a try.)

Title: School Supplies
Difficulty (hard): Friday
Download (hard): Across Lite or printable PNG (w/ solution)
Difficulty (easy): Wednesday
Download (easy): Across Lite or printable PNG