Word Count: 70
Mean Word Length: 5.60
It's been three and a half years since I moved into my house and every summer the last three years have been hot and humid. This summer however has turned out to be a bit weird in comparison. For the first time since becoming a home owner, I've been able to shut off my central air and keep my house cool with only a couple of ceiling fans. I'm not sure how much longer this mild weather will last, but I'm glad it's here for now.
Today's crossword is a 15x15 with standard symmetry. The grid has not one, not two, not even three, but four triple stacked words! There are 8 10-letter words and 6 8-letter words in the crossword. The lower left corner had to be completely rebuilt after my initial round of cluing as it had too many unfair crossings bunched up tightly together. As a result, 44-Down is a bit gluier than I like, but it makes that area of the crossword work. By the way, a minor housekeeping note. It seems that the term "Freestyle" is becoming preferred to "Themeless," so I'll be using that in my titles going forward.
Title Inspiration: 11A, 15A
Seed Words: 1A, 25D
Personal Word List/Score: 1A, 25D, 64A
Reused 4+ Letter Words: 12D, 16A, 26A, 29D, 30A, 46A, 47D, 49D, 50A, 57D, 58A, 63A
Unique Words to Date: 5,431 (+56)
Non-NYT Words: 1A, 9D, 15A, 28A, 42D, 52D, 64A
Non-Shortz-Era Words: 34D, 62A
If you enjoy, solve, stream (I give bits), or find a typo in my crossword, please let me know!
Don't forget to love each other,
Jac
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Fantastic puzzle! Challenging in a really good way. Thank you.