Puzzle Notes

Dear solvers,

December can be a time of stress with gift buying and holiday travel, so we hope this cryptic from returning contributor Ryan Patrick Smith helps you turn your mind in a more peaceful direction.

Ryan loves to see how solvers respond to his work, so if you have a Twitch or YouTube channel where you play your puzzles, feel free to let him know on Twitter! And if you're curious to explore additional crosswords of his, cryptic or otherwise, he encourages you to stop by his free-to-play blog, Real Puzzling Stuff.

We'll be back in two weeks with the final AVCX+ cryptic of the year. Thanks for solving along with us!

Be well,
The AVCX Cryptic team