NYT 9:28 (Amy)    (4.23 avg; 40 ratings)
LAT 8:05 (Andy)    (3.35 avg; 10 ratings)
Reagle 12:50 (Sam)    (4.17 avg; 12 ratings)
Hex/Hook 9:23 (pannonica)    (4.00 avg; 1 rating)
CS 18:19 (Ade)    (3.67 avg; 9 ratings)

Three announcements:

• Lollapuzzoola 8 is on 8/8 (my parents engraved their anniversary date inside their wedding bands—that “8-8-64” may have been my first exposure to square number math) in NYC. Visit BeMoreSmarter.com for registration and more details. I’ve signed up for the At-Home Division for $10, cheap! Extra bonus: Ben Tausig’s putting together a booklet of sample puzzles from a zillion (give or take a few) indie vendors, so in-person Lolla attendees will have lots of puzzles to take home.
• Victor Barocas has a Kickstarter for “Ada Cross, Crossword Detective.” Backers will get eight stories (in 48 installments) and 40 crosswords with meta answers. Illustrations by Across and Down’s Hayley Gold! Looks like a lot of fun. In under a week, Victor’s already more than half way to the pledge goal.
• I will be taking a few weeks off from Diary of a Crossword Fiend, starting Wednesday. Scheduled for a kidney transplant next Thursday! Thanks in advance to everyone on Team Fiend—they’ll be covering all the usual puzzles while I’m recuperating.

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