Category Archives: Events

Puzzlehunt-makers are rolling out some special projects to get the drop on the new year. Andrew J. Ries has announced a crossword-heavy “Metapuzzle 2012” on his site, but its release schedule says 2013 to me. If you like your puzzlehunts … Continue reading →

The news cycle is beginning its annual hibernation. In the world of light, human-interest stories, you can expect to hear about nothing but Christmas, New Year’s, year-end reviews and the Mayapocalypse, so it’s tempting to conclude that crossword news is … Continue reading →

Ben Tausig’s already-linked piece on the economics of the crossword business is must reading for anyone who wants to understand the current state of the industry. Related: be careful sharing ideas for puzzles on social media… The boy genius of … Continue reading →

With 110 potential buyers for the Hostess brands, it is likely that the ultra-Scrabbly SUZY Q’S will live on to populate an avant-garde puzzle or three in 2013. So relax. More seriously, the week’s been marked by some interesting new … Continue reading →

Cover the crossword beat enough and you will get a bit jaded. It’s like grey hairs. It just happens. So while Twitter is very excited about this New York Times video covering the creation of crossword puzzles, this writer’s more … Continue reading →

The week’s juiciest items read like the sequel to last week’s. The newly-renamed American Values Crossword succeeded in raising enough money for its next year of life, with the help of some mainstream media coverage and a little boost from … Continue reading →

Miss the Onion AV Club crossword? So do its former contributors, who’ve launched a Kickstarter to bring it back to life as an independent feature. This deserves your support. Deb Amlen announced a new look for the New York Times … Continue reading →

Taylor Swift’s “Red” has broken music sales records, so it’s kind of hard to get away from her lyric, “Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there’s no right answer.” Everyone on Twitter seems to … Continue reading →

“Drop the crossword puzzle and go outside, you old nerds, before your brains fall out through your ears,” said the Wall Street Journal and Daily Mail. All right, I’m paraphrasing, but only slightly. Many news outlets ran with a study … Continue reading →

Congratulations to Mark Goodliffe, who set a new record this weekend with five consecutive wins at the London Times cryptic crossword tournament… then just about finished another puzzle while waiting for Jason James to come in second.