Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

The AVCX has a tradition, now several years old, of running a winter holiday puzzle by Elizabeth Gorski -- this year we thought we'd change it up a bit and do something of a "Christmas in July" thing. So this week's jawn is a 5/5 difficulty, 21x21 puzzle called "Celebrity Crushes." (No holiday theme therein, just so you know). Always a pleasure to run work by Liz, one of the classiest people and constructors in the biz. Enjoy.

And a plug for some friends: Washington Post Magazine crossword constructor Evan Birnholz encourages you to check out Grids for Good, a collection of 42 crossword puzzles and variety puzzles to benefit COVID-19 charities and organizations battling against racial injustice. The set includes top-notch puzzles by 44 different constructors and some amazing artwork by the talented illustrator Charles Montpetit. Just donate at least $10 to a coronavirus charity or social justice organization of your choice and forward the receipt to gridsforgood@gmail.com, and the Grids for Good team will send you the puzzles as soon as they can. The collection also includes three meta puzzles which have a collective contest deadline of 11:59 pm Pacific Time on July 18; one random solver will win a swag bag from The Inkubator. Please visit gridsforgood.org for more information. And importantly, while they do encourage everyone to make a donation, solvers can still get the puzzle set even if they don't have the financial means to donate by sending an email to the group address, with no questions asked.

Be well,

Ben and the AVCX crew

avxwords.com // @avcxword