Pair-o-Ducks

 What's yellow and has gotta split? A banana? No, it's us, but we sure are bananas about crosswords! We threw you a softball last week, but now we’re back to our regularly scheduled shenanigans. Hope it doesn’t leave you with a splitting headache, but we’re expecting this one will be a proper level 4. Catch you again next week! For last week's solution, click here:  REVEAL! Split Ends The meta answer is a 4-letter word. PUZ  |  PDF

HMAWBTAEOPODP! (That stands for, “Hello, Muggles, and welcome back to another episode of Pair-o-Ducks puzzles!”) If there’s one thing we love first and foremost, it’s books. Well, no, actually it’s cats. But also books. We owe you all an apology for the last couple of weeks and the doozies we threw you guys. You all handled it like champs, but we thought we should try to cook up a true Level 1 to give your poor smoking brains a rest. This one is for the literature nerds out there—no shame if you need to google a certain list for a certain award. For last week's solution, click here:  REVEAL! Initial Here The meta answer is a book that won the National Book Award for Fiction. PUZ  |  PDF

Did someone leave the oven on? Around here, the temperatures keep rising, and if we’re not careful, we might turn into duck soup! It seems our difficulty meter got miscalibrated last week — definitely more of a week 2 or even 3. This week we’re again turning up the heat — let’s call it a 3, but go ahead and roast us if we’re wrong again. Happy solving! For last week's solution, click here:  REVEAL! Twice Baked The meta answer is a timely 5-letter word. PUZ  |  PDF

Pose! *waddle waddle waddle* And pose! *waddle waddle waddle* …and pose! *waddle waddle waddle* The lights are bright, the cameras are, uh, also bright… we sup pose it’s time to step right up and strut your stuff! This one should play on the gentler side, dare we call it a level 1? Or is that a stretch…? We’ll let you be the judge. For last week's solution, click here:  REVEAL! Strike A Pose The 9-letter meta answer is what you did to solve it, in a way. JPZ  |  PDF

We’re sure we left our eggs around here somewhere… Happy Easter to all who celebrate! Whether today means a morning church service, an afternoon egg hunt, or just another day in the year, we hope this puzzle will egg-ceed your eggs-pectations (we, personally, couldn’t turn down an opportunity for some egg puns). We eggspect this one will play at around a level 2. Enjoy this eggspunsive puzzle that you won’t have to shell out for! Last one to solve is a rotten, well... you know. For last week's solution, click here :  REVEAL! Eggs Change Words The meta answer is what you are if you found this puzzle easy to crack. PUZ  |  PDF

Welcome back everyone to another season of Pair-o-Ducks puzzles! Season two means twice the puzzles, twice the puns, twice the prizes(*)! The weather is warming up and our wings are tired from flying back north, which means it’s time for a well-earned dip in the ol’ duck pond — and what’s a trip to the pool without all our favorite toys: floaties, beach balls, and of course, our favorite, POOL NOODLES?? Anyways, enough about us, it’s time to put on your thinking cap, sharpen your pencils, and get ready to use your noodle to quack the code! Today’s puzzle should play at around a level 3. Thanks to Mikey G for test solving. Some items of business: we’ll be back here every Sunday at noon EST until the start of summer. Slight change to how the prize drawing will work—every puzzle you solve will now grant you one entry to win at the end of the season, and if you solve all thirteen puzzles, you’ll receive a bonus five entries! Submit your answer before the next puzzle drops to be eligible fo...