A new weekly post curated by the DCL team.
Several years ago, when Daily Crossword Links was still on Substack, I tried to curate a weekly list of my favorite puzzles. It ended quickly for various reasons, and around then Will Nediger started posting monthly “Indie Puzzle Highlights” on his site. Those monthly posts were a fabulous resource, with commentary from a top notch solver and constructor, but Will ended the series in mid-2023.
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Meanwhile, the Daily Crossword Links team doubled in size last year, and there are more puzzles than ever: Brian Cross reports solving nearly 12,000 in 2023. DCL has always been about celebrating puzzles and connecting solvers and constructors, and we feel that Will’s roundups were too valuable to not try to replace.
So this is a new weekly feature, published on Friday evenings, designed to highlight puzzles from the preceding week, without spoilers, in case you have a little more time to solve or didn’t sift through the ever-lengthening emails.
This is not at all an attempt to pick the “best” puzzles, and we will be less detailed in our comments than Will was. Our approach is best described as “puzzles we don’t think you should miss.” Kind of like staff recommendations at a local bookstore.
Whether you solve one or all of this list, we’d love to hear about your favorite puzzles from the week in the comments here, as well.
Crossword Club (12/31) Will Nediger continues experimenting with unusual interesting grid shapes in his weekly midis at this site. This one fits four fun spanners into a 11×11 grid and brings a wide slice of culture to the rest of the fill and clues. – Norah
xwords by a ladee: a cause for celebration (12/31) This midi from Brooke Husic has a holiday surprise—make sure to solve in Amuse Labs for the full experience. – Rich
Memorial Hall Library: Snow Big Deal (1/1) Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA publishes a puzzle on the first of each month. This edition features a simple, seasonal theme that plain made me laugh. – Matt
The New Yorker: Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024 (1/3) A truly impressive set of stagger stacks from Erik Agard in a themeless grid made all the more enjoyable for its “lightly challenging” approachability that doesn’t sacrifice inventive cluing. – Matt
Fireball: Highway to Hell (1/4) Spencer Leach kicks off the new year of Fireball with a clever, multilayered gimmick that lives up to Fireball’s tricky, inventive reputation. – Matt
Puzzles for Palestine: Watermelon Garden (1/4) Ricky Cruz offers a modern take on the Rows Garden format in this puzzle packed with lively entries and fun clues displayed in a styling apt for the cause. Donate to one of four charities to receive all 22 puzzles. – Norah
Haymarket’s Squares: Haymarket Mini #61 (1/5) Our first edition doesn’t cover the weekend themelesses, so for now, this was my toughest puzzle of the week. A challenging mini from Ariel that I picked my way through and learned a few new pieces from. – Matt
The New Yorker: Friday, January 5, 2024 (1/5) Having wrapped up its 2023 in review puzzles, the New Yorker returns to its typical themed Fridays with a clever one from Jessie and Ross Trudeau. – Rich
Los Angeles Times (1/5) Aidan Deshong and Nate Cardin make their LAT debuts with an inventive theme and delightfully modern fill. – Rich
Happy solving! Once again, please feel free to comment with your favorite puzzles of the last week. Back next Friday with a new list of highlights.