Puzzle Notes

Yes, it may be a quiet week here at the ol' AVCXpansion, but nonetheless we over at AVCX Cryptic headquarters have got you covered with another bonus mini cryptic from Stella Zawistowski. As with the last one, you have the option of the normal version of the puzzle, a hinty version in which the type of wordplay used is indicated, and another hinty version in which the definition and wordplay sections of each clue are indicated.

We also have some other big news: as we just announced on the @AvcxCryptic Twitter feed, we are now open for submissions! Our process is a little idiosyncratic (but then, is there anything about cryptics that isn't idiosyncratic?): for instance, we do not want you to send us crosswords. Instead, we want to see a small set of your best clues. You can read all the details here (and big thanks to Stella for drafting these guidelines). For now, we plan to be open for submissions until at least May 15, and depending on the volume of submissions, we may stick with that or we may just keep submissions open indefinitely. We'll see! For now, enjoy this li'l cryptic.

"Believe" singer's taking Ecstasy? I'll drink to that (6) --

-- Francis (and the AVCX Cryptic crew)