Diary of a Crossword Fiend – Founded by Amy Reynaldo, Crossword Fiend has grown to a robust crew of reviewers covering roughly seven puzzles a day – providing solutions and commentary on the major dailies and prominent indies. There’s a good bunch of regulars in the comment section to further discuss the puzzles, as well.
Rex Parker Does The New York Times Crossword Puzzle – A massive presence in the NYT solving community and in crossword review-dom, Rex’ high standards, strong opinions, and stream-of-consciousness style has followers and detractors each in spades. A growing group of regular subs makes guest appearances, and the prolific comment section runs the gamut.
SALLY’s TAKE on the USA Today Crossword Puzzle – Spun up in appreciation of Erik Agard’s editorial voice (and at the time, an otherwise lack of attention to the USAT puzzle), Sally Hoelscher’s daily blog runs through the puzzle’s clue by clue highlights with an overt appreciation of the pop culture- and representation-forward puzzle.
L.A. Times Crossword Corner – Run by prolific constructor Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel, Crossword Corner goes through each LAT puzzle clue-by-clue with occasional explanatory notes, tidbits and commentary to help lock in answers for solvers.
Wordplay – The New York Times’ in-house crossword column shares a lighthearted recap of each puzzle, explaining themes and tricky clues, and including a short note from the constructor.
Xword Info – The massive database of NYT puzzles and history includes daily commentary from Jeff Chen or Jim Horne as well as constructor notes — usually the same as are included at Wordplay.
Fill Me In – A weekly podcast from Lollapuzzoola co-founders Ryan Hecht and Brian Cimmet is full of banter, wordplay, crossword-adjacent discussion, a healthy dose of non-crossword discussion, with each episode ending in a run-through of puzzle recaps, typically the previous week’s New York Times puzzles, but occasionally something different.
Outside the Blocks: A Puzzle Podcast – Will Pfadenhauer and Emma Oxford host this companion podcast to the Pandora’s Box meta puzzle. Relatively new to the scene, an episode promises to “break down the month’s puzzles, interview constructors, and just generally have a good time.”
Crosscord – This super-active home on Discord for puzzle-lovers has something for everyone – discussion spaces for major puzzles, construction workshopping, crossword-adjacent topics, and just general chatter.
The Crossword Scholar – Having settled into a cryptic focus, Aaron Riccio endeavors to highlight and tease out individual cluing highlights, keeping an eye on the standout details.
Bewilderingly – Interspersed among his puzzle posts are Will Nediger’s indispensable monthly indie puzzle highlights — typically the highlights and praises of roughly a half-dozen puzzles that caught his fancy from the previous month. Definitely worth a visit for solvers looking to find a constructor or outlet that tickles their fancy.
Crosshare – Crosshare offers fully in-browser support to create and post puzzles, an ultra-low barrier to entry for folks looking to try something out. A weekly highlights email can point you to popular and notable puzzles from the bustling community.
r/crossword – The Reddit home for (American) crossword conversation features daily discussion of the New York Times puzzle, and reasonably active attention to other puzzle bits and bobs.