Puzzle Notes

Hello, folks! This week we've got a lovely cryptic for you from our good pal and yours, Trip Payne. Trip's been making puzzles professionally since 1983, he's currently the co-editor of the app Crosswords With Friends, and his Twitter handle is @PuzzleTrip. (I personally recommend this thread, and can promise that today's puzzle will be more interesting than the one described in it.)

Next week we'll have a puzzle from John Halpern, sending us his considerable constructing chops from across the pond (where he is known by several cryptic pseudonyms). And of course AVCX+ is up tomorrow as usual!

So long and flexible in a way, as I've heard (3) --

-- Francis (and the AVCX Cryptic crew)