July 4, 2019 - "Color Bands" - by Allison Uttaro

Difficulty ● ● ◐ ○ ○

Puzzle Notes

Dearest friends,

The Inkubator wishes you a delightful Independence Day!

We can think of no better way to celebrate this banner occasion than by offering a thematically resonant and lovingly rendered 15 X 17 puzzle by debut constructor Allison Uttaro. While this puzzle appears in the early days of July, it billows with the energy and breezes of June's Pride celebrations. We think this puzzle will solve on the lighter side of very challenging.

Allison would like to introduce herself as follows:

I am a soccer fan (go USWNT!) and pediatric occupational therapist. I help kids from birth through age five meet their developmental milestones--like playing with peers, dressing themselves, and writing their names. I've been casually solving crosswords since high school, but I became really obsessed with solving and constructing about a year ago. Since then, I've discovered the crossword blogs, crossword twitter, and the invaluable Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory Facebook group. I'm so excited to make my constructing debut for such a wonderful and progressive outlet, and I can't thank Tracy and Laura enough for their help!

Allison is also one of the Inkubator's customer service reps! We are grateful for her expert help behind the scenes fielding questions about subscriptions and puzzle delivery.

When you're done solving, check out Diary of a Crossword Fiend for a write-up and discussion, every Friday after an Inkubator puzzle is published. For general updates, follow us on twitter at @InkubatorXWords, and visit our website. Thanks to all of our subscribers for your continuing support, feedback, and kindness!

Coming up next, on July 18, the inspired and inspiring Rachel Fabi offers us a sign of the times.

Until then... may the fourth be with you!
Laura and Tracy