Month: January 2023

Registration for ACPT is open now. We’re excited to see you there March 31-April 2! Also coming up: Boswords Winter Wondersolve, February 5 and St. Louis Crossword Tournament, March 4.

---

T. Campbell’s annual The Year In Crosswords covers the good, the bad, and the ugly in all of Crossworld in 2022. This long issue is a full who’s who and what’s what, including Wordle and its variants, changes in publications, fundraisers, tournaments, indie projects, software, AI, books and media, and more.

Sam Ezersky was profiled in Virginia Magazine, where he discussed the popularity of Spelling Bee during the pandemic and offers some of his best puzzling tips. The article is accompanied by a free series of short word puzzles inspired by Spelling Bee.

Constructor and magician David Kwong recently appeared on the podcast “Ologies” with host Alie Ward. He discussed Anigrams, AVCX, Diary of a Crossword Fiend, Wordle, cryptics, crosswords and brain health, and much more.

---

Congratulations to the 2023 Lil AVC X roster: Darby Ratliff, Dob Olino, Eric Mao, Jimmy Peniston, Kelly Nguyen Dickson, Lila Goldenberg, meatdaddy69420, Nancy Serrano-Wu, Nijah Morris, and Pravan Chakravarthy! We are so excited for the puzzles to come from this year’s bunch of up-and-coming constructors.

Congratulations to Nate Cardin, who has joined the editorial team at AVCX Cryptic!

Since the last News & Notes, Gustie Owens (12/4), Anthony J. Caruso (12/12), Julietta Gervase (12/13), John Martz (12/25), Josh Goodman (12/28), Seth Bisen-Hersh (1/2), Laura Breiman (1/4), Tom Bachant (1/4) made their NYT debuts. Congratulations to everyone!

---

We have been enjoying the latest offering from Puzzle Society: The Modern Crossword. Monday through Friday puzzles are midis of increasing size, Saturdays are themed puzzles by open submission, and Sundays are themeless puzzles by members of the editing team and invited constructors. The themes and content hold up to the puzzle’s moniker: the interface allows for alternate clues if solvers get stuck, and some clues and answers are accompanied by a constructor’s note.

We are also loving the new crosswords from Xtra, a LGBTQ2S+ online magazine. Puzzles are published the first of each month and are constructed by Ada Nicolle, who promises a younger, more inclusive vibe for the Xtra puzzles in this companion article.

The second crossword book from The Browser, “Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners” by Uri Bram & Dan Feyer is available now. They say “we break down these delightful puzzles into simple building blocks and have you solving cryptic grids before you know it!”

---

Fireball Crosswords begin this week and Fireball Newsflash Crosswords begin January 20, both by Peter Gordon. Subscriptions open now.

Now is also the time to renew your subscription to The Inkubator. A subscription is $30 for 36 puzzles: three puzzles a month all year long. The fifth year will feature creative themes from C.C. Burnikel, Chandi Deitmer, and Rebecca Goldstein; debuts from Max Schlenker and Darby Ratliff; themelesses from Robyn Weintraub and Wyna Liu; and many more.

AVCX and The Inkubator are open for submission. The New York Times has also reopened after a break.