PUZZLE #62: "I Don't Do Crosswords" (and Book Announcement!)

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Hello!

Coming to you with some exciting news: I've been working on a book, "Crossword Puzzles for Kids," which is coming out June 30! It's a full book of easy crosswords with kid-friendly themes, perfect for introducing kids to crosswords. I solved my first crossword at 13 and was hooked ever since, so this topic is close to my heart—if this helps even one person get into puzzles like I did, that makes it all worth it. The preorder link is up now, and it would mean a lot if you got a copy for the puzzle-hungry 9-12 year-olds (or really precocious 0-8 year-olds (or bored 13-99 year-olds)) in your life.

If you're a regular solver on this site, though, these puzzles are going to be easy in comparison. My suggestion? Try speedrunning the entire book—the puzzles are entry-level enough that experienced solvers can breeze through them no problem. Who knows, I might even give a prize to the fastest documented speedrun. Or, solve at your own pace! Lord knows we need diversions nowadays.

Anyway, 16x15 puzzle! Think I've used the same revealer type before, but I liked the theme too much to pass it up. Hope you enjoy it too!

-Paolo

PUZZLE #61: Pair Programming (with Brooke Husic)

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

lowercase post! feels right, since we got a chiller puzzle with a more freewheeling cluing vibe. very excited to run this puzzle, not in the least because this is a collab with brooke husic! you might know her from her excellent USA Today crosswords, or the equally-excellent work she's done on recent indie puzzle bangers. in either case, this puzzle came together within a twelve-hour period, from theme conception to clues. i'm honored to run it here—not only is brooke insanely talented at every stage of the crossword constructing process (if you like a clue, she wrote it), but she's dang fun to collaborate with too.

and, from brooke!
paolo asked me what time zone i was in, presumably to give me the benefit of the doubt because my messages were arriving at odd hours. turns out they're still odd hours even with the europe correction. this came together after PP found the circled words in 11-across following an appropriately topical exam. building this together felt like speed chess during filling and was the most fun i've had on a google doc, possibly ever, during cluing. stay tuned for more from this byline.

hope you enjoy!

p.s. follow brooke on twitter (@brookehus @xandraladee)