Monday, February 6, 2023

Black Crossword: Mini by Juliana Pache. .pdf, online.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Jeff’s Puzzles: A Fab Feb by Jeff Linder. .puz, .pdf
Monday Fills: Full Frontal by Dave Murchie. .puz, .pdf, online.
Olio Grids: Be You by Brian Callahan. .pdf, online.
Puzzles That Need A Home: Grudge Match by Brian Thomas. .puz, .pdf, online.
xwordswithbabka: Pouring it on by Dan Schwartz. .puz, .pdf, online.
YourPuzzleSource: Daily Puzzle (Midi) by Phil Fraas. .pdf, online.

Autostraddle: Autostraddle Mini — February 6, 2023 by Rachel Fabi. .pdf, online.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: February 6, 2023 by Kate Chin Park. .pdf, online.
Crucinova: ($) Coral Line by Bryant White. Subscribe at link.
Fireball: ($) Misstate Capitals by Patrick Berry. Subscribe at link.
Lil AVC X: ($) The IN Crowd by Derek Allen. Subscribe at link.
Planet Crossword: Review Themeless by Taylor Johnson. Online.

The Atlantic Mini: by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: Movie Monday by Tracy Bennett. App Store | Google Play
Crosswords with Friends: Midi Puzzle by Donna S. Levin. App Store | Google Play
Crosswords with Friends: Mini Puzzle by Nate Cardin. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: Launch Your Brand, Mon, Feb 6, 2023 by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Pam Amick Klawittter. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Patti Varol. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
Los Angeles Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
The Modern Crossword: Monday, February 06, 2023 by Erik Agard. Online, .pdf.
New York Magazine: Send in the Clowns by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
New York Sun: ($) Shifty Business by Randall J. Hartman. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) by Taylor Johnson. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Joel Fagliano. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Crossword: Monday, February 6, 2023 by Anna Shechtman. .pdf, online.
Newsday: The Hole Things by Stan Newman. Online, .pdfbackup online.
The Telegraph: Cross Atlantic by Paul Bringloe. Online.
Universal: Breaking the Record by Taylor Johnson. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Get In by Rafael Musa. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Patrick Blindauer. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: Not Quite Right by Robert Wemischner & Mark McClain. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog: Kevin’s Puzzles at Home Season 3, Episode 6: Pain by Numbers by Grant Fikes .pdf
Redhead64: PUZZLE #425: Lucky Sevens 12 .pdf.
Steve’s Cryptic Crosswords: Puzzle 306 by Steve Townsend. Online.

Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,325 by Artexelen. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,986 by Anto. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Vigo. .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, November 2022


Across and Down” is a CBC documentary that follows a set of constructors as they fight to improve representation in crosswords. Constructors featured are Tass and Lita Williams, Natan Last, Nancy Serrano-Wu, Soleil St-Cyr, Ross Trudeau, and Nate Cardin. While the documentary is currently not available outside Canada, the accompanying articles “Seven crossword constructors fighting for better representation in the beloved puzzle” and “Bias in crosswords: how women, people of colour and LGBTQIA+ communities are overlooked” provide a bit of a sneak peek. We’re happy to see Queer Qrosswords, Women of Letters, and The Inkubator mentioned.

In digging up more about “Across and Down” we found an old, but excellent, article from the Halifax Examiner featuring Tass and Lita Williams and the making of culturally significant crosswords.

Celia Mattison, writing for Catapult Magazine in “Why I Started Writing Crossword Puzzles” describes her experience in redefining what “common knowledge” can be in crosswords.

From cryptic streamer Hayley Gold: “This month’s cryptic stream (featuring guests Ryan McCarty, Derek Allen, and No-Feet McGee — plus the boring regulars: Will Nediger, Al Sanders, and Two-Feet Hayley —though technically one is broken) will be on Friday, November 18 at 9 pm Eastern. Come one, come all for a cornucopia of classic cryptics, because that’s the only thing I’m thankful for.  Go to twitch.tv/bewilderingly to watch, or catch the VOD afterward for only 7 days (twitch lowered the number of days, so just come to the live show so ya don’t have to worry about it!)”


Congratulations to the new members of the Lil AVC X editing team for 2023: Derek Allen, Kavin Pawittranon, Kelsey Dixon, Ken Stern, No-Feet McGee, Olivia Mitra Framke, Rafael Musa, Rose Sloan, Sally Hoelscher, Sara Cantor, Steve Mossberg, and Will Eisenberg. We are so excited for the puzzles to come from this amazing lineup!

Lil AVC X is also recruiting constructors for the 2023 roster. Applications are due November 21.


Congratulations to Ada Nicolle who has joined the team at Crossword Club as both an editor and constructor.


Autostraddle, a progressive, feminist, LGBTQIA+ digital publication has begun offering crossword puzzles that center queer content. Puzzles so far are written by Brooke Husic and Rachel Fabi, with more constructors to come. Three mini puzzles each week are free to all, and a midi crossword is published Saturdays exclusively for Autostraddle’s A+ members.

A new crop of puzzle sources has come to our attention lately. We’re happy to share these in the Daily Links, but we also want to recommend them to our News and Notes readers. In standard crosswords we have learned of Completing the Square by Carter, Crossword Dilemmas by Emma Lawson, and Quid Pro by Andrew Anker; and in cryptics, Pix Puzzles by Pixlate and The Buzzle Blog by Celise. We have also started including The Chicago Maroon by University of Chicago students.

We’re also enjoying the work of Taylor Johnson and the ongoing suite of Lemonade Disco puzzles. Constructors of all experienced levels are encouraged to submit ideas. On the 17th of each month a new pack is released and the new prompt is announced.


Since the last News & Notes, Caryn L. Robbins (10/17), Rafael Musa (10/21), Joe Rodini (10/24), Nick Shephard (10/25), Ethan Zou (11/2), Juliet Corless (11/4), Jill Singer (11/6) made their NYT debuts! Congrats to everyone! Check out some of their other work we have enjoyed: Rafa’s AVCX+ “Can We Solve It? Yes We Can!” (with Kate Chin Park), Juliet’s work with The Daily Princetonian, Jill’s Spyscape “Inside Jobs“.


Thank you to our friends at the Fill Me In podcast, who in recent weeks have hosted a variety of guests to discuss topics in crossworld. Check out these episodes if you missed them: Rachel Fabi and Neville Fogarty talk about their work in making, solving, and streaming cryptic crosswords; Kate Chin Park and Will Eisenberg share their interesting origin stories; our own Matthew Gritzmacher discusses the history and future of Daily Crossword Links; and our own Shannon Rapp reviews some of her favorite indie puzzles over the last couple of months.


The New York Times is accepting applications for the second class of their Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship. Submissions open through December 1.

Beginning November 23 through January 3, 2023, The New York Times is accepting Sunday-size submissions only, directly by email to crosswordeditors@nytimes.com. All other submissions are closed until after January 3.


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

Crossworld News and Notes, September 2022

Don’t forget, we’re moving! For now we are still simulcasting via Substack and WordPress, but we will soon transition to only WordPress. Make sure you’re subscribed to the new site:

And we’re growing! We’ve added pages for Construction Resources and our entire list of puzzle sources. We also want to hear from you – is there a feature you want to see? Have an idea to pitch, a guest essay to submit, or a tip about some exciting puzzle news? Something else? Let us know!

We’re very happy to share our first essay, “On Trust,” by Will Eisenberg, exploring the relationship between a constructor and solver. A snippet: “A puzzlemaker can strive to evoke many things: happiness, nostalgia, the feeling of being ‘seen,’ the joy of an “aha!” moment, and even frustration. But the ability to evoke these emotions from the solver is built upon a base of trust. This is because a puzzle offers the solver one fundamental proposition: It is going to take you some time to work out the solution, but it will be worth it.”

We’re excited to add a home for guest essays here on our new site, and will build out public submission guidelines in time.


Congratulations to Kelsey Dixon, whose puzzle was chosen from an open call to round out the Boswords Fall Themeless League. She joins Derek Allen, Kate Chin Park & Chandi Deitmer, Malaika Handa, Natan Last, Barbara Lin, Portia Lundie, Brendan Emmett Quigley, and Brad Wilber. What a fantastic lineup! Registration is open now, and the League starts with the preseason puzzle on September 26.

New to Boswords? Check out the introductory video from organizer John Lieb:

Registration is open now for The Tenth Annual Finger Lakes Crossword Competition on September 24. After a Zoom-based kick off event moderated by Anna Shechtman, the puzzles are presented in a laid-back, self-timed, all-pdf format. The event is open to individuals and teams of up to four people with three levels of difficulty. The fee is pay-what-you-want and proceeds support adult literacy programs in the Finger Lakes area.

Final reminder that the Lollapuzzoola 15 puzzles are available for purchase through September 24. There’s so much good content here; get it while you still can!


My Jewish Learning, a site with resources to empower Jewish discovery for anyone interested in learning more, has launched a weekly Jewish themed mini crossword puzzle written by Rebecca Goldstein. They will also run larger Jewish holiday-themed puzzles throughout the year.

The first edition of Lemonade Disco has arrived! The theme of the 5-puzzle pack hosted on Taylor Made Crosswords is “Cocktail Mixer” and includes puzzles by Matt Forest, Emma Getman, George Ho, Seth Bisen-Hersh, and Glenn Cook. Puzzles are curated and edited by Taylor Johnson with help on this edition from guest editor Steve Mossberg. Constructors of any experience level may participate. Submissions for the third edition, “Rising Signs” are due on October 17. Submissions details here.

Crucinova has announced it will be drawing to a close by June 2023. We’ve enjoyed many of the innovative puzzles that Crucinova has made possible and we thank Lisa Bunker and all of the constructors for their work.


A hearty welcome back to Cursewords Live! After an extended summer hiatus, Parker Higgins and Ross Trudeau will be live solving and live creating puzzles once more starting tonight (September 18) at 8pm eastern.


AVCX Cryptics has re-opened for submissions during the month of September. Details here.

The Inkubator is open for submissions for the month of September for themed puzzles from women and nonbinary constructors. Details here.

Congratulations to Katie Hale, who has joined the L.A. Times team as Assistant Editor.


Since the last News & Notes, Adam Simpson (9/5) and Ekua Ewool (9/7) made their NYT debuts and Bonnie Eisenman (9/12) made her USAT debut! Congrats to everyone!


Hayley Gold, along with Will Nediger and Al Sanders, have issued a contest to write a full set of new cryptic clues for the grid “Un-American” by Stephen Sondheim. The filled grid is here and the original puzzle and clues are here. Submit contest entries to Hayley via Twitter dm. Hayley, Will, and Al are co-streaming cryptics on Will’s Twitch channel; next streams are October 6 and October 21 at 9pm eastern.

Hayley also wrote a in-depth rundown of Lollapuzzoola 15 for Beyond Wordplay and she was a guest on the podcast “Because Language” to discuss the state and history of cryptic crosswords and crossworld in general.


Champion speed solver Stella Zawistowski recently appeared on the YouTube show “Game On,” in which she raced viewers to solve a series of crosswords.


Thanks in preparing this issue to: Kate Chin Park, Hayley Gold, Rebecca Goldstein, and Taylor Johnson.

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