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.

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Black Crossword: Mini by Juliana Pache. .pdf, online.
Boswords: NEW Spring Themeless League Practice Puzzle by Chandi Deitmer and John Lieb. Online.
The Columbia Spectator: Chips by Molly Durawa. .puz, .pdf, online.
The Columbia Spectator: Vday by Jolie L’Heureux. .puz, .pdf, online.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Crosstalk Puzzles: Conjoined by Nick McGuire. .pdf, online.
M & M Crosswords: Cats and Other Critters by Martina Waluk. .pdf, online.
Olio Grids: Stuck on Repeat by Brian Callahan. .pdf, online.
Pandora’s Blocks: Alternate Endings (Meta) by Will Pfadenhauer. .puz, .pdf, online.
Rossword Puzzles: Secular Constitution by Ross Trudeau. .puz, .pdf, online.
YourPuzzleSource: Daily Puzzle (Midi) by Phil Fraas. .pdf, online.
YourPuzzleSource: Weekly 15×15 by Phil Fraas. .pdf, online.

Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: February 19, 2023 by Ada Nicolle. .pdf, online.
The Hub Crossword: ($) Re-solutions by Joon Pahk. Patreon subscription.
Matt Gaffney’s Weekly Crossword Contest: ($) Second Look (Meta) by Matt Gaffney. Subscribe at Patreon.
Premier Crosswordby Frank Longo. .pdf, online.
Sporcle: Actors in Disguise by emilyda24. Online.

The Atlantic: by Adam Vincent. .pdf, online.
Barrons: Final Holdings by Mark McClain. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: Sunday Funday by Adesina O. Koiki. App Store | Google Play
Crosswords with Friends: Midi Puzzle by Stella Zawistowski. App Store | Google Play
Crosswords with Friends: Mini Puzzle by Patrick Berry. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: From Hero to Sixty, Sun. Feb. 19, 2023 by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Patti Varol. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: Auto Correct by Hoang-Kim Vu & Wendy L. Brandes. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
Los Angeles Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
Merl Reagle Archives: And Now Back to P.D.Q. Bach by Merl Reagle. Online, .pdf.
The Modern Crossword: Themeless 10 by Rebecca Goldstein. Online, .pdf.
New York Sun: ($) Anagrammed Edge by David J. Kahn. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) Simile Irresistible by Rebecca Goldstein. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Joel Fagliano. Online, app.
Newsday: ALTERNATE ROUTES: Both Horizontal and Vertical by Gary M. Larson. Online, .pdfbackup online.
The Telegraph: Cross Atlantic by Steve Bartlett. Online.
Universal: Terminator Series by Jake Halperin. Online, pdf. .puz.
Universal Sunday: Doctor’s Orders by Amie Walker. .puz.
USA Today: Cutting Short by Zhouqin Burnikel. Online, .pdf, app.
Washington Post: Character Development by Evan Birnholz. Online, .pdf. .puz.

1Across: Nitty-Gritty by Bingo. .pdf, online.
The Browser: ($) Cryptic #111 by Nate Cardin. Subscribe at link.
Tales From The Cryptic: Cryptic Mini #000000009:
“Soviet Doll” (9×9 )
 by Bob Weisz. .pdf, online.

Everyman Cryptic: Everyman crossword No 3,983 .pdf, online.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Hindu Cryptic: ($) The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Hoskins. .pdf, online.
New York Times Variety: ($) Cryptic Crossword by Richard Silvestri. .pdf, online.
New York Times Variety: ($) A Little Variety by Frank Longo, Jacob M. Cohen, and Patrick Berry . .pdf, online.
The New Yorker Cryptic: Cryptic by Trip Payne. .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

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Club 72: Freestyle 749 by Tim Croce. .puz, .pdf.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
The Daily Princetonian: 7-10 by Ryan Gibbons. Online.
MEOW: Echo Location (Meta) by Cap’n Rick. .puz, .pdf, online.
Nautilus Puzzles: Midi by Ben Tolkin. .puz, .pdf, online.
Trash Panda Puzzles: Animated Delivery (Themeless) by Jason “Jac” Crabtree .puz, .pdf, online.

Aries Puzzles: ($) Aries Freestyle #5.39 by Andrew J. Ries. Subscribe at link.
AVCX: ($) AVCX Classic Themeless #65 by Rafael Musa. Subscribe at link.
Boswords Fall Themeless League: ($) Preseason Puzzle by John Lieb. Competitors have all week to complete the puzzle. Late registrants welcome.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: September 28, 2022 by Quiara Vasquez. .pdf, online.
Luckystreak+: ($) puzzle #97: the puzzle who has everything (themeless) by Ada Nicolle. Subscribe at link.
Planet Crossword: New puzzle released each weekday at noon. Online.

The Atlantic Mini: by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: by Donna S. Levin. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: Good as Gold by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Janice Luttrell. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Brooke Husic. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
McKinsey: Cryptocurrencies by Peter Gordon. .pdf, online.
New York Sun: ($) What’s Yours? by Ogden Porter. Reissues from 2002.
New York Times: ($) by Jeff Stillman. Online, .pdf, .puz, app.
New York Times Mini: by Sam Ezersky. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Crossword by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
Newsday: Take Apart by Mark McClain. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: Road Runners by Paul Coulter. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Omega-3 by Zhouqin Burnikel. Online, .pdf, app.
USA Today: Among Friends by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano (Sept 27). Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Adesina O. Koiki. .pdf, online.
Vulture 10×10: The Norma Jeane Puzzle by Malaika Handa. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: Reverse Angle by George Jasper. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

Ben’s Cryptic Crosswords: Royal Fabric by Ben Robinson Online.
Fireball: ($) Vwllss Crsswrd 11 (Frbll Crsswrds) by Frnk Lng. Subscribe at link.
Mental Judo: A Cryptic Blog (11): Cryptics 101: Container by joeadultman Online.
Square Pursuit: Quiptic #37 by Steve Mossberg. .puz, .pdf, online.

Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,211 by MONK. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,874 by Vlad. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Eccles. .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

Saturday, 17 September 2022

“Waaay better than a repository.” – Fill Me In

Club 72: Freestyle 746 by Tim Croce. .puz, .pdf.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
David Alfred Bywaters: Sad Partings by David Alfred Bywaters. .puz, .pdf, online.
The Nexus Blog: Golden Lady by Jeremy Horwitz & Alex Boisvert .jpz, .pdf, online.
Pocket Squares: Eat the which? by Jasper Davidoff. .pdf, online.
Taylor Made Crosswords: Lemonade Disco #1: Shaken, Not Stirred by Seth Bisen-Hersh. .pdf, online.
Taylor Made Crosswords: Lemonade Disco #1: Spirit Style by Emma Getman. .pdf, online.
Taylor Made Crosswords: Lemonade Disco #1: Spritzed Drinks by Matt Forest. .pdf, online.
Taylor Made Crosswords: Lemonade Disco #1: Never Gonna Keep Me Down by Glenn Cook. .pdf, online.

A-to-Z Crosswords: ($) Puzzle #90 by Peter Gordon & Frank Longo. Subscribe at link.
The Charlotte Ledger: Name Change by Chris King. .puz, .pdf.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: September 17, 2022 by Kelsey Dixon. .pdf, online.
Matt Gaffney’s Weekly Crossword Contest: ($) Our Retorter Is on the Scene (Meta) by Matt Gaffney. Subscribe at Patreon.
Morning Brew: Stopping By by Mary Tobler .pdf, online.

Crosswords with Friends: by Lynn Lempel. App Store | Google Play
Daily POP Crosswords: by Andrew J. Ries. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by John Lieb. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
New York Sun: ($) Animal Puns “R” Us by Louis Hildebrand. Reissues from 2002.
New York Times: ($) by Grant Thackray. Online, .pdf, .puz, app.
New York Times Mini: by Joel Fagliano. Online, app.
Newsday: Saturday Stumper by Steve Mossberg. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: Universal Freestyle 38 by Guilherme Gilioli. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Last to Leave by Matthew Stock. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: Letter Heads by Andrew J. Ries. .pdf, online.
Vulture 10×10: The Mystery Puzzle by Malaika Handa. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: What Did You Sate? by Mike Shenk. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

Darren’s Puzzles: Perplexing Pirates by Darren Miller. .pdf
Taylor Made Crosswords: Lemonade Disco #1: Last Round (Cryptic) by George Ho. .pdf, online.
Tortoiseshell Studio: ($) Pathfinder by Nathan Curtis. Patreon subscription.

Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,202 by Mudd. .pdf.
Financial Times: FT Crossword: Polymath number 1196 by Bradman. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Serpent. .pdf, online.
WSJ Variety: Riding The Waves by Patrick Berry. .pdf.

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

Saturday, 3 September 2022

“Waaay better than a repository.” – Fill Me In

Club 72: Freestyle 742 by Tim Croce. .puz, .pdf.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Crossweird Puzzles: Emergency Bottoms by Dob Olino and Kate Chin Park. .puz, .pdf, online.
David Alfred Bywaters: Ring of Ire by David Alfred Bywaters. .puz, .pdf, online.

A-to-Z Crosswords: ($) Puzzle #76 by Peter Gordon & Frank Longo. Subscribe at link.
Boswords Fall Themeless League: Practice Puzzle by John Lieb. .pdf, online.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword by Kate Chin Park. .pdf, online.
Matt Gaffney’s Weekly Crossword Contest: ($) Quartet for Strings (Meta) by Matt Gaffney. Subscribe at Patreon.
Morning Brew: Back To School by Mary Tobler .pdf, online.
Spyscape: On The Table by Bryant White. .pdf, online.

Crosswords with Friends: by Lynn Lempel. App Store | Google Play
Daily POP Crosswords: by Matthew Stock. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Brooke Husic & Michael Lieberman. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
New York Sun: ($) Five 2002 “8” Titles by Byron Walden. Reissues from 2002.
New York Times: ($) by David Distenfeld. Online, .pdf, .puz, app.
New York Times Mini: by Joel Fagliano. Online, app.
Newsday: Saturday Stumper by Stan Newman. Online, .pdfbackup online.
Universal: Universal Freestyle 36 by Malaika Handa. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Home Openers by Brooke Husic. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: Not Made From Composite Materials by Adesina O. Koiki. .pdf, online.
Vulture 10×10: The Middle-Earth Puzzle by Stella Zawistowski. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: Foodies by Gary Larson & Amy Ensz. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

Josh Solves: Welcome to the inn (Cryptic) by JoshSolves. .pdf
The Nexus Blog: Just Dance (Kaidoku) by Alex Boisvert .jpz, .pdf, online.
Tortoiseshell Studio: Spiral by Nathan Curtis. .pdf, .puz.

Canadian National Post: Cryptic by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon. .pdf
Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,190 by MUDD. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Wiglaf. .pdf, online.
WSJ Variety: Rows Garden by Patrick Berry. .pdf.

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