Puzzle Notes

Dear friends,

Classic's final puzzle of 2024 is from Maddy Ziegler. It's called "Loafing" at 2/5 difficulty. Maddy Ziegler is a lawyer from Madison, WI whose interests include trying and failing to meet her Goodreads reading goals, buying more than she has shelf space for during Criterion Collection flash sales, and leaving Christmas decorations up until February. She is delighted to kick off 2025 with a rule-breaking puzzle she hopes you enjoy.

Thanks to the roughly 250 folks who submitted correct answers to last week's holiday meta from Francis Heaney. The solution to their puzzle (including the meta) is attached. Congratulations to Brad Hoot and Amy Bemis, whose names were drawn at random from among the correct submissions, and who each win their choice of a prize. Thanks and great work to all who solved and submitted.

Last thing, it's with great happiness and gratitude that we announce here, in our final missive of the year, that we have met our subscription drive goal! That means all the AVCX features will be alive for another year, with only some minimal scheduling changes. It's really a testament to your generosity that we got here, and it's a huge deal not only that we'll get to continue making puzzles, but also that we'll be able to continue mentoring and paying people a truly decent rate, even in an independent framework. THANK YOU. From the survey last summer to your support these past couple of months, it was our solvers who made this possible. We're looking forward to another great year to come, which feels awesome to say.
Yrs,
Ben and the expanded AVCX crew


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