PUZZLE #100: Remedial Chaos Theory

Happy Puzzle #100! I wanted to get this milestone right, so I spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas. Unfortunately, I ended up with six puzzles I liked a lot and no way to choose between them. So, I gave each puzzle a number, rolled a die, and decided to publish the puzzle whose number came up.

I rolled a three, so here's the puzzle I chose; thanks to David Gold for testing! The meta answer is a word associated with chaos.

PUZZLE #99: Unleash the Beast! (by Chandi Deitmer!)

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

If anything was going to wake this site up from its long-dormant state, it would be a tweet like this:

Anyone feel like hosting a very silly puz I wrote ages ago? Will make zero sense unless obsessed with arrested development

— chandzzz (@CDeitmer) April 15, 2022

So, I'm excited to bring you a guest puzzle by Chandi Deitmer, who you may recognize from her bylines in all types of outlets that sell good puzzles. She's one of the best in the business right now IMO (this from Crucinova, this from the NYT, and her Boswords joint are all what I would call "absolute heaters"), so it's an honor to be hosting the puzzle. Arrested Development-heads... this is our time.

And, some words from Chandi!

I have been a fan of paolo's work since basically knowing crosswords are in the world, so it is very very special to be hosted on GTD today! this is also a helpful way to cope with the fact that he moved away from cambridge and I no longer have the chance of randomly running into him. (did I run into him ever? no I did not, but there was always the POSSIBILITY.) a hearty congratulations to the new grad, and a big thanks for his kindness in hosting this very silly puzz and offering his keen editing eye 👀👀. 

on a very personal, soul-bearing note, my favorite moment in all of culture is when Michael says to Gob, "Forgot you were married? Quick, Gob, what's her name?!?!?" and he responds with ... "Crindy!" 

happy solve, ya nice nerds!

PUZZLE #98: "Do They Come In Other Styles?" (I Think You Should Theme)

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

crosswords + i think you should leave = i think you should theme. Think of them as Grid Charlemagnes for people who do not listen to Steely Dan so much but watch "I Think You Should Leave" a fair amount. Thanks Ada for coming up with the "I Think You Should Theme" title.

A few other items of interest:

• I was lucky enough to collaborate with Megan Amram on a puzzle for the New Yorker's first-ever Cartoons and Puzzles issue. Early reviews say it's "impossible," but maybe it won't be impossible for you. 
• You seen this Kickstarter? Pretty cool. I'd fund it if I were you.

Happy solving,

Paolo

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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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!

PUZZLE #95: Themeless 29

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle

Quick post—lotsa crossword news going on, really sweet overall! 66 words, 0 themes, hope you enjoy!

-Paolo

P.S. Excited as always to have today's 7xwords puzzle!

PUZZLE #94: Themeless 28

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SOLUTION to the last puzzle (+ explanation of the meta)

There's a full writeup (in the link above to avoid spoilers in case anyone's still working on it). Thanks to everyone who submitted, and everyone who sent kind words in your answer emails—it always means a lot. Out of 50 entries, the randomly selected winner is Malaika "7x7 overlord" Handa! Congrats to Malaika, and everyone who solved!

And, an announcement: I'm excited to be joining the Atlantic puzzles team as assistant crossword editor! What does that mean for the future of this site? Who knows, really. Free time's going to be a big limiting factor, but my goal is to keep posting for a little while, since (a) I have a lot of unclued grids I'm sitting on, and (b) I just wanna get to Puzzle #100. 

Big-stacks themeless today. Hope you enjoy!

-Paolo