Tag: Lila Goldenberg

A new weekly post curated by the DCL team.

If you missed us before now, this is the fourth post in a new, spoiler-free weekly series designed to recommend puzzles you might have missed among ever-longer daily posts. It draws on the example set by Will Nediger’s Indie Puzzle Highlights posts.

This is not at all an attempt to pick the “best” puzzles, and we will be less detailed in our comments than Will was. Our approach is best described as “puzzles we don’t think you should miss.” Kind of like staff recommendations at a local bookstore.

Whether you solve one or all of this list, we’d love to hear about your favorite puzzles from the week in the comments here, as well. There are surely some we missed ourselves. (No recommendations from Matt this week because he’s on vacation, not because there were no good puzzles!)

Square Pursuit: Quiptic Pack 2024 (1/20) by Steve Mossberg. Not one puzzle, but *nine* midi cryptics designed with beginner cryptic solvers in mind. Accompanied by thorough instructions and examples. – Norah

The Modern: Themeless 58 (1/21) by Rachel Fabi. Weekends at The Modern are some of my favorite regular puzzles, and this breezy themeless was no exception. (Get ready for These Puzzles Fund Abortion 4, which Rachel teased on Bluesky yesterday!) – Rich

USA Today: Girl Dinner (1/21) by Emily Carroll; AEIOU (1/22) by Shannon Rapp; On and On and On (1/24) by Kelsey Dixon. Just a great week of puzzles at USA Today, with these three being particular highlights for me. – Rich

Puzzles That Need A Home: feelin 22 (1/21) by Brian Thomas. This jumbo themeless takes full advantage of the extra space, with fun fill and creative clues throughout. – Rich

Defector: Line by Line (1/22) by Matthew Luter. A rare treat of a certain theme style in a puzzle well-suited for Defector’s willingness to eschew the norm. If you’re not already subbed to Defector, $8/month gets you access to the entire crossword archive which is now up to 14 puzzles and every single one has been worth the price. – Norah

Rogue Puzzles: Rogo’s sophomore slump (1/23) by Rogo. Delightful spanners and a deluge of witty cluing. – Rich

Crafty Crosswords: hart to hart (1/24) by Lila Goldenberg. This made me laugh so much, especially 5-Down and 7-Down. – Rich

The Modern: (1/25) by Ben Tolkin. Without giving too much away, this is a prime example of one of my favorite mini-theme genres right now: the sounds-like but not-alike set. And here, Ben’s impressive lattice structure of such delights. – Norah

Puzzmo: Have Faith (1/25) by Trent H. Evans. In Trent’s characteristic “cool dad” style, a 10×10 grid accommodating *six* chatty spanners and ultra-clean fill. A construction feat and breezy solve. – Norah

The Modern: (1/26) by Ada Nicolle. That this grid is only 10×10 feels impossible. With six spanners (and it even sneaks in another one!) and minimal blocks, it’s packed to the gills with fun entries, delightful clues and a broad array of references. – Norah

Current Magazine: Recovery Period (1/26) by Will Nediger. A well-worn theme style to be sure, but with a selection of theme entries sure to delight. Given additional elegance by a level of consistency not often seen in the format. – Norah

Please tell us about your favorites of the week in the comments!