February 25, 2022 - "Causing a Ruckus" (themeless) - Yacob Yonas, edited by Quiara Vasquez
Difficulty ● ◐ ○ ○ ○
Puzzle Notes
Dear Friends:Today's AVCX+ is an easy-breezy themeless from Yacob Yonas, titled "Causing a Ruckus" and pegged at a 1.5/5 difficulty. Yacob is a software engineer based in NYC. He's been constructing crosswords for publication since 2018. His work has been featured in the New York Times many times, and today's puzzle is his AVCX debut. When he's not constructing crosswords or writing code, he enjoys all things basketball (playing, watching, reading about it).
Yes, you read that right -- at just 1.5/5 difficulty, this is by far the gentlest themeless AVCX has ever published. Not all themelesses have to be hard to be fun! If you've been hesitant to dip your toes into the wonderful world of freestyle crosswords, consider Yacob's puzzle your friendly first. Or share it with a special someone you still love despite their reluctance to solve puzzles with you. (For the brain-bender fans out there, don't worry... next week's AVCX+ is sure to challenge.)
One last thing: the goggle-clad scientists at AVCX+ Laboratories have asked us to run a little experiment this week. We're providing as attachments your usual color and inksaver PDF puzzle files, but today they are in two distinct layouts: one version has clues arranged in 3 vertical columns, and the other has clues in 5 columns. If you have a preference for one layout over the other, let us know via this 30-second survey. You can also email us directly with any kind of feedback at plus@avxwords.com.
Cheers,
Quiara, Sid, Max, Chris & the expanded AVCX crew
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