Obviously this is a big step up for me, which I'm sure everyone is excited to see. The issue is, how much time will I want to devote to QVXwordz now that I have an entire crossword outlet all to myself, one where I am producing basically-weekly content? Does my posting schedule (erratic as it currently is) need to shift to accommodate Crucinova's Thursday grid drops? Do I exclusively produce weekly minis at this point? Do I pivot to just posting monthly themelesses a la Husic? How often can I post on QVX without totally burning out on puzzles (since, of course, I still make grids on spec behind the scenes, as well as for Crossword Club)? These are the questions that ran through my brain as we finalized the handover, and I still don't have answers for them.
In any case, I would encourage anyone who's enjoyed QVXwordz' offerings over the past two years to get a Crucinova subscription, if you don't have one already, since that's not merely the best way to get puzzles with the Quiara Touch(tm), but also a pretty solid way to support both me and several indie constructors financially (because constructor rates at Crucinova are directly pegged to the number of subscribers we have). And of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't say, if you are even remotely interested in making grids that are weird and exciting, which stretch the limits of AmuseLabs - for the love of god, reach out to me!! I am working on a new spec sheet for Crucinova to put up on the site in 2023, but for now please just hit me up via e-mail with literally any questions or pitches you have.
Anyway: November was a pretty good month for indies, I'd say. (And maybe for mainstream puzzles too? I'll be honest, I was kind of slacking on mainstream fare this month.) Anyway, let's take a peek at some of my favorite grids of the month. As always, spoilers abound, so consider clicking the links *before* you read my thoughts. Opinions under the cut...
Nov. 2: galaxy brain (Carter, Completing the Square)
Carter's talent for finding brilliant stacks of 11s is almost unrivaled among the indie space - this puzzle is loaded with incredible entries like CHESS ENGINE, HIGH AS A KITE, and I SHIT YOU NOT, and more impressively the bottom stack is crossed by both halves of COMIC/CON, clued with a tight cross-reference.
But this puzzle is also worth solving so that afterwards, you can read Carter's explanation on how to wrangle such a nice grid out of Crossfire - there's actually a really weird trick involving alternate wordlists containing numbers that kind of blew my mind! Taming unruly construction software is a skill I've never had the patience to learn, but perhaps you all would like to give it a try?
Nov. 3: Streaming Artists (Brendan Emmett Quigley, BEQ)
I mean, c'mon. You know me. It's a puzzle with MICHELLE BRANCH in it. I love Michelle Branch. Do the math.
I think there are probably hotter takes than "Michelle Branch is the country-pop-folk-indie-rock multigenre megawatt talent that a certain other artist I could name can only feint at being, and whose relative lack of fame two decades into her career is a consequence of putting adherence to a genuine rock'n'roll ethos before corporate calculation and personal brand-building." I mean, that's too many words, and Swiftie hate is sort of passe at this point. So pretend I said something mean about that aggressively mid Carly Rae Jepsen record whose title I didn't think was worth remembering instead.
Nov. 13: The Inflation Reduction Act (Lila Goldenberg & Ross Trudeau, Rossword Puzzles)
Even if this puzzle had nothing else going for it, it would be making an appearance in this write-up off the back of the inclusion of P-FUNK ALL STARS in the theme set, clued beautifully as [Clinton backers of the 1980s?] ... but when you put it opposite PENN AND TELLER in a puzzle, as part of a VANISHING COIN theme (as in, the themers begin PENNY, PENN, PEN, PE, and P, ohoho), I can't help but applaud. This slick set puts enough constraints on the grid that we don't get a lot of bonus content on the downs, but the fill is of course loaded with typically excellent clues, such as [Only one rule?] for TYRANNY.
Nov. 14: Themeless Monday #697 (Brendan Emmett Quigley, BEQ)
The shape on this one, with 9x3 stacks in each corner, instantly stands out, as do such fun entries as DENIM TUXEDO and DAK PRESCOTT. But something subtler but quite impressive is how this grid stacks entries like LAWN DARTS on top of FLOWER BUD, or AGGRESSOR atop GUERRILLA, lending a bit of thematic consistency to each quadrant. (And inviting you to create your own story of fatal intrigue with the stack of HOTEL BARS, I'M AN IDIOT, and VEHICULAR.)
The Crossword, Wednesday, November 16, 2022 (Erik Agard, The New Yorker)
Guys, I can't be 100% sure about this, but I think 18-Across in this grid - [Statement that should set off one's bullshit detector] - is the first ever clue in a mainstream, daily-ish puzzle to have one of the Seven Dirty Words in it. At least, I've never noticed that in any non-cryptic New Yorker grid before this one, and I can't imagine the Gray Lady doing it.
Nov. 18: Four Score (Jasper Davidoff, Pocket Squares)
Jasper's blog has been quite consistently excellent these past few months, and this puzzle is I think his best so far. The premise of this one is very single - each quadrant of the grid has CUT CORNERS (that is to say, a word or phrase meaning "cut" along each edge). In practice this is simply an excellent themeless with a good stack in each corner, with excellent content both on-theme (CHOP CHOP, SNIP SNAP) and off (SAY HER NAME, LOVER ERA, and ATHEISTS clued as [Some who say "God, no!"?]) - it's a cut above (ha ha) most themelesses, to say nothing of themed puzzles of this ilk.
Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022 (Pao Roy, New York Times)
This puzzle's theme isn't breaking any ground, particularly in the NYT, which has had several puzzles just this year that have been based around the conceit that lowercase Is have dots on top of them (see also the puzzle from Will Shortz in September with the revealer DOT DOT DOT). But the execution here is so beautiful that it elevates this well above "been there done that" ho-hummery:
- There are only seven Is in the entire grid, all of which are dotted
- the DOT squares are represented by periods rather than rebus squares, which is always a nice touch
- the seven DOTs are all actual DOTs (in phrases like POLKA [DOT] DRESSES and [DOT] COM CRASH rather than, e.g., [DOT]HEY REALLY? or ANEC[DOT]ALLY)
- most cleverly, the first themer is at 10-Across, where it's clued as [And so on] - which makes you think, "sure, this is ETC," and then when you return later and realize the answer is [DOT][DOT][DOT] you have an "oho" moment
Just really great work. And this isn't even acknowledging the sheer joy of seeing HORNY and WEIRD AL in a grid! God bless Pao.
Nov. 26: Pretty Sus (Thomas Gustafson, Spyscape)
It's not a secret that crossword editors are, as a group, pretty old, and with a rather dated set of reference points they're willing to which makes it all the more thrilling to see a (relatively) mainstream outlet do a puzzle like this one. Yes, it's an "amogus"-themed puzzle - remember Among Us? - with an absolutely adorable conceit: you have to figure out who the impostor is by figuring out which color couldn't complete any of the theme entries. (For instance, SCREEN is clued as [With one of two colors, movie effects backdrop], which clears the blue and green CREWMATEs from suspicion.) It's one of the exciting perks of an outlet where an under-20 constructor can be published by an under-40 editor, that we get formally inventive puzzles like this.
Also, in the spirit of zoomers talking about "amogus," here is a clip of Mattea "Floppy Hands" Roach saying "what is sus?" on national television.
Nov. 28: Cross Birds (Dan Schwartz, xwords with babka)
I was going to pull out the adjective "Reaglesque" for this one, but realized, no, that's hyperbolic for a puzzle with this (perfectly normal but not overstuffed) level of theme density. But perhaps you can see why Merl came to mind on this puzzle, which on paper has a relatively lax theme (it's bird puns) but is just such a wildly charming solve in terms of both theme and non-theme content that I couldn't help but smile. Dan's voice is loud and clear and funny, and even such simple touches as cluing FETE not as [Party] but as [Party!!] amuse me. I'm also giving Dan credit for making, as far as I'm aware, the first ILE clue which references the singer from Calle 13. (OK, after some googling, a Brooke Husic USA Today jawn from seven months ago had an iLe shout-out. Still, no shame in being #2. And I bet USA Today hasn't done a Public Enemy fill-in-the-blank clue!! Schwartz 1, Agard 0.)
Nov. 29: Freestyle 767 (Tim Croce, Club 72)
I'll admit that Croce puzzles can be a bit of an acquired taste on account of their difficulty, but Tim's a brilliant constructor, and a deeper dive into this puzzle can be helpful for constructors trying to ape his style. Two key takeaways from this grid: first, note that the most risque entry in the grid (SEXMOBILE) has a squeaky-clean clue surface in [Car that you may go for a ride in?], while the most risque clue in the grid - [Something to take your junk out to] - is in fact a perfectly innocent definition for SEA. The contrast between those two clue/entry pairs ends up making both clues' misdirections stronger, imo.
But on a more structural level, what I dig about this grid is that on the whole, the long entries here are fun but extremely normal dictionary words (BLUEBERRY! ALCOHOL! CANOODLE!) clued very colorfully, while the short fill is relatively exotic (see the SE with WIIUS and T-ZONE crossing WTF and GIZA) but clued mostly straightforwardly. This is, I think, what makes Tim's themelesses so unique. Not to pit indie stalwarts against each other, but compare/contrast this Croce joint with Matthew Luter's weekly Tuesday puzzle from the same day. I mean, don't get it twisted, that's a great grid too, but the excitement in the LuterCross puzzle is situated in that excellent quintet of interlocked spanners, and the shorter entries are by necessity yoked to them. Not so with the Croce - the "glue" here is not "glue" so much as it is, like, raspberry jam, and the long entries are blueberry. I think. This metaphor is really getting away from me.
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