Two things:
This weekend’s ACPT constructors have been announced: Tracy Bennett, Patrick Berry, Jeff Chen, Joel Fagliano, Paula Gamache, Lynn Lempel, Merl Reagle, and Byron Walden. Three eighths women—why, that’s just one person off from half. And hey, I work with three of these folks (Tracy, Patrick, and Lynn) on the Daily Celebrity Crossword. I look forward to seeing many of you at the tournament, and to seeing the crosswords these folks have made for us.
Peter Gordon’s got two indie puzzle projects. His Fireball puzzles, blogged at Fiend, are tough and typically either themeless or have near-ACPT-puzzle-#5-style tough themes. His other project, Fireball Newsflash, is relaunching for another year via Kickstarter, and it’s suitable for those who are more comfortable with Monday-to-Wednesday-NYT difficulty levels. No, really! Non-difficult puzzles from Peter Gordon do exist. They include a lot of topical material, so I like them for keeping up on current events (for the purposes of maintaining a good set of trivia knowledge!). In fact, I’m posting this link today rather than on Fireball Thursday because the Newsflash puzzles are good for Mondayers. (My only complaint is that they come out roughly every 2 weeks rather than weekly, and I would like to see one weekly.)