December 5, 2022 - "Must Be Exhausting" - May Huang, edited by Brooke Husic

Difficulty ● ◐ ○ ○ ○

Puzzle Notes

Dear friends:

May's final puzzle as a 2022 Lil AVC X roster member is a squiggly 17-long tribute called "Must Be Exhausting." One test solver who surprised themself by knowing the longest answer asked, "Does this mean I'm cool now?" We already thought they were cool, but also yes.

May says:

This feels like a very on-brand puzzle for me, and a fitting finale for my Lil AVC X roster year. (Though this puzzle was originally supposed to only have one clue about [redacted], I ended up writing four, which won't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me...)

I'm especially grateful to Brooke for suggesting 20-Across and coming up with such a cool grid shape for me to play with! This puzzle, like all the ones I've worked on this year, is better because of her, Chris, and Enrique. I'm grateful for their puzzle mentorship and for everyone who has solved my puzzles this year. I love this one and hope you will too!


Tomorrow night: a guest puzzle.

xoxo,

Brooke, Chris, Enrique & the expanded AVCX crew

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