A jam-packed Crossworld News and Notes

Boswords 2023 Winter Wondersolve takes place February 5 beginning at 1:00pm ET. Registration opens January 21. We are excited about the event’s roster of constructors: Rebecca Goldstein, Damon Gulczynski, Enrique Henestroza Anguiano, and Joanne Sullivan.

Boswords has also released the roster for the 2023 Spring Themeless League, to take place in March and April: Ashton Anderson & James Mulhern, Kate Hawkins, Jenna LaFleur, Adrian Johnson, Hemant Mehta, Rafael Musa, Carly Schuna, Nancy Serrano-Wu, and one constructor to be chosen from an open submission process.

We’re looking forward to the smaller (and free!) second annual St. Louis Crossword Puzzle Tournament on March 4 with puzzles by Shannon Rapp and Patrick Blindauer.

The 45th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT is March 31 – April 2. Registration and hotel reservations are open now.

We hear word of two charity packs coming soon for our solving pleasure. Grids For Kids is a pack of 25 family-friendly puzzles launching in February. Shortly to follow will be the third round of These Puzzles Fund Abortion in March.

Among the changes at Crucinova under new management is the addition of a free monthly midi by editor Quiara Vasquez. The first one, “Good Housekeeping” (which actually verges on full-sized) we found delightful. Quiara is eager to entertain new queries from constructors of all levels of experience. Submit your ideas by email.

Secret Snowflake is an indie project coordinated by Rose Sloan and David Glasser in which constructors were randomly matched with each other to create custom puzzles. Not all of the thirty puzzles were released publicly, but here are a some that were: Litter Boxes by Lyle Broughton, January Stumper by Ada Nicolle, Costume Party by jseakle, Season’s Greetings by Rose Sloan, A PUZZLE FOR @TlMBERWOLVES by Paolo Pasco , Secret Snowflake Themeless by Max, Secret Snowflake by Christopher Adams, and Santa Puzzle 2022 by Xylo. (If we missed any, please drop them in the comments!)

In books, “Will Must Send Regrets: 101 Rejected Crossword Puzzles and the Stories Behind Them” by Damon Gulczynski is a new take on puzzle books; the puzzles are all past submissions to the New York Times, rejected. With “constructor notes and loosely tangential anecdotes, the puzzles tell a humorous, two-decade tale of repeated but endearing failure.” I’ve already gotten a copy, and while I haven’t solved the puzzles, I’m already hoping this is the first of a genre in the crossword scene.

Have we mentioned Stella Zawistowski’s coming book? I thought we must have, but maybe not (apologies if we have!) Bearing the title of her themeless-focused blog, “Tough As Nails Crosswords” features 72 “extra-challenging” grids from Stella. Preorders are open now, for a release on 28 March – just in time for ACPT.

P&A Magazine Issue 98 titled “X” is out now.

Congratulations to Hoang-Kim Vu, who has joined the editing team at AVCX+.

Congratulations to Jeff Chen, who as joined the team at Andrews McMeel Universal and will be the editor of Universal Sunday Crossword. Along with this news, Universal has announced they are now accepting submissions with a wider range of features. As always, we recommend constructors consult Matthew Stock’s spec sheet sheet for the most up-to-date submission specifications.

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. The last session’s co-constructed puzzle, “Marvel, Extended Universe” is solvable online.

Hayley Gold’s next monthly cryptic stream is set for 9pm eastern on Wed., Jan. 18th. Hayley, Will and Al will be joined by special guests from the cryptic outlet The Rackenfracker.

New York Times Associate puzzle editor and Wordle editor Tracy Bennett appeared on the TODAY show to discuss her work with Wordle.

We enjoyed reading “Yesterday and tomorrow in puzzles“, a 2022 round up in “Puzzle Buzz”, the newsletter from amuselabs. Some of our favorite outlets across the community, new and old, got nice callouts for their work.

We mentioned “Outside the Blocks: A Puzzle Podcast” from Emma Oxford and Will Pfadenhauer of Pandora’s Blocks Weekly Meta Crossword when they launched in 2022. The newest episode includes an interview with Mike Dirolf, aka “mike d” aka “The Crosshare Guy.” (Sneak peek: we get a definitive answer as to how “crosshare” is pronounced.)


And some updates from the inside: We are pleased to welcome Rich Iurilli to the DCL team! You can expect to see him contribute to some daily emails and News and Notes. We’ve also been continuing to add new features to the site: More Puzzles, a listing of sites that have been dormant long enough that we don’t keep an eye on them anymore but are still full of puzzling entertainment; the beginnings of a community calendar, and a bit About Us. We also 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.

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

BEQ: Themeless Monday #705 by Brendan Emmett Quigley. .puz, .pdf, online.
Brian Gubin: Kings & Queens by Brian Gubin. .puz, .pdf.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
Jack Of All Squares: Litter Boxes by Lyle Broughton. .pdf, online.
LuterCross: Wickedly Talented by Matthew Luter. .pdf, .puz, online.
Metas On A Tuesday: Two Can Play At That Game (Meta) by benchen71. .puz, .pdf, online.
Muggle Meta Mondays: The Replacement(s) (Meta) by Bird Lives. .puz, .pdf.
Olio Grids: Say That Again? by Brian Callahan. .pdf, online.

Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: January 10, 2023 by Kelsey Dixon. .pdf, online.
Crossword Nation: ($) Split-Level Home by Elizabeth C. Gorski. Subscribe at link.
Lil AVC X: ($) Heart and Soul by Steve Mossberg. Subscribe at link.
Luckystreak+: ($) Puzzle #1 (themeless) by Ada Nicolle. Subscribe at link.
Luckystreak+: ($) Puzzle #2 (themeless) by Ada Nicolle. Subscribe at link.
Luckystreak+: ($) Puzzle #3 (themeless) by Ada Nicolle. Subscribe at link.
Morning Brew: Brew Mini: Prince by Mary Tobler .pdf, online.
Planet Crossword: Apish Themeless by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Online.

The Atlantic Mini: by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
The Crosswords Club: ($) Splinter Groups by Tiann Maxwell. Subscribe at link.
Crosswords with Friends: TV Tuesday by Trip Payne. App Store | Google Play
Crosswords with Friends: Mini Puzzle by Jeff Chen. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: Dissed by the List, Tue, Jan 10, 2023 by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Beth Rubin. App Store | Google Playonline.
Los Angeles Times: by Dan Schwartz & Shannon Rapp. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
Los Angeles Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
The Modern Crossword: Tuesday, January 10, 2023 by Amanda Rafkin. Online, .pdf.
New York Sun: ($) Five of a Kind by Randall J. Hartman. Reissues from 2003.
New York Times: ($) by Emily Rourke. Online, .pdf, app.
New York Times Mini: by Joel Fagliano. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Crossword: Tuesday, January 10, 2023 by Wyna Liu. .pdf, online.
Newsday: Wintry by Billie Truitt. Online, .pdfbackup online.
The Telegraph: Cross Atlantic. Online.
Universal: Be in Touch by Drew Schmenner. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: Breaking Bad by Sara Cantor. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Juliana Tringali Golden. .pdf, online.
Vulture 10×10: The Veterinary Puzzle by Stella Zawistowski. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: Wurst Case Scenario by Gary Larson & Amy Ensz. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

Aries Puzzles: ($) Rows Garden #10.2 by Andrew J. Ries. Subscribe at link.
Garden Party: ($) Rows Garden #5.2 by Michael Blake. Subscribe at link.
Keynesian Cryptics: Cold War Chaos by Jack H Keynes. .pdf, online.
Monday Fills Acrostics: Acrostic 189 by Dave Murchie. .pdf, online.
Outside The Box: ($) Touchwords by Grant Fikes. Subscribe at link.
Outside The Box: ($) Rows Garden #8.17 by joon pahk. Subscribe at link.

Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,301 by Bobcat. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,963 by Brummie. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Serpent. .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

Monday, September 19, 2022

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

Bewilderingly: Throwing Spanners in the Works by Will Nediger. .puz, .pdf, online.
Crosshare Community: Daily Mini and Featured Puzzles.
The Daily Princetonian: Drift By My Window by Gabriel Robare and Juliet Corless. Online.
Grids These Days: Remedial Chaos Theory (Meta Suite) by Paolo Pasco. .puz, .pdf, online.
Jack Of All Squares: State of Limbo Vibes (Themeless #5) by Lyle Broughton. .pdf, online.
Jeff’s Puzzles: Themeless 38 by Jeff Linder. .puz, .pdf
Monday Fills: Here’s Your Change by Dave Murchie. .puz, .pdf, online.
QVXwordz: Five by Five #9 by Quiara Vasquez. .puz, .pdf, online.
Rossword Puzzles: Power Grid by Ross Trudeau. .puz, .pdf, online.
xwordswithbabka: Bread Week by Dan Schwartz. .puz, .pdf, online.

Atlas Obscura: Just Deserts by Brendan Emmett Quigley. .puz, .pdf, online.
Crossword Club: Daily Crossword: September 19, 2022 by Kate Chin Park. .pdf, online.
The Hub Crossword: ($) Going to Pieces by Joon Pahk. Patreon subscription.
Lil AVC X: ($) It’s Midterm Season by Emily Sharp. Subscribe at link.

The Atlantic Mini: by Paolo Pasco. .pdf, online.
Crosswords with Friends: by Stella Zawistowski. App Store | Google Play
Daily Beast: Arrr! by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
Daily POP Crosswords: by Beth Rubin. App Store | Google Play, online.
Los Angeles Times: by Katie Hale. Online, pdf. Free Cruciverb account for .puz.
LA Times Mini: by Elizabeth Gorski. Online.
New York Magazine: Please See Attached by Matt Gaffney. .pdf, online.
New York Sun: ($) Logic With Holes by Byron Walden. Reissues from 2002.
New York Times: ($) by Leslie Young and Andrea Carla Michaels. Online, .pdf, .puz, app.
New York Times Mini: by Joel Fagliano. Online, app.
The New Yorker: The Crossword by Elizabeth C. Gorski. .pdf, online.
Newsday: Going Up and Down by Doug Peterson. Online, .pdf, backup online.
Universal: RAsputin by Matthew Faiella. Online, pdf. .puz.
USA Today: First Contact by Li Ding. Online, .pdf, app.
Vox: by Patrick Blindauer. .pdf, online.
The Wall Street Journal: Pirate Program by Gary Larson. Online, .pdf. .puz.
Washington Post Daily Mini Meta: by Andrew White & Pete Muller. Online, .pdf.

A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog: Perplexing Pairs by Grant Fikes .pdf
Redhead64: Honeycomb 4 .pdf.
Steve’s Cryptic Crosswords: Puzzle 286 by Steve Townsend. Online.

Financial Times: FT Crossword: Number 17,203 by PETO. .pdf.
The Globe and Mail: The Daily Cryptic Crossword. .pdf, online.
The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 28,866 by Soup. .pdf, online.
The Independent: Cryptic Crossword by Lark. .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