In One Basket: Loplop Variety #010 (with The Rackenfracker!)

I’m delighted to say that Loplop #010 is also Rackenfracker #8!

This is my first collaboration (with The Rackenfracker or with anyone else), and working with them has truly been an education. This crossword has been almost three months(!) in the making — a testament to the rigor of the rackenfracking process. When such a dynamic duo of cryptic constructors puts up a Help Wanted sign, it’s not something you can really pass up on!

This puzzle was made under the wise counsel of Bob Stigger, well-known in the crossworld as a contributor and editor for the Cryptic All-Stars book series. He is a prolific constructor of variety cryptics, and his puzzles have been (and still are) published in venues such as GAMES World of Puzzles and The New York Times. Solvers of exclusively online puzzles are surely missing out on his top-notch variety cryptics. Many thanks, Bob — this puzzle would’ve been far poorer without the much-needed cold water you hurled at our faces after being subjected to several unexpurgated drafts.

A huge thank you also goes to my test solvers Michael Colella and Ziv Stern, The Rackenfracker’s test solvers Andy Stilp and John, and the Crossweird crew of hagabaka, Kate Chin Park, Kelsey Dixon, meat, and Will Eisenberg.

Here now, a word from The Rackenfracker:

I feel bad about making anyone read it once, George. I wouldn’t double-dip… no matter how runny the yolk.

Oh, they’re talking about the 20-odd egg puns they’ve put up in their own blog post! While they readily admit that “you know, concision isn’t [their] watchword”, their blog is nevertheless a cornucopia of cogent cryptic correspondence — give it a read!

Without further ado — I hope you enjoy!

Instructions: In this puzzle’s grid, we found 10 eggs, which was very fortunate since we did not find any clue numbers. The only help we have in arranging these answers (presented alphabetically, sorted by across and down) is that the letter O, when it appears in clue answers, is placed in a square with an egg.

web / ipuz (Squares) / ipuz (Puzzazz) / pdf / solutions and annotations