You really had to read between the lines, or within the circles, to figure out this fun and clever puzzle. The rebus-like theme uses circled letters to literally.. READ THE FULL POST AT: http://crosswordkathy.net

No caddies were required for today’s golf-themed puzzle, as there was no heavy lifting. The easy, punny theme answers were evidently a nod to the upcoming Masters tournament, which was referenced in… READ THE FULL POST AT: http://crosswordkathy.net/2012/04/01/of-course/

New York Times crossword March 25 / Constructed by Patrick Berry

CROSSWORD KATHY: Today’s puzzle was an odd one. And not just because I ended up doing it in red ink with a Darth Maul pen.

The theme by veteran constructor Patrick Berry involves letter-play that’s a little esoteric. Basically, you take the first word in each two-word answer — a word that contains two of the same letter — and double a different letter to get the second word. So a ”Soft yet easily breakable ‘Star Trek’ creature?” is a…

READ THE FULL POST AT: http://crosswordkathy.net/2012/03/25/two-for-one-special/

I should have realized my free Darth Maul pen would write in red ink.

Red Ink Dept.: I got a Darth Maul pen in my Cheerios as part of a tie-in to celebrate the apparent re-release of “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace,” this time in 3D. I didn’t realize it wasn’t a traditional blue- or black ballpoint until I started the puzzle, but I stuck with it anyway. Now looking at the grid is kind of hard on my eyes. Lesson learned.

Questions or comments? Leave them here, visit my Facebook page or tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times crossword March 4 / Constructed by David J. Kahn

Greetings from Clearwater Beach, Fla.!

We couldn’t wait for the Phillies home opener next month, so we’re here this week for a couple of spring training games. It’s very windy and cool today — not a beach day — so we did a recon drive by Bright House Field to see where we’ll be watching the Phils take on the Yankees tomorrow.

New York Times crossword Feb. 19 / Constructed by James F.C. Burns

Greetings from the Left Coast! Out here to surprise my dad for his 70th birthday and to meet my new, 6-week-old niece. So apologies for the three-hour-late post.

To get right down to it, today’s puzzle is essentially a geographic word search — each theme answer is..

READ THE FULL POST: http://crosswordkathy.net/2012/02/19/core-onations/