Puzzle Notes

Hi friends: 

Here's Brendan Emmett Quigley with "Confirmation Hearings" at 3/5 difficulty. Enjoy it!

Congratulations to solver Anne Weaver, randomly drawn winner from among 292 submissions for Francis's meta from last week. Anne wins a copy of Francis's new book, Mini Acrostics, which hits shelves on May 3. An explanation of the meta solution is included with this week's puzzle, or you can go to Crossword Fiend for a full write-up.

We're working on a BONNNNNUUUUUUSSSS puzzle for you, which should go out by this weekend. Hope to see some of you at the crossword tournament in Stamford!

Yours,

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