The Final Week In Crosswords

It’s time to move on. This quirky little feature has always been a little divergent from Diary‘s core content, and I feel like I’ve accomplished about as much with it as I can. I mean, the Taylor Swift lyric is the most-retweeted crossword-related comment again, and there’s only so much analysis to be made, there. Besides, I’ve got other stuff keeping me busy… but more about that after one more round of news.

Peter Gordon has a new slogan for his Kickstarter, which is 56.7% to its goal but has only 12 days to go at this writing. Come on, folks! Also campaigning for your dollars: Cryptic All-Stars, “a book of forty-five new variety cryptic crosswords constructed by some of the world’s best logophiles.”

The American Values Crossword Club brainstorms with Reddit.

Jim Horne throws himself a revealing press conference about XWord Info.

Solver of the week: the second-ever Wheel of Fortune millionaire. Speaking of Wheel, Vanna White just won a rather unusual honor.

App of the week: Astraware comes to Blackberry.

I know nothing about this Iranian film, which isn’t the only recent indie release to call itself Crossword, but maybe we’ll find out more now that it’s done the festival.

Cruciverbalist/magician/consultant/self-injurer David Kwong gives a video interview and print interview. The video only touches briefly on crossword design, but both interviews show off his intriguing personality and skill set.

Rich Norris, editor of the LA Times puzzle, gives a two-part interview here and here. A good summary for those who haven’t looked behind the scenes before.

Single ladies, if you see this non-bachelor on the prowl at the next crossword puzzle tournament, start a conversation with the person next to you, quick.

Ego-solve of the week: Serena McGovern feels famous.

Puzzle fans in Bristol have a job offer.

And where’s Will Shortz?: Alaska.

And where am I?

Starting June 6, you’ll be able to find a new daily cryptic crossword at my revised home site. The cryptics will interlock and join at the edges, and eventually the combined work will work out to be the Ubercross Cryptosaurus. I’ll have more announcements there in the coming days, including a brand-new crossword anthology, book signings and other events.

Thanks to Amy Reynaldo for taking a chance on this feature and the “Callin’ Them Squares” series before it, and to Will Shortz, Merl Reagle, Roy Leban, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Alex Boisvert, Tyler Hinman, Elizabeth Gorski, Dan Feyer, John Koehler and many others for their support. See you in the grid!