We’re back with some recommendations from the past couple months.
Remember that this is not an attempt to pick the “best” puzzles, and we won’t be commenting as critics. Our approach is best described as “puzzles we solved that we don’t think you should miss.” Kind of like staff recommendations at a local bookstore.
Did we miss your favorites? Add them in the comments!
Lollapuzzoola: ($) Variety Meta Suite (8/9) by Brian Cimmet. I’ll admit I “only” got through the first round of this by myself, but that would be worth the price of admission alone (and it comes with this year’s uniformly excellent tournament puzzles, and a very fun midi meta suite besides). Seeing how the final two steps worked had me in awe of this construction, and the thought and care that went into it. -Parker
Los Angeles Times: (8/23) by Matthew Stock and Willa Angel Chen Miller. -Matt
Puzzmo : The Droids You’re Looking For (8/25) by Joe Deeney. -Matt
Los Angeles Times (8/29) by Jeffrey Martinovic. Creative theme that makes use of circled squares in an interesting and unusual way. -Norah
Luckystreak+: ($) puzzle #235: right now would be nice (9/2) by Ada Nicolle. -Rich
The New Yorker: Themeless (9/2) by Brooke Husic. Flashy spanner that was fun to see in a puzzle (and, especially, one from this outlet), but the great sparkly conversational fill started from the very first entry, and there were noticeably interesting clues even for the more standard stuff. -Parker
Apple News: ($) Make the Years Count (9/3) by Willa Angel Chen Miller. -Rich
Los Angeles Times: (9/6) by Rafael Musa and Geoffrey Schorkopf. -Matt
The New Yorker: Themeless (9/8) by Will Nediger. -Matt
Universal: Fill the Void (9/19) by Madison Shultz. Creative and adorable theme. Density and construction that could prove challenging to fill nicely but here makes for a smooth solve. -Norah
Xwordmaxxing: September 20 (9/20) by Adrianne Baik. Gorgeous triple stacks at the top and bottom and a handful of clues that made me chuckle with just the right touch of indie vibes. -Norah
Bewilderingly Puzzles: The World’s Most Cornery Crossword (9/22) by Will Nediger. The Games Magazine-inspired title alone was enough to grab my attention. Will says this is “definitely cornerier than the average puzzle.” With impressive chunks coming in at 10×5, 4×9, 3×10, and 9×4, I have to agree. -Norah
MGWCC: ($) Free Refill (9/26) by Will Nediger. An instant classic, multi-layered meta, and yet another one that makes us all say “how does he do it?” -Norah
Puzzmo: Mini Crossword Series (10/1-10/31) by Brooke Husic. Puzzmo’s first-ever mini crosswords, this intricately crafted month-long series introduces one lesson in cruciverbal “grammar” each day, with the promise of teaching its participants to be better solvers. In the wrong hands, such an exercise might come with a sense of eat-your-vegetables, but each little puzzle here feels like Art. Puzzmo publishes one per day all month; find links to the full list on Brooke’s site. -Parker
Midwest Crossword Tournament ($) (10/4). Tournaments are always a must for me, and this year’s Midwest set brings a fun mix (like Westwords, both themed and themeless puzzles) with approachable cluing voices and a wider range of difficulty than last year’s inaugural set. -Matt
The New Yorker: The Crossword (10/6) by Kameron Austin Collins. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like this grid, with its horizontal lines of blocks and spanners all the way down. -Rich
Slate: Midi (10/8) by Ben Zimmer. Very Ben and very fun. -Norah
Universal: Shadow Puppets (10/9) by Jay Silverman. Super creative and a good reason to eschew symmetry. -Norah
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword (10/12) by Kate Chin Park. I love Kate’s exclamation point clue for the central spanner. -Rich
Puzzmo: Tag! (10/12) by Alex-Eaton Salners. Subtle yet fun theme that is elevated by the grid design. Impressive construction that is also fun to solve! -Jess
Universal: Winter is Coming! (10/14) by Rena Cohen. Technically impressive, dense with theme, and perfectly executed with a double revealer. -Norah
Defector: ($) Foraging (10/14) by Sala Wanetick. Standardish sort of cute theme elevated by its arrangement into grid art and plenty of interesting fill and cluing. -Norah
Universal: Two Beers (10/17) by Kareem Ayas. Eight quality themers and a revealer in a grid this smoothly solvable is not easy to do. -Norah
You must be logged in to post a comment.