In addition to Patrick Blindauer’s new Kickstarter for an easy weekly crossword (a $29 pledge gets you a year of Piece of Cake puzzles; bigger pledges add on Patrick’s Puzzlefest puzzle suites, private lessons in making crosswords, etc.), there are a couple other puzzle ventures I want to mention. Kickstarter projects have deadlines! There are 16 days to go on this one.
First up is Eric Berlin’s Puzzle Your Kids, which offers assorted pencil puzzles for kids age 9 and up. You can subscribe for 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year. With the holiday shopping season coming up, this is a great gift for your kids, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, or any other kids you want to spoil with some brainy fun. (Eric’s PYK project began with a Kickstarter, too.)
Next, there’s a Kickstarter for a humor magazine with a crossword by Joon Pahk’s buddy, Matt Matera. The magazine is called The American Bystander, and issue 3’s contributors include Mallory Ortberg (my favorite!), Merrill Markoe, cartoonist Gahan Wilson, poet Billy Collins, and more. The Kickstarter deadline here is in just 4 days!