Crosswords and comments on the puzzleverse x data science
Today brings you a surprise puzzle titled “Booo!!!” that has something ghostly going on. Don’t worry, though, this treat isn’t tricky, only lightly themed. If you love video games and horror, I hope you enjoy what this puzzle has to offer!
Note: Check out the pdf and solution for the full grid art experience. 👻👻👻
We’re back again with a tricky Datalexic puzzle that kindly asks you to take a “Vision Test”! I hope this crossword brings a smile to your face, and reminds you to schedule your annual eye exam. I also suggest solving on paper or in the Crossword Nexus solver (either embedded or here) for… reasons.
The year so far has been busy with crossword adventures. The AVCX expansion is going strong, and I’ve been loving the experience of editing puzzles for Lil AVC X that showcase the voice and uniqueness of a variety of constructors. The Spread the Wordlist project also continues, albeit with a quarterly update now. Our goal is to continue growing the list so that it eventually passes the marker of 100K high quality answers (we’re currently at just over 90K). Onward!
It’s time to “Place Your Bets” with this tricky puzzle, as we kick off 2022 at Datalexic — hope you enjoy the theme and grid, especially all the bonus answers I was excited to fit in! And with that…
This year marks a change at Datalexic: the monthly crossword series I’ve loved putting out into the world has reached its conclusion, and will be replaced by unscheduled updates. Last year was an enormous growth period for me as a crossword person, and between new editing (Lil AVC X), construction (USA Today), and open source (Spread the Wordlist) work, I have a lot on my plate and want to ensure that the offerings here don’t dip in quality nor become a burden. I look forward to sharing the occasional special crossword that’s very “me” and might not fit elsewhere, like tricky puzzles, themeless experiments, etc.
I appreciate everyone who has subscribed and/or solved over the past two years. And know that this isn’t the end — you’ll be seeing another new crossword here before too long!
It’s the last puzzle of the year at Datalexic, so prepare to go “Circling Back” on a loop-de-loop ride in this tricky offering! I’m really happy with the wacky theme and the vibe I was able to get on the clues this time. Delving into more interesting cluing angles that speak to me has been a journey, as I’ve always focused first on accuracy and accessibility; I hope I was able to deliver on both here.
Some news: I had another New York Times crossword published a couple of days ago! Read more about it on that day’s Wordplay column, which itself mentions a fun announcement: The AVCX, an indie crossword publication that I love—and which gave me my start as a constructor—is expanding its offerings! The Kickstarter is now live, so go check it out and snap up some rewards. I’m honored to play a part in helping more constructors get their puzzles in front of a wider audience, and I hope the crossword community enjoys these new creations.
See you next year, with some changes as well to the monthly offering here… Stay tuned!
It’s time for another themed puzzle collab, this time served up “Animal Style” with the triple threat Steve Mossberg of Square Pursuit who’s equally adept at making themed, themeless, and cryptic crosswords. He’s an absolute joy to collab with, and bouncing ideas around for this theme set was especially silly and fun. Please enjoy!
And now a note from Steve: I’m thrilled to back here on the blog with a collab this time! Enrique is one of my favorite people to make puzzles with. It’s a blast knocking theme ideas around together, and I love connecting with him over nerdy fill and cluing angles. I hope this one’s as fun for everybody else as it was for us to make.
As we enter the fall season, Datalexic is getting some decorative gourds ready while providing your regularly scheduled puzzle—this time we’re “Shifting the Burden” around for a slightly tricky theme. Hopefully this crossword isn’t a burden to solve, and you get a few laughs out of it. Enjoy!
Coming at you this month with a themed puzzle that asks you to “Take Two” and also a big announcement: this puzzle was exclusively filled (outside of theme entries) with the brand new wordlist from Spread the Wordlist!
Brooke Husic (who also test solved today’s puz) and I are happy to announce the release of Spread the Wordlist, which we’ve been developing over the past half year: a free wordlist primarily intended for new constructors. We feel that wordlist acquisition and curation is a major bottleneck for constructors, and current options cost money and/or require a fairly developed voice to use. Our primary goal is make it easy for new constructors to cleanly fill early week themed puzzles, and a secondary goal is to provide a useful wordlist for all constructors to mix and match with other resources in whatever way they choose.
Check it out at spreadthewordlist.com, and go forth and write amazing crossword puzzles!
It’s time to get medieval on these puzzles with today’s silly themed offering! If you haven’t been to the Medieval Times dinner theater show, it’s quite an… experience. This theme idea came from a reimagining of what it might look like with bigger dramatic hitters. Hope you enjoy!
On this month of Bastille Day, I have la langue française on my mind as we make a “French Exit” together. I spent three years living in Paris in my 20’s and it was an amazing experience—I still miss a well-made butter croissant to this day. The British phrase “French exit” is always funny to me because the French have a similar phrase for ghosting a party early, except it throws the attribution back across the Channel: “filer Ă l’anglaise”!
For this puzzle, there’s an extra element that might not be immediately obvious when solving through .puz, so take a look at the solution pdf below afterwards. Enjoy!
Welcome to Pride month with a dragtastic Sunday-sized puzzle that commands you to “RuVeal Yourselves!” in collaboration with rising star Chandi Deitmer. She brought an amazing theme concept, and I’m excited about what we put together with our combined Drag Race fan knowledge. You can find Chandi’s puzzles at the Atlantic, the Inkubator, and also other exciting places soon!
In other crossworld news, the USA Today is releasing a set of pride-themed puzzles this month, and mine is available now on this 1st of June! Download the USA Today crossword app for best results, and hope you enjoy double the fun today.
Prepare yourself for another collaboration, this time with the illustrious Brooke Husic of xwords by a ladee (and much more), and a theme with some “Big Changes” for you to unravel! And big thanks to Steve Mossberg of Square Pursuit for a test solve on this one as well. Third person blurb incoming…
Brooke thought of a very “big” theme idea, and spent some time with Enrique finding theme answers where the meaning totally changes. They gridded and clued the puzzle together, and arrived at something they’re pretty proud of. Brooke worked her magic on much of the cluing, and loves the results for 35A, 64A, 3D, and 37D in particular. Enrique very much agrees with those. They absolutely enjoy working together and have more puzzles/projects in the pipeline, so keep your eyes peeled!