Crossworld News and Notes, Mid-March 2022
New editors at the LAT and more
Congratulations to Patti Varol, who has been named the new Editor of the L.A. Times Crossword, and to Christina Iverson as the new Assistant Editor. To have one of the country’s most prominent puzzles (the L.A. Times puzzle is widely syndicated, including in the Washington Post) run by two women is welcome, welcome news to the crossword ecosystem. Patti reports on Twitter that “her” puzzles begin on 18 April. (“I think you’ll be able to tell, even without the byline.”)
Registration remains open for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT the first weekend in April. Register for the in-person event or for the virtual version. The whole Daily Crossword Links team will be there — be sure to say hi!
These Puzzles Fund Abortion Too is a pack of sixteen fantastic 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!.
While you’re at Just Gridding, check out the new “Just the Grid” open for crowdsourced clues until March 25. This is the fifth edition of this collaborative construction project, and each one is an opportunity for new and experienced constructors alike to practice and experiment with cluing.
Three must-reads from the last bit addressing diversity in crosswords:
Portia Lundie wrote an essay for The Washington Post titled, “I’m a Black woman who creates crossword puzzles. That’s rare, but it shouldn’t be.”
Erica Hsiung Wojcik wrote an essay for The New York Times titled, “My Journey to Making a Crossword Puzzle That Looks Like Me.”
Shreya Ramachandran composed a Twitter thread that discusses the caste system and its inclusion in a recent crossword.
Will Shortz, New York Times crossword editor, recently appeared on Spectacular Vernacular with Ben Zimmer and Nicole Holliday, where he discussed how he got started as a professional puzzler, shared his thoughts on puzzling in pandemic times, and provided a little ACPT preview. Listen on Slate or wherever you get your podcasts.
Since the last News & Notes, Sam Acker (3/7), Stephen Hiltner (3/14), and Joseph Gangi (3/16) made their NYT debuts; Zaneb Akbar (3/7) and Mikkel Snyder made their USA Today debuts. Congrats to everyone! Find some more of their recent work that we enjoyed: Sam’s “I Can’t Be Seen” at Fireball (3/2/22), Zaneb’s “idk” at zinna mon (3/2/22), Mikkel’s 7x (9/23/21).
Patrick Berry has released a new puzzle suite. “Heavy Meta” consists of nine meta crosswords and a bonus supersized Trail Mix puzzle at his site, A Frame Games. Across all varieties of puzzle, Patrick is a virtuoso, and I don’t need to solve the puzzles before telling you they (and any past and future suites on his site) are worth your money and time. Available for purchase here.
“Toward a New Understanding of the Honeypot Puzzle Fragments” is a compact zine of crossword puzzles and a work of historical fiction by Parker Higgins and Ross Trudeau. The 12 puzzles within are indie crosswords with a modern voice and a twist that fans of the New York Times Spelling Bee will love. Pre-order on Kickstarter.
Several constructors and puzzle makers are participating in Enigmarch, in which they share one puzzle per day. They include all types of puzzles and games and many of the puzzlemakers are following a series of prompts. Most of the puzzles are being posted for free on Twitter using #enigmarch.
The New York Sun, former home of Peter Gordon-edited puzzles, has revived their crossword and at the moment is running old puzzles from 2002. They’re rolled in with other benefits in the Sun’s second paywall tier, and can be found here.
The community at Crosshare.org continues to grow, as do the features. It’s easier than ever to follow individual constructors, there are tons of puzzles each day, and the community has started organizing midi construction challenges at its Discord community. To be honest, it probably deserves more than a small blurb like this - we’ll get cracking.
We recently added the Fordham Observer’s daily minis and roughly biweekly 15x15s to our list. We figure there must be more university newspaper puzzles out there and are eager to include them. Let us know!