November 28, 2025 - "All Fired Up" (themeless) - Ryan McCarty, edited by Kim Vu

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Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

Today's AVCX+ themeless is a 66-word marvel by the great Ryan McCarty, sporting a huge central chasm and clever clues all over. It's titled "All Fired Up", and Ryan says its difficulty is "steamy, but manageable."

Ryan McCarty has written dozens of puzzles for various publications over the past decade, most of them wide-open themeless puzzles just like this one. When he's not busy being a dad (and it's busy!), Ryan works in technology consulting and sings as a baritone in several D.C. vocal ensembles.

Meanwhile, we've received more than 150 contest submissions for the brilliant "Ordered Takeout" variety puzzle by Quiara Vasquez. It's a toughie, but we think it's very rewarding to finish -- you've still got until Saturday evening if you'd like to submit. If you're looking for an easier meta jaunt, try our mini meta pack that you can get for free with a renewal of your AVCX subscription (or a gift sub to a friend!) through the end of the year. Just email freeminis@avxwords.com with the subject line "mini meta" to pick it up.

With gratitude,

the AVCX+ crew

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