Author: Matt Gritzmacher

We’re all a bit behind on solving lately, so we’re briefer today, and there’s a good possibility the next couple of these posts will have some older puzzles as we catch up.

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!

Cruciverb: Selected puzzles from the Minneapolis Journal in 1934. I’ve loved working through these nearly century-old puzzles, which are hard, but not as inscrutable as I expected. –Matt

Vox: (2/15) by Ade Koiki –Matt

Los Angeles Times: (2/12) by Hoang-Kim Vu and (2/16) by Jill Rafaloff & Michael Sontarp –Matt

Universal: Hour-Long (2/18) by Richard D. Allen –Matt

Bewilderingly: Will posted the latest round of his Indie puzzle highlights since our last recs post.

Washington Post: Little League (2/9), Letters of Introduction (2/16), and Backup Plans (2/23), all by Evan Birnholz. Evan’s on a hot streak. Three very different puzzles from each other, with some stuff we bet you haven’t seen before. –Matt and Steve

AVCX+: Seeking Joy (2/21) by Rebecca Goldstein –Norah

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!

NYT Acrostic: (1/26) by David Balton and Jane Stewart. This acrostic is elegant and satisfying, especially in how it weaves in topical information in the clues and answers. Really fun! – Steve

Puzzmo: Single Ladies (1/27) by kenny & brooke. This theme and revealer would’ve caught my attention no matter what, but the unusual size and grid shape are particularly striking. Here’s to more outlets embracing themes that don’t fit typical 15x symmetry rules. —Rich

Puzzmo: Elevenses (1/31) by Priyanka Sethy & Rajiv Sethy. Another cool grid from Puzzmo: Every single entry is an 11 or a 3. —Rich

Boswords: ($) Afternoon Fourcast (2/2) by Alina Abidi. A standout from this year’s Winter Wondersolve; I loved how intentionally the themers were positioned in the grid. The puzzle pack is available now and well worth it if you haven’t solved. —Rich (and Norah and Steve) 

BEQ: Themeless Monday #809 (1/27) by Brendan Emmett Quigley. this week (#809) was just the right level of hard, with a couple of new in-the-language words and phrases and eventually gettable difficult clues. Right in my sweet spot. – Steve

Lutercross: Remember When (1/28). A rare themed puzzle from Matthew with a great payoff – Matt

Wall Street Journal: But You Can Call Me… (1/24) by Matt Gaffney. Nothing groundbreaking here, just plenty satisfying. – Matt

Zerofiftyone: Organized Crimes (1/23) by Ben Wilson. We only found Ben’s site a few weeks ago, and we’ve all been missing out. – Matt

Vox: Punxsutawney Fill (2/1) by Andrew Ries. I didn’t recognize the full theme until the revealer. My favorite puzzle of the Groundhog Day weekend. – Matt

The Hub Crossword: We’ve Got Issues (2/2) by Joon Pahk. It’s a bit of an old standard, theme type-wise, but one of those puzzles where each themer is a little discovery. – Matt

Universal: Insert Bills Here (2/3) by Zachary David Levy. Has it been done before? Sure, but it lends itself to particularly fun themers. – Matt

The New Yorker: (2/4) by Erik Agard. Erik’s unthemed puzzle was the perfect combination of stuff you didn’t know you knew that eventually become obvious, in the language phrases, and new things  that are great to learn. – Steve

AVCX+: ($) The Search Goes On by August Miller. This puzzle turns up the heat in both current fill and tricky cluing – Matt

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!

Puzzmo: Business Up Front, Party in the Back (1/11) by Trent H. Evans. The rise of the midi form allows for all sorts of wordplay finds that wouldn’t work in a 15×15 grid to get their moment in the sun. This grid has two themers and a perfect title bringing them together. – Matt

Dissonant Grids: “it’s hard to get out of bed” and “it’s hard to know what i’m feeling” (1/12) by Owen Bergstein. For anyone who loves how a puzzle can reveal the personality of the constructor, Owen Bergstein’s Inferno Variations, a double-gridded masterpiece, offers a tough going but ultimately rewarding and artistic experience. – Steve 

Bewilderingly: This Puzzle Is Full of Itself (1/13) by Will Nediger. One of those puzzles where you can’t wait for the next theme clue to see what else the constructor has in store. – Matt 

Will also posted another edition of his Indie puzzle highlights, which we’re now going to include in these posts rather than News & Notes. Note that his posts are much more spoiler-heavy than ours.

Merriam Webster: The Missing Letter (1/16) by Matt Gaffney. We haven’t had Matt’s Merriam Webster puzzles in these posts yet. They’re awfully constrained, as each puzzle features clues starting with 25 different letters of the alphabet. This had a great pair of long entries. – Matt

Los Angeles Times: (1/16) by Pravan Chakravarthy. Cute idea in a direction you don’t see very often. – Matt

Vox: Blow-by-Blow Account (1/18) by Adesina O. Koiki. Tight theme set with a spot-on revealer. – Matt

Los Angeles Times: (1/22) by Parker Higgins. Themes don’t need dramatic contortions for a great payoff. I laughed out loud when I hit the revealer on this one. – Matt

Universal: ($) Break It Up! (1/24) by Ryan Mathiason. A great theme that I enjoyed piecing together even after my solve. – Matt

Apple News: ($) Freestyle (1/25) by Kate Chin Park. Shouting out the clue at 46-Across. —Rich 

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!

Apple News: ($) Would You Let Me Finish? (1/5) by Ada Nicolle. – Rich

Audubon: Waiting in the Wings (1/7) by Jasper Davidoff. A cute theme with a bunch of fun bonus clues and fill. – Matt, Rich, Norah

Defector: ($) Miss Me (1/6) by Marshal Herrmann. I’m honestly kind of shocked I hadn’t seen this theme before, but it didn’t lessen my nostalgic enjoyment any less. – Matt

Slate: Slate Midi (1/7) by Quiara Vasquez. – Rich

Wall Street Journal: Autoplay (1/9) by Mike Shenk. From time to time, including this puzzle, I look at “By Mike Shenk/Edited by Mike Shenk” and chuckle a little. I was eating crow a few minutes later on this one. A brilliant puzzle with a theme delivered absolutely thoroughly. – Matt

AVCX+: ($) “I’m Content” (1/10) by Owen Bergstein. One benefit to being home rehabbing my knee is that I am finally caught up on all the puzzles on my clipboard (save a stack of Tim Croce puzzles that always take me 20+ minutes to solve). I wish I’d made note of all the recent puzzles I’ve liked but here’s one that I thought was particularly impressive, partially because of his age, but just because of some fresh, clever cluing. Looking forward to seeing much more from him. – Steve

Los Angeles Times: (1/11) by Kareem Ayas. Kareem had a trio of themelesses today, and this grid was the star for me. Funky letter combinations and fresh entries fill out three separate stacks with a lovely staircase center. – Matt

Universal: Universal Freestyle 156 (1/11) by Kareem Ayas. Easier than his LA Times grid, but no less full of interesting fill from corner to corner. – Matt

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!

Defector: ($) Out of Office (12/30) by Evan Mulvihill. It’s a themeless. It’s a good one. Evan is one of my favorite new constructors in the last year or so. – Matt

New York Times: Extremely Online in 2024 (1/1) by Paolo Pasco. Blue clues? In the Gray Lady? Inconceivable. -Norah 

Science News: Twisting Words (1/2) by Shannon Rapp. There’s a straightforward way and an extra-level way to do this theme, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the latter when I reached the second themer. But the real star of this puzzle is the vibrant cluing angles for so much of the fill. -Matt

Half-Baked Puzzles: Color Theory (1/1) by Will Eisenberg. Another one where the theme could have stopped and been a fine puzzle, but went to another level. -Matt

Fireball: ($) Turn It Down! (1/1) by Gus Bloxham. Two years in a row where the first Fireball puzzle is a banger. Maybe you’ve heard this before, but I like it when a theme gets taken to the next level. – Matt 

Newsday: Box Lunch (1/3) by Stanley Newman. Full of satisfying breakthroughs in both the fill and the theme. – Matt

Los Angeles Times: (1/4) by Rafael Musa. Full of spicy, in-the-language fill and engaging clues. A great place to spend your weekend. – Matt 

Got a few weeks of puzzles for you again today. Happy solving!

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!

New York Times: (12/12) by Daniel Bodily. Clean! – Matt

New York Times: (12/26) by Ella Dershowitz. – Matt

The New Yorker: The Holiday Crossword (12/23-12/27). This annual series from The New Yorker jam-packs a year-end retrospective into five puzzles. It’s a different solving experience than most puzzles, but certainly worth a try. – Matt

Los Angeles Times: (12/26) by Kevin Christian & Doug Peterson. A theme format that’s fallen out of vogue a bit, but pleasant to unravel and the themers themselves are entertaining – Matt

Alta Journal: Animal Style (12/15) by Rebecca Goldstein and Rafael Musa. Just a really solid puzzle from this pair of West-Coast (hint) constructors in this West-Coast (hint hint) magazine. – Matt

LuterCross: I Contain Multitudes (12/24) – Matt

The New Yorker: Stop Right There! (12/16) by Adam Wagner. A rare themed puzzle from The New Yorker, and it’s a clever one from Adam. —Rich & Norah

Mental Judo: Hacking the Cryptic (12/26) by herzwesten and joeadultman. The third text adventure puzzle from this duo is just as good as the first two. Very approachable if you’re new to variety cryptics. —Rich

Dissonant Grids: Healing? (12/13) by Owen Bergstein. A stunning blog debut unlike anything we’ve seen in a long time. While the post rightfully carries a comprehensive content warning, the unique solving experience is worth putting aside any reservations. Brilliant work. –Norah  

HallePuzzles: A Slight Alteration (12/7) by Halle Pollack. The winning puzzle of Crosswordr’s New Constructor Contest, and with good reason. A standout among the competition with a themeset executed with perfect consistency, including the revealer itself. Don’t miss it. –Norah 

Zinna Bun: 🫧 (12/22) by zinna and kateschmate. Zinna has become known for her blending of artistic grid presentation with a lyrical poetry in the clues. After adding Kate’s brilliant cluing voice, this is one of my favorite indie puzzles of the year. So gorgeous. -Norah