Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

Hot new challenging puzzle from Erin Rhode this week! "Not Feeling Up to It" is 4/5 difficulty.

Meanwhile, former AVCX constructor and forever-friend Caleb Madison is editing a new puzzle over at the Atlantic. It's a free mini crossword that gets bigger and harder throughout the week. No themes, and great practice for beginners as well as a bite-sized challenge for puzzle veterans. All the puzzles live here.

Finally, some bragging on behalf of our authors: several AVCX constructors won or were nominated for honors at this year's Orca Awards, an annual contest run by the good folks at crosswordfiend.com (which is a great site that you should read regularly, if you're into puzzles, as you presumably are). Francis Heaney was nominated for Best Gimmick Crossword (twice! "Casting Call" and "Dude, Where's Your Karma?"), Jeff Chen was also nominated for Best Gimmick Crossword ("Equally Clear"), Byron Walden was nominated for Best Themeless ("AVCX Themeless #32"), and Francis Heaney WON Best Variety Crossword for his epic "The Maze Ruiner" (you can download any of these from avxwords.com if you missed them). Read the full Orca recap here.

Yours,

Ben and the AVCX crew

avxwords.com // @avcxword