AVCXpansion has launched! Following a successful Kickstarter, the regular AVCXword subscription (starting at $30/year) still brings you the regular weekly “classic” crossword and now includes all the additional expansion content: two midis, one (usually) themeless 15x crossword, one cryptic crossword, and one trivia game for three weeks each month. If you weren’t subscribed to the AVCX previously and may now be interested, the consensus from our end on everything so far is “total bangers.”
These Puzzles Fund Abortion Too is a pack of sixteen puzzles with reproductive and social justice content from an all-star lineup of constructors and editors to raise funds for the 2022 National Abortion Access Fund-A-Thon, building on a similar pack from last year. Led by Rachel Fabi, Claire Rimkus, and Brooke Husic, the fundraiser’s initial goal is to raise $35,000. All funds will be split equally among seven abortion funds. Donate here and your puzzle pack will be delivered by email in 1-3 days. A free companion puzzle, “Too Soon” and accompanying essay from Brooke is available now at Just Gridding!.
The Inkubator is open for submissions from women and nonbinary constructors for themed puzzles and theme queries until March 31.
Also, experienced women and nonbinary constructors who are interested in mentoring a new constructor on a themed puzzle are invited to express interest here.
For Women's History Month, The Washington Post is publishing a special collection of themed crosswords created entirely by women. The puzzles are edited by Patti Varol, creator of the Women of Letters collection. A new crossword will be published every Wednesday in March. The first one is Golden Girls by Zhouqin Burnikel.
Since the last News & Notes, Jackson Janes (2/8), Jack Joshi (2/8), August Miller (2/10), Alan Siegel (2/14), Aaron Rosenberg (2/17), Natalie Murphy (2/21), Rose Conlon (2/23), Zach Sherwin (2/28), Lisa Senzel (3/1) made their NYT debuts; Ada Nicolle (2/7) made her USA Today debut. Congrats to everyone! Find some more of their recent work that we enjoyed: Ada’s I’m With the Band, and Zach’s The Crossword Show.
Registration is open now for the Boswords 2022 Spring Themeless League, beginning March 7 (this coming Monday). Competitors solve a new puzzle each week from a variety of constructors with three difficulty levels. The pre-season puzzle by John Lieb and the February 28 Twitch stream are available now.
Registration also remains for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT, at the beginning of April, the first in-person meeting of a major tournament since (I believe) Lollapuzzoola 12 in August 2019.
Acrostic puzzles have been a long standing feature at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as well as the indie site Monday Fills. Now, thanks to the Acrostic Machine, one of many construction tools available from Crossword Nexus and Kotwords, more indie acrostics are gaining popularity.
For would-be acrostic creators, Alex Boisvert published “How to Make An Acrostic Puzzle” on YouTube, a detailed walkthrough using the Acrostic Machine.
Several blogs have taken advantage of these improved acrostic building tools and infused their puzzles with a strong indie vibe. Our recent favorites include License and Registration, Please by meatdaddy69420, Inanimate Objects by JibbyMax, The Thin Mantine by Alex Boisvert, Happy Women’s History Month and Happy Black History Month, both by Kelsey Dixon and Kate Chin Park, Bearing Fruit by Dob and Momes, and The Noblest Profession by Christian Legge.
Three bits of crptic news:
The Browser has drawn on Stella Zawistowski’s #CrypticClueADay to add a clue-by-clue game:
If Stella’s weekly cluing contests on Twitter aren’t enough for you, 1Across has also spun up a weekly contest: the latest to join and vote is here.
Matt Gaffney recently appeared on The Anthony Davis Show, where he talked all things crosswords with podcaster Rob Milazzo.