Late February Crossworld News & Notes

The Inkubator has announced it will cease operations at the end of 2023 in an email to subscribers:

After much careful thought, the Inkubator team has made the decision that 2023 will be our last year as a subscription service. We’ve had a wonderful four years with your support, surpassing our original goal of spending two years publishing new and emerging women and nonbinary constructors.

The Inkubator will continue as a community of constructors, and we’re excited for future directions and collaborations. In the meantime, we’re extending our current deadline for submissions until February 15, and we have an excellent slate of puzzles lined up for the next few weeks. We look forward to solving together with all of you this year.

We have a close relationship with the Inkubator team and offer our gratitude for both a great run and their leadership in the community. It has moved the needle, without a doubt.


A lovely piece from Liz Maynes-Aminzade at The New Yorker, “Will Shortz’s Life in Crosswords,” covers Will’s long career in puzzles. From all of us at DCL, echoing the sentiments we’ve heard from across the crossword community, we’re happy for Will for coming out publicly and finding love at 70.


ACPT is only five weeks away! We look forward to seeing many of you there. For those who can’t attend, the Virtual Tournament sponsored by Amuse Labs is an affordable way to participate and compete from afar. It includes live streams of all the tournament puzzles as well as other in-person events.


Congratulations to Paolo Pasco, winner of the Boswords Winter Wondersolve, and to second and third place finishers Will Nediger and Tyler Hinman. Congrats also to Frisco and Chauffeur, who won the Blizzard pairs division, Brian Lipinski, winner of the Flurry individual division, and Kristy and Wendy Gardner, winners of the Flurry pairs division.

Congratulations to Matthew Luter, whose puzzle was chosen through the open submission process to join the Boswords Spring Themeless League. The League begins with the preseason puzzle this Monday, February 27. A new practice puzzle from Chandi Deitmer and John Lieb is available for free.

In even more Boswords news, the annual summer tournament is now set for Sunday, July 23, with both in-person and virtual options.


These Puzzl3s Fund Abortion, the third annual TPFA pack organized by Rachel Fabi and co-edited by Rachel, Brooke Husic, and Claire Rimkus, is coming this spring in time for the 2023 NNAF Fund-a-Thon. We are excited about this year’s all-star constructor lineup and look forward to their puzzles.

We’re pleased to share that Grids for Kids has raised over $6,000 for youth charities so far, including The Trevor Project and No Kid Hungry. Written and edited by constructors who are also parents, it includes 17 standard crosswords with family-friendly themes, 2 cryptic puzzles, and 6 puzzles for younger solvers. Make a donation of at least $10 USD to receive the puzzles.


Since the last News & Notes, Nijah Morris (2/12), Kavin Pawittranon (2/12), Eric Rollfing (2/13), and Sean Ziebarth (2/15) made their NYT debuts. Congratulations to everyone!

On the February 10 episode, “Cut to Wabbit Season,” of the Crossnerds podcast with Brooke Husic and Rebecca Neipris, Brooke discusses the expansion of the Lil AVC X editing team, the importance of the constructor-editor relationship in cultivating a better solving experience, and (the lack of) gender diversity in The New York Times crossword.

Creating Crossword Puzzles” is a course taught by Brooke Husic and Natan Last in cooperation with Atlas Obscura. The next offering of the course begins March 28 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. Puzzles constructed by previous classes are available for solving from Atlas Obscura: “Marvel, Extended Universe” and “Alpha and Omega.”

It’s been a while since we’ve mentioned Spread the Wordlist by Brooke Husic and Enrique Henestroza Anguiano, but now is a good time as the most recent quarterly update includes some structural changes to simplify the wordlist for constructors. It also surpassed 100,000 entries scored at 50+ for the first time. This is a fabulous free resource for new and veteran constructors alike, and we’re grateful to Brooke and Enrique for their continued work on it.

A Community of Crosswords” in the latest issue of Barnard Magazine comprises three short but delightful conversations with alums Rebecca Goldstein, Rebecca Gray, and Gustie Owens about their work in crosswords.

In the NYT Gameplay article “A Puzzle Maker Aims to Unite Black Communities in 25 Squares” by Deb Amlen, Juliana Pache speaks about her mission to inspire communities from across the Black diaspora to learn more about each other. Juliana publishes a free daily mini at Black Crossword, with plans to expand.

We may have mentioned it before, but it’s been a minute: Cross Your Heart by Laura Effinger-Dean is a free, open-source Android app for crossword solving, with lots of features such as downs-only mode, autocheck, pen/pencil toggle, scrambled puzzle support, and an undo button. Supports .puz files only.

The February issue of GAMES World of Puzzles features a Q&A with puzzlemaker Fred Piscop, who shares info about his new book, “The Healthy Brain Book of Word Puzzles.” The book includes Split Decisions (R) and plenty of other great puzzles.

We’ve added a few new sources to our daily list recently: Check out puzzles from Boston Magazine by Brendan Emmett Quigley, Barron’s, and The Hindu Cryptic. We’re also watching a handful of new-to-us college newspapers: Amherst, Rice, Columbia, Penn, and Michigan.

We’d like to remind everyone that the ability to download and print NYT variety and acrostic puzzles will be discontinued on February 26, and they’ll be removed from the archive beginning March 1—so solve, print, and save them while we still can.

We want to hear from you! If you have an idea about something you’d like to see us offer or have feedback about any of our features, please let us know.

Crossworld News and Notes, January 2023

Registration for ACPT is open now. We’re excited to see you there March 31-April 2! Also coming up: Boswords Winter Wondersolve, February 5 and St. Louis Crossword Tournament, March 4.


T. Campbell’s annual The Year In Crosswords covers the good, the bad, and the ugly in all of Crossworld in 2022. This long issue is a full who’s who and what’s what, including Wordle and its variants, changes in publications, fundraisers, tournaments, indie projects, software, AI, books and media, and more.

Sam Ezersky was profiled in Virginia Magazine, where he discussed the popularity of Spelling Bee during the pandemic and offers some of his best puzzling tips. The article is accompanied by a free series of short word puzzles inspired by Spelling Bee.

Constructor and magician David Kwong recently appeared on the podcast “Ologies” with host Alie Ward. He discussed Anigrams, AVCX, Diary of a Crossword Fiend, Wordle, cryptics, crosswords and brain health, and much more.


Congratulations to the 2023 Lil AVC X roster: Darby Ratliff, Dob Olino, Eric Mao, Jimmy Peniston, Kelly Nguyen Dickson, Lila Goldenberg, meatdaddy69420, Nancy Serrano-Wu, Nijah Morris, and Pravan Chakravarthy! We are so excited for the puzzles to come from this year’s bunch of up-and-coming constructors.

Congratulations to Nate Cardin, who has joined the editorial team at AVCX Cryptic!

Since the last News & Notes, Gustie Owens (12/4), Anthony J. Caruso (12/12), Julietta Gervase (12/13), John Martz (12/25), Josh Goodman (12/28), Seth Bisen-Hersh (1/2), Laura Breiman (1/4), Tom Bachant (1/4) made their NYT debuts. Congratulations to everyone!


We have been enjoying the latest offering from Puzzle Society: The Modern Crossword. Monday through Friday puzzles are midis of increasing size, Saturdays are themed puzzles by open submission, and Sundays are themeless puzzles by members of the editing team and invited constructors. The themes and content hold up to the puzzle’s moniker: the interface allows for alternate clues if solvers get stuck, and some clues and answers are accompanied by a constructor’s note.

We are also loving the new crosswords from Xtra, a LGBTQ2S+ online magazine. Puzzles are published the first of each month and are constructed by Ada Nicolle, who promises a younger, more inclusive vibe for the Xtra puzzles in this companion article.

The second crossword book from The Browser, “Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners” by Uri Bram & Dan Feyer is available now. They say “we break down these delightful puzzles into simple building blocks and have you solving cryptic grids before you know it!”


Fireball Crosswords begin this week and Fireball Newsflash Crosswords begin January 20, both by Peter Gordon. Subscriptions open now.

Now is also the time to renew your subscription to The Inkubator. A subscription is $30 for 36 puzzles: three puzzles a month all year long. The fifth year will feature creative themes from C.C. Burnikel, Chandi Deitmer, and Rebecca Goldstein; debuts from Max Schlenker and Darby Ratliff; themelesses from Robyn Weintraub and Wyna Liu; and many more.

AVCX and The Inkubator are open for submission. The New York Times has also reopened after a break.

Monday, January 2, 2023

Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Cruciverbology: The itsy-bitsy meta by Elise Corbin. .pdf, online.
A Little Puzzling: a silly little puzzle by Steph Brown. Online.
Monday Fills: The Right Tool by Dave Murchie. .puz, .pdf, online.
Nautilus Puzzles: happy new year by Ben Tolkin. .puz, .pdf, online.
Rossword Puzzles: Proofreading by Ross Trudeau. .puz, .pdf, online.

Autostraddle: Autostraddle Mini — January 2, 2023 by Brooke Husic. .pdf, online.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: January 2, 2023 by Kelsey Dixon. .pdf, online.
The Hub Crossword: ($) Tools of the NFL by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Patreon subscription.
Planet Crossword: Banger Themeless by Zhouqin Burnikel. Online.
Xtra: Try Anything (Themeless) by Ada Nicolle. Online.

The Atlantic Mini: by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: by Peter Wentz. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: Here’s the Kicker, Mon. Jan. 2, 2023 by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Janice Luttrell. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Dylan Schiff. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
The Modern Crossword: Monday, January 02, 2023 by Anna Gundlach. Online, .pdf.
New York Magazine: You’re An Animal by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
New York Sun: ($) Looky Here by Nancy Salomon. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) by Seth Bisen-Hersh. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Gustie Owens. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Crossword: Monday, January 2, 2023 by Anna Shechtman. .pdf, online.
Newsday: Wrap Session by Gail Grabowski. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: Bugs Out by Rebecca Goldstein. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Three-Point Play by Brooke Husic. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Patrick Blindauer. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: Ball Drops by Mike Shenk. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog: Name That Toon by Grant Fikes .pdf
Redhead64: Brick By Brick 10 .pdf.
Steve’s Cryptic Crosswords: Puzzle 301 by Steve Townsend. Online.
TLMB: 7:45 (Cryptic Crossword) by The Void .pdf, online.

Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,294 by Zamorca. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,956 by Vulcan. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Laccaria. .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

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Fordham Observer: Sunday, December 4 (Mini) by Irene Hao. .pdf, online.
M & M Crosswords: She Wasn’t Christine Average by Martina Waluk. .pdf, online.
Rossword Puzzles: Gathering Clouds by Ross Trudeau. .puz, .pdf, online.
Xylo’s Puzzles: Sept-urday #6 by Xylo. Online.
World of Crosswords: themeless 126 by Marya and Carla. Online.

Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: December 4, 2022 by Will Nediger. .pdf, online.
The Hub Crossword: ($) Camouflaged Animals by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Patreon subscription.
Premier Crosswordby Frank Longo. .pdf, online.
Sporcle: Know Your Place by Chenchilla. Online.

The Atlantic: by Simeon Seigel & Rich Proulx. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: by Todd McClary. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: One More Adventure, Sun. Dec. 4, 2022 by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Janice Luttrell. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: Hesitations by Jill Rafaloff & Michelle Sontarp. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
Merl Reagle Archives: December 4, 2022 – Spun with Foonerisms by Merl Reagle. Online, .pdf.
New York Sun: ($) Chick Flicks by Randall J. Hartman. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) Gossip Session by Gustie Owens. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Sam Ezersky. Online, app.
Newsday: COUNTRY CLUB: With Something Uncommon in Common by Mark McClain. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: Themeless Sunday 19 by Rafael Musa. Online, pdf. .puz.
Universal Sunday: There Seems To Be a Mix-up Here by Paul Coulter. .puz.
USA Today: Windfall by Zhouqin Burnikel. Online, .pdf, app.
Washington Post: Land of Confusion by Evan Birnholz. Online, .pdf. .puz.

Completing the Square: 46: second cryptic by carter. Online.
The Browser: Cryptic by Avery Monsen. Subscribe at link.
Mental Playground: December 4 by MP. .pdf, online.
Puzzlesnacks: Crowded Spiral by Eric Berlin. .pdf.
Some Variety: Advent 2022: #4 by Elgel online.
Some Variety: Advent 2022: #3 by Elgel online.

Everyman Cryptic: No 3,973 .pdf, online.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Skinny. .pdf, online.
New York Times Variety: ($) A Little Variety by Frank Longo and Patrick Berry and Prasanna Seshadri. .pdf, online.
The New Yorker Cryptic: Cryptic by Paolo Pasco. .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