Friday, December 2, 2022

BEQ: Modern-Day Monsters by Brendan Emmett Quigley. .puz, .pdf, online.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
The Daily Princetonian: Case of the Sniffles by Bryan Boyd. Online.
Fordham Observer: Giving Tuesday 2022 Crossword by Maddie Sandholm. .pdf, online.
Fordham Observer: Friday, December 2 (Mini) by Irene Hao. .pdf, online.

Autostraddle: Autostraddle Mini — December 2, 2022 by Rachel Fabi. .pdf, online.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: December 2, 2022 by Kate Chin Park. .pdf, online.
Crucinova: ($) Color By Numbers by Paul Coulter. Subscribe at link.
Inkubator: ($) They’re Doin’ It For Themselves by May Huang and Wendy L. Brandes. Subscribe at link.
Planet Crossword: Oculus Rift by Zhouqin Burnikel. Online.

The Atlantic Mini: by Caleb Madison. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: by Trip Payne. App Store | Google Play
Daily POP Crosswords: by Beth Rubin. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Jeff Stillman. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
New York Sun: ($) Themeless by Jim Page. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) by Scott Earl. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Ailee Yoshida. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Holiday Crossword: Friday, December 2, 2022 by Anna Shechtman. .pdf, online.
Newsday: Regrets All Around by Steve Faiella. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: Have It Both Ways by Paul Coulter. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Primary Funds by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Andrew J. Ries. .pdf, online.
Vulture 10×10: The XOXO Puzzle by Stella Zawistowski. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: I Almost Gave Away the Ending by Matt Gaffney. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Examiner: ($?) Right This Way by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Online.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.
The Week: Downward Trend by Matt Gaffney. .pdf.

Mental Playground: December 2 by MP. .pdf, online.
No-Feet McGee: ($) Looking Forward (Acrostic) by No-Feet McGee. Subscribe at link.
Out Of Left Field: ($) Cryptic #140 by Joshua Kosman & Henri Picciotto. Patreon subscription.
Some Variety: Advent 2022: #2 by Elgel online.

Financial Times: FT Weekend Magazine Crossword Number 617 by Aldhelm. .pdf.
Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,267 by Mudd. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,930 by Harpo. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Phi. .pdf, online.

Other American-style crosswords:

Reviews and Discussion at Diary of a Crossword Fiend | Boatload Puzzles/AARP | Crosshare | CrosswordsBackwards | Cruciverbalista (en español) | Dictionaries6 | Easy Crossword | FreeDailyCrosswords | GameLab | Hard Crossword | r/crossword | Squares.io | YourPuzzleSource | XWord-Muggles Meta Calendar

Other Cryptic/Variety crosswords:

A Frame Games | cf.kmbweb.de Links Library | Harper’s ($) | Lovatts | Magpie ($) | Mokelfish Links Library | MyCrossword | NPL | Panda Magazine ($) | Private Eye | PuzzleCrypt archives | Puzzling StackExchange | r/crosswords | Split Decisions | Sydney Morning Herald ($) | The Telegraph | The Times (UK) ($), includes The Listener

Friday, 21 October 2022

BEQ: Hbo by Brendan Emmett Quigley. .puz, .pdf, online.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Fordham Observer: Friday, October 21 (Mini) by Irene Hao. .pdf, online.
Harvard Independent: Oh My God, It’s Full Of Stars by Peter Laskin. .pdf, online.
Haymarket’s Squares: Haymarket Mini #46 by ariel haymarket. .puz, .pdf, online.
QVXwordz: Themeless #18: For Sexy MFs Only by Quiara Vasquez. .puz, .pdf, online.

We’re in between News & Notes postings, but a quick plug for cryptic fans: Tonight at 9pm ET there will be Hex-spooktacular cryptic stream at twitch.tv/bewilderingly.  Not only will the gang be solving Hex holiday classics, but we’ll also be getting a first look at the digitalization of the the Hex variety cryptic archive. What better way to celebrate the spooky season than with Hex, every clue is a trick and a treat!

AVCX: ($) Unbossed, Baby (themeless) by Daryl Sng and Christopher Adams. Subscribe at link.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: October 21, 2022 by Kelsey Dixon. .pdf, online.
Crucinova: ($) America’s Dairyland by Mark McClain. Subscribe at link.
Inkubator: ($) Themeless #36 by Priyanka Sethy. Subscribe at link.
Planet Crossword: A Cryptographic Puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Online.

The Atlantic Mini: by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: by Jeff Chen. App Store | Google Play
Daily POP Crosswords: by Janice Luttrell. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Alexander Liebeskind. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
New York Sun: ($) Themeless by Robert Ward. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) by Rafael Musa. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Ailee Yoshida. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Crossword: Friday, October 21, 2022 by Brendan Emmett Quigley. .pdf, online.
Newsday: Told You So by Billie Truitt. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: Give Me a Break by Paul Coulter. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Double Back by Brooke Husic. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Andrew J. Ries. .pdf, online.
Vulture 10×10: The Sleepless Puzzle by Malaika Handa. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: Fall Classic by Matt Gaffney. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Examiner: ($?) DC Halloween by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Online.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.
The Week: You Win Again by Matt Gaffney. .pdf.

Financial Times: FT Weekend Magazine Crossword Number 612 by Aldhelm. .pdf.
Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,231 by Artexlen. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,894 by Paul. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Phi. .pdf, online.

Other American-style crosswords:

Reviews and Discussion at Diary of a Crossword Fiend | Boatload Puzzles/AARP | Crosshare | CrosswordsBackwards | Cruciverbalista (en español) | Dictionaries6 | Easy Crossword | FreeDailyCrosswords | GameLab | Hard Crossword | r/crossword | Squares.io | YourPuzzleSource | XWord-Muggles Meta Calendar

Other Cryptic/Variety crosswords:

A Frame Games | cf.kmbweb.de Links Library | Harper’s ($) | Lovatts | Magpie ($) | Mokelfish Links Library | MyCrossword | NPL | Panda Magazine ($) | Private Eye | PuzzleCrypt archives | Puzzling StackExchange | r/crosswords | Split Decisions | Sydney Morning Herald ($) | The Telegraph | The Times (UK) ($), includes The Listener

Crossworld News and Notes, October 2022

This is the first News & Notes since we left Substack entirely. We’ve made every effort to preserve the lists of folks who opted out of the daily emails while still receiving News & Notes, and vice versa, and appreciate your patience if you receive this in error – an unsubscribe link is at the bottom and will not affect the daily links distribution.


The Boswords Fall Themeless League is on! The puzzles and Twitch streams from September 26 and October 3 are available now. Late registrations are accepted; sign up here.

Cruciverbology is a new blog by constructor Elise Corbin. Elise has published with The Inkubator and Fireball Crosswords and made the only puzzle for FiveThirtyEight to date following a memorable indie debut just over two years ago — seriously, solve “Election Tampering” ASAP if it’s new to you. She calls her blog “Crosswords with a nerdy twist,” and the three puzzles available so far fit that description perfectly. We look forward to what more she will bring to the indie space.

Emma Oxford and Will Pfadenhauer of Pandora’s Blocks weekly meta crossword have started a podcast, “Outside the Blocks: A Puzzle Podcast.” In the first episode, released September 18, they review and explain a handful of meta puzzles from a variety of sources. They promise interviews with meta constructors in the future.

We’ve been listing weekly puzzles from Morning Brew for a bit now, but only recently caught up to their expanded offerings. Mary Tobler now oversees four puzzles a week: a Tuesday mini, a “more experimental” Thursday midi, the (typically) 15x you’ve seen us link for a bit, and a current events-minded Sunday 10x. Having passed 4 million subscribers earlier this year, Morning Brew creates puzzles for a wide range of solvers, and this new lineup is their latest initiative to encourage readers and puzzle fans, from daily devotees to first-timers, to engage with crosswords through innovative, fun formats. Mary talks more about her work in puzzles in the Morning Brew piece, “How puzzle master Mary Tobler makes a living playing games.”

A new puzzle is available at Planet Crossword, edited by Stella Zawistowski and Brooke Husic. A robust “About Us” section can be found here, but a particular highlight of this new outlet is that it uses software designed specifically for collaborative solving–on Zoom calls, on streams, or otherwise–filling the grid from correct answers typed into a chat. New puzzles are published each weekday at noon.

Writing for the Washington Post, Evan Birnholz published an interview with Jim Quinlan, crossword constructor and commenter, who recently retired from reviewing Evan’s puzzles at Diary of a Crossword Fiend after five years.

For cryptic fans, we learned recently of the Global Indian Crossword league 2022, an online worldwide cryptic crossword tournament, thanks to a news blurb about Erik Agard and Neville Fogarty’s places on the leaderboard. An in-person finale is scheduled for December 25 in Bangalore. Anyone is welcome to join and late registrations are accepted. Sign up here.

The New York Times Gameplay team has a new series called “Mini to Maestro,” in which they promise “Everyone can solve the New York Times Crossword.” Using progressively more difficult puzzles as examples and explaining solving strategies to use for each day of the week, they help teach solvers how to improve their skills. Each piece lists un-paywalled NYT crosswords chosen by members of the Gameplay team to practice the techniques explained.


Congratulations to Kate Chin Park, who has joined The New Yorker puzzles and games team as Assistant Editor. We’re big fans of her work at her own site, Crossword Club, and elsewhere, and excited to see what she brings to the TNY team.

Lil AVC X is seeking constructors and expert solvers who are interested in being first-time editors to join the team for 2023. Applications due October 21. Details here.

Since the last News & Notes, Helen Chen (9/22), David Karp (9/30), Sarah Sinclair (10/2), Jason Reich (10/5), and Ailee Yoshida made their NYT debuts; and Li Ding (9/19), Kavin Pawittranon (9/26), and Nijah Morris (9/26) made their USAT debuts! Congrats to everyone! Sarah has designed knitting patterns based on Wordle, the Spelling Bee, and the NYT Crossword. Helen’s puzzle is the second and Ailee’s the third to be published from the NYT Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship inaugural class, and Ailee is the youngest woman to have a crossword published in the New York Times.

Creating Crossword Puzzles” is a course taught by Brooke Husic and Natan Last in cooperation with Atlas Obscura. The second offering of the course begins October 11 (tonight!) with four weekly sessions over Zoom. The content is intended for very new constructors and those who are interested in how crosswords are made. Reduced price tickets are available.

In “How I Crossed Crosswords,” David Ding details his journey in writing a crossword puzzle, culminating with the publication of the September 27 Universal puzzle with Ross Trudeau. Aspiring constructors might appreciate the behind-the-scenes perspective of developing a puzzle with editors and working through the process with an experienced mentor.

Amuse Labs hosts a free monthly webinar for constructors. This month, they will discuss PuzzleMe features for creating and solving puzzles with a live Q&A session with developers. The webinar is scheduled for October 20 at 11am ET. Sign up here.


Have a news tip for us? An idea to pitch? A puzzle or puzzle site to share? Let us know!

Tuesday, 11 October 2022

A Crossword Rose: soft piano music (themeless) by acommonrose. .puz, online.
BEQ: Themeless Monday #693 by Brendan Emmett Quigley. .puz, .pdf, online.
Bewilderingly: In a Bad Way by Christina Iverson and Juliana Tringali Golden. .puz, .pdf, online.
Brian Gubin: Musical Letters by Brian Gubin. .puz, .pdf.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Fordham Observer: Tuesday, October 11 (Mini) by Kreena Vora. .pdf, online.
LuterCross: Nothing to Do? Nowhere to Go? by Matthew Luter. .pdf, .puz, online.
Metas On A Tuesday: Solo Performers (Meta) by benchen71. .puz, .pdf, online.
Muggle Meta Mondays: Reaching Across the Aisle (Meta) by Al Sisti. .puz, .pdf.
Nautilus Puzzles: Midi by Ben Tolkin. .puz, .pdf, online.
Puzzles That Need A Home: i love it when you call me 39-across by Brian Thomas. .puz, .pdf, online.

Boswords Fall Themeless League: ($) Puzzle #2 by Derek Allen. Competitors have all week to complete the puzzle. Late registrants welcome.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: October 11, 2022 by Kate Chin Park. .pdf, online.
Crossword Nation: ($) Same Difference! by Elizabeth C. Gorski. Subscribe at link.
Lil AVC X: ($) Fruit Salad  by Madeline Kaplan. Subscribe at link.
Luckystreak+: ($) Where’s The Beef? (themeless) by Ada Nicolle. Subscribe at link.
Morning Brew: Brew Mini: Punch by Mary Tobler .pdf, online.
No-Feet McGee: ($) Stepping it Up (Mini) by No-Feet McGee. Subscribe at link.
Planet Crossword: Striking Themeless by Zhouqin Burnikel. Online.

The Atlantic Mini: by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
The Crosswords Club: ($) Throwing Shade by Douglas Burnikel & C.C. Burnikel. Subscribe at link.
Crosswords with Friends: by Patrick Berry. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: The Family Guy, Tue, Oct 11, 2022 by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Katie Hale. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Jared Goudsmit. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
New York Sun: ($) Themeless by Randolph Ross. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) by Ailee Yoshida. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Wyna Liu. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Crossword: Tuesday, October 11, 2022 by Aimee Lucido. .pdf, online.
Newsday: Triple-Decker by Billie Truitt. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: A Number of Movies by Barbara Lin. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Star Fruit by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Juliana Tringali Golden. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: You’re Breaking Up by Sam Koperwas & Jeff Chen. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

Aries Puzzles: ($) Rows Garden #9.41 by Andrew J. Ries. Subscribe at link.
BEQ Marching Bands: ($) Marching Bands #8.13 by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Subscribe at link.
Cryptic Crosswords by Māyā: String Theory by Māyā. .pdf, online.
Garden Party: ($) Rows Garden #5.41 by Michael Blake. Subscribe at link.
Keynesian Cryptics: Esprit de l’Escalier by Jack H Keynes. .pdf, online.
Outside The Box: ($) Two-Tone by joon pahk. Subscribe at link.
Outside The Box: ($) Rows Garden #8.6 by joon pahk. Subscribe at link.

Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,222 by Neo. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,885 by Brummie. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Grecian. .pdf, online.

Other American-style crosswords:

Reviews and Discussion at Diary of a Crossword Fiend | Boatload Puzzles/AARP | Crosshare | CrosswordsBackwards | Cruciverbalista (en español) | Dictionaries6 | Easy Crossword | FreeDailyCrosswords | GameLab | Hard Crossword | r/crossword | Squares.io | YourPuzzleSource | XWord-Muggles Meta Calendar

Other Cryptic/Variety crosswords:

A Frame Games | cf.kmbweb.de Links Library | Harper’s ($) | Lovatts | Magpie ($) | Mokelfish Links Library | MyCrossword | NPL | Panda Magazine ($) | Private Eye | PuzzleCrypt archives | Puzzling StackExchange | r/crosswords | Split Decisions | Sydney Morning Herald ($) | The Telegraph | The Times (UK) ($), includes The Listener