Puzzle Notes

Hello, people who are still on the cryptic train with us! We've got a fab puzzle for you this week from our own Nate Cardin. Nate (he/him) is a SoCal high school chemistry teacher who is quite grateful to be on summer break. Today (July 18th) is his birthday(!), and he's excited to share this puzzle as a way to celebrate the day. You can find him on Instagram (@nate_cardin), Bluesky (@naytnaytnayt.bsky.social), and Amazon Prime (Seat 20 in Episode 4 of The 1% Club). He'll also be at this weekend's Boswords Summer Tournament and hopes to see you there!

In two weeks we've got a ***debut cryptic*** for you from one of our favorite crossword constructors, Ada Nicolle, so keep a little hype on hand for that. But now, enjoy!

-- Francis (and the AVCX cryptic crew)