I’m excited to share a new kind of variety puzzle, Consonant Companions, which I learned about on Alex Boisvert’s wonderful Crossword Nexus blog. Not only does Alex share new kinds of puzzles, he shares the tools with which to construct them as well.

This puzzle type was invented by Eric Berlin, whose name many will recognize. Here’s how it works: in each of the two puzzle grids you see, the answers begin in the upper left and spiral their way to the center. The shaded squares will always contain consonants; the white squares will always contain vowels (Y will not be used in any of the answers). The same consonants will be used in the same order in both grids. As a solving aid, consonants will automatically populate the right grid as you enter your answers in the left grid.

For the grid on the left, clues are given in order; for the grid on the right, you’ll need to figure out the order.

I really like this new puzzle type and hope you will as well. Please let me know what you think!