Past Crosswords

Past crossword contests that have been hosted on the site! You can still fill out any of these crosswords for fun if you want, but there are no prizes associated anymore, and you won't be added to the Hall of Fame. If you do want to do the crossword for fun, be sure not to open the "Complete Crossword Image" or "Answer Explanations" dropdowns until you've given it your best shot, since they will spoil the answers!

Crossword 2: October 2023 - January 2024

This crossword was open quite a bit longer because I was so busy over the fall and winter holidays. I think I still made it too difficult... Anyway, the attempted theme was happy and sad items, though it was very subtle, probably to the point where there wasn't much of a point in going for a theme in the first place. ^^;

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Across

2. Maybe it’s a pacifist, or maybe it’s just too cute to fight. (11)
9. Are we sure this isn’t a typo on “carnation”...? (15)
11. Like snow on the beach… (8)
12. I’ve never heard someone call a vacuum part “beautiful.” (9)
15. Perhaps it’s named this because it warms off sadness? (13)
18. Like snow on the… uh. Mechonis? (14)
19. Sneaky fruit. (9)
20. Branch, Blood, Fox, and… (9)
21. No need for sleeping pills—just get a whiff of this. (12)
22. This creature’s existence is kind of a joke. (6)

Down

1. The protagonist of Flushed Away. (6)
3. Organception. (14)
4. I’ve heard of wheezes and crackles from the lungs, but quacking is new. Hope it’s not contagious… (9)
5. What about this zucchini is feminine? (13)
6. You’ll stab your eye out, kid! (13)
7. I guess if Jiminy was more like this, Pinocchio could have wished on him instead. (13)
8. May rely on ivy poisoning the water. (14)
10. Mistaken enough as a vegetable for the collectopaedia to categorize it as one. (11)
13. Along with Feather Leaves, can make for some cozy blankets. (8)
14. Surprising that Reyn doesn’t dislike this more, considering his history with similar bugs. (13)
16. Looks sad, but makes a Nopon happy. (12)
17. No need to fret; it’s perfect for tea parties with toys. (10)

Complete Crossword Image:

Answer Explanations:

Across

2. Maybe it’s a pacifist, or maybe it’s just too cute to fight. (11)

Answer: SHINYSCARAB
Explanation: The item description says “A cute shiny beetle. It's not really one to pick a fight with others.”

9. Are we sure this isn’t a typo on “carnation”...? (15)

Answer: MERRYCORONATION
Explanation: This is a flower collectable, but “coronation” is not a type of flower or plant. It’s spelled similarly to “carnation,” which is. Of course, it could just be a name intended to sound pretty rather than reflecting any real flower.

11. Like snow on the beach… (8)

Answer: SEABERRY
Explanation: The item description says this flower “reminds you of a snowy scene when open,” and it’s found in Eryth Sea. The clue is a reference to the Taylor Swift song. Plate Snow might have been a thought for this answer, since there are some beaches in Colony 9, but you would notice the letters don’t fit.

12. I’ve never heard someone call a vacuum part “beautiful.” (9)

Answer: WHITETUBE
Explanation: The item description says, “A piece of broken vacuum tube. Its beauty endures however.” I can’t help finding this hilarious.

15. Perhaps it’s named this because it warms off sadness? (13)

Answer: DESPAIRCLOVER
Explanation: The item description just says “Flower with thermal properties. Carry it around to keep warm.” There is no reason why it should cause despair, so maybe it’s named because the warmth chases despair away. The clue may have seemed like a typo with “warm” instead of “ward,” but this was intentional to more clearly hint at this item.

18. Like snow on the… uh. Mechonis? (14)

Answer: SNOWTRANSISTOR
Explanation: This item is found in Mechonis Field and “causes visions of snow flurries when you switch it on.” I liked the silly joke in contrast to the Sea Berry question, and thought having this as a question too might help narrow down the answer options for that one.

19. Sneaky fruit. (9)

Answer: DARKMANGO
Explanation: The item description says “Often sneaks its way into boxes of sweet mangoes. Makes you feel blue.” In addition to the sneaking, it ties in with the overall crossword theme of happy vs sad items.

20. Branch, Blood, Fox, and… (9)

Answer: OILOYSTER
Explanation: These are all parts of items that have “Oil” in their name: Oil Branch, Blood Oil, and Oil Fox. Oil Oyster is the last item available that would fit the pattern.

21. No need for sleeping pills—just get a whiff of this. (12)

Answer: INSANITYMINT
Explanation: The item description says it “emits a savage smell powerful enough to knock you out.”

22. This creature’s existence is kind of a joke. (6)

Answer: HAHAHA
Explanation: The item description calls it “some kind of furry white creature,” and its name is literally just Riki laughing.

Down

1. The protagonist of Flushed Away. (6)

Answer: WETRAT
Explanation: This one might require googling, but the relevant information comes up upon just searching “Flushed Away.” It’s a 2006 animated movie about a pet rat that gets flushed down the toilet by accident. This would make him a Wet Rat.

3. Organception. (14)

Answer: BLACKLIVERBEAN
Explanation: Liver is an organ, and this item is found inside Bionis’ Interior, making it an organ inside an organ.

4. I’ve heard of wheezes and crackles from the lungs, but quacking is new. Hope it’s not contagious… (9)

Answer: HAPPYDUCK
Explanation: This duck has “an infectiously gleeful quack” and is found in Bionis’ Interior. Many of the Bionis’ Interior areas are lungs. This is another one for the theme of happy vs sad items.

5. What about this zucchini is feminine? (13)

Answer: GIRLCOURGETTE
Explanation: A courgette, according to wikipedia and the dictionary, is a zucchini or marrow squash plant. There’s no real reason for it to have “girl” in its name, other than that Xenoblade is a series that is annoyingly weird about women.

6. You’ll stab your eye out, kid! (13)

Answer: BLUEGEARSHARD
Explanation: The item description says “Sharp shard. Somebody could have their eye out with that!” The joke is in reference to a quote from the movie A Christmas Story.

7. I guess if Jiminy was more like this, Pinocchio could have wished on him instead. (13)

Answer: BENIGNCRICKET
Explanation: The item description says it “flies like a shooting star.” The clue is in reference to the song “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio, and the movie features the character Jiminy Cricket. I hope this one isn’t too convoluted; I haven’t seen the movie in years, I’ve just played a ton of Kingdom Hearts, which is close enough I think.

8. May rely on ivy poisoning the water. (14)

Answer: POISONOUSCORAL
Explanation: The item description says it breathes half sea-water and half poison-water. This item is from the Fallen Arm, like Poison Ivy, and since I’m not sure what else would create poison-water, I like to think there is some form of mutualism going on here.

10. Mistaken enough as a vegetable for the collectopaedia to categorize it as one. (11)

Answer: SWEETPEPPER
Explanation: The item description calls it “a sweet fruit that is often mistakenly thought of as a vegetable.” However, it is still in the Veg category anyway.

13. Along with Feather Leaves, can make for some cozy blankets. (8)

Answer: WOOLROCK
Explanation: Feather Leaf has the description, “A furry leaf from which they make bedclothes.” Wook Rock’s says “A rock covered in black fur. It can be shorn to make blankets.” Both are found in Satorl Marsh, so they could easily be used together. I added the note about Feather Leaf mostly so that item could be ruled out from the answer.

14. Surprising that Reyn doesn’t dislike this more, considering his history with similar bugs. (13)

Answer: FIRETARANTULA
Explanation: Reyn hates spiders, as seen in the Heart-to-Heart “Legend of the Spider” and the events of early-game Tephra Cave. This is the only spider collectable.

16. Looks sad, but makes a Nopon happy. (12)

Answer: SORROWBEETLE
Explanation: The item description calls it “frustrated-looking.” Riki gets +14 affinity points from it. This clue is also more clear if you read the dialogue snippet on the item page.

17. No need to fret; it’s perfect for tea parties with toys. (10)

Answer: PAUPERSCUP
Explanation: The item description says that “Dunban fretted over what to name this” and calls it “An overly-tiny cup of obscure usage.” While it is probably too small for most people to drink out of comfortably, it could be used for the childhood game of having tea with stuffed animals or dolls.

Crossword 1: August - September 2023

Here are the answers and explanations for the August-September 2023 Crossword! This one did not have a specified theme, but a lot of the answers ended up being Bug collectables by coincidence. There were very few submissions, which either means not a lot of people visit the site, not a lot of people do crosswords, or the clues were just too hard this time. I might try to make them a little easier in the future.