puzzle #9: themeless seven

1. I don’t feel like anybody needs to be a nerd in order to enjoy doing crossword puzzles. I don’t identify as a nerd anymore, but I still love crosswords, and I want to share that love with all my nerd and not-nerd friends alike. Crosswords are for everybody!! This is semantic and unimportant.
2. “luckystreak” is the name of a collection of puzzles I made late last year consecutively where I suddenly got really efficient in filling grids and writing clues. I’ve been calling all my puzzles “luckystreak” ever since as a good luck charm I guess, so now it’s this blog’s name.

Now onto this week’s puzzle!! I am very excited about it. I sort of love using cheater squares to cram in good fill (such as 17-/19-Across); it gives me kind of a Brodaesque indie vibe which I really dig. Also, I’m really happy with the initial test-solver reception to the puzzle. Usually, when I cram a lot of Gen-Z/pop-culture/goofy fill I really like into a puzzle I feel like it becomes inaccessible, but I got good feedback on this which I was totally not expecting. If this is what works, I’m excited to construct more. I hope you enjoy solving it as much as I enjoyed making it! Thank you to Paolo Pasco, Nate Cardin, and Christopher Adams for test-solving.

Favourite entries:
17-/19-Across, 31-Across, 39-Across, 48-Across, 7-Down, 15-Down, 47-Down

I’ll be back next Monday with another puzzle, see you then!
– Ada