August 25, 2023 - "Iron Crossword" (themeless) - Steve Mossberg and Chandi Deitmer, edited by Kim Vu

Difficulty ● ● ● ◐ ○

Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

We're excited to bring you a food-forward 68-worder today by Steve Mossberg and Chandi Deitmer, titled "Iron Crossword." They say it's "as hard as turning down a second helping of Bubbe's matzo ball soup" -- sounds tough, but delicious!

Chandi is a largely themed constructor who can only venture into themelesses if they make her hungry. In addition to crosswords, she enjoys eating her way through the world. She believes utensils are extraneous. Steve is known for cryptic crosswords, but considers himself far more knowledgeable about pizza. His puzzles have generated thousands of dollars in takeout revenue through the Mossberg-Grid-to-Uber-Eats pipeline. He believes napkins are optional.

Bon appétit,

the AVCX+ crew

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