Puzzle Notes

Hi friends: 

Kameron Austin Collins, one of our new rotation members, has a themeless this week, the fifth we've ever run. It's rated 4.5/5. Next week's puzzle will be on the distinctly easy side (I wrote it).

The answer to last week's conundrum--the one we intended, anyway--was HARAM, meaning "forbidden," especially in the religious sense, in Arabic. Thanks to those who wrote to us or guessed elsewhere.

Oh, and good news! All of last year's weekly puzzles are now available in a bundle, for $10 right here, which also means that the 2014 bundle is now just $8, right here.

Later,

Ben and the AVCX crew [avxwords.com, @AVCXWord]