PUZZLE #97: Themeless 31 (with erik agard!)

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

collab season continues apace! feeling lowercase vibes for this post in honor of this week's co-constructor, who you might recognize from editing the USA Today/solving faster than humanly possible/being on the whole one of the nicest and most talented people in crosswords. this site owes many many things to him, so this was, to say the least, a great moment and an immensely fun collab. more from erik below!

what can i say about paolo that isn't already being said hundreds of years in the future by the puzzle historians teaching courses on his work? maybe just that i look up to him for being one of the most grounded, consistently kind people i've met. i'm thankful for the chance to write some clues for this puzzle and i hope i did it justice.

thanks to david gold, adam aaronson and ada nicolle for test solving; hope you enjoy the puzzle!

PUZZLE #96: Themeless 30 (with Kate Leiserson!)

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PUZ
SOLUTION to the last puzzle

Another collab! This time with Kate (i.e. kateschmate of crosswords schmosswords), who's been using her site to publish a series of what we at Grids These Days call "bangers." Many thanks to Kate for her fun/fresh/thoughtful work on this puzzle—she's a joy to work with, and it shines through in the puzzles she has a hand in (when I opened the file she sent on my phone, there were clues that made me stop mid-walk and say "oh wow"). More from Kate:

What has two thumbs and doesn't mind using them to poke at crossword legends on Twitter and ask for a collab?! I like to think that our collective work on this puzzle was what in the woodworking world we call "a good fit" (technical term). This is like the ball pit of grids - working on it was pure fun. I'm so chuffed having had the chance to work with Paolo, and I hope the result is a delight for solvers!

Thanks to Kate for everything (and Ada for test solving)! Hope you enjoy!