Puzzle Notes
Dear Crossword Nation Friends,
Happy June! An interesting thing happened recently. I received an anonymous email from a person who'd written to me almost two years ago. I'll refer to him or her as "Word Warrior" because the original email was a blistering critique of my work. Word Warrior didn't hold back -- my syndicated work was "horrendous, awful and tragic."
Well . . .
I'm less-than-thrilled when someone abases my work in a personal letter (it's happened a handful of times in my career), but in Word Warrior's case, I was intrigued. This critic never attacked me personally -- it was solely about the work. For that reason, I was impressed that we could discuss issues without getting personal. I wrote back with a "thank you" and an explanation of my side of story -- our target audience, the approach to wordplay, the role of a syndicated crossword. But secretly, I thought I'd lost a customer; it was best to allow Word Warrior to move on to other puzzle markets that would spark joy. I thought that was the end of it.
Well, last week, Word Warrior wrote in again -- almost two years after the initial correspondence. Word Warrior apologized for the original email, saying that they solve my puzzles often and encouraged me to "keep up the amazing work."
Well, that just blew me away. So I guess Word Warrior kept solving after all and -- for good or for ill -- became accustomed to the sometimes-corny humor and wordplay. I'm elated when folks write in to say that, after a bumpy start, the puzzles have "grown" on them!
Welcome to Week 679 of Crossword Nation. We invite you to solve "What's the Dealio?" as your diversion of the week. Happy solving!
Thank you for subscribing to our little shop of puzzles. If you enjoy this crossword, please give it a good rating on Amy Reynaldo's site. Your positive ratings help us stay strong and independent!
Cruciverbally yours and with respect,
Liz
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Solvers of The New Yorker puzzles: Please check out my most-recent crossword, a "challenging" affair.
Mini Crossword Aficionados: For a quick solve, please try the Daily Mini Crossword in the L. A. Times. It's free! Simply bookmark and visit daily for a new puzzle.
Recovering Lost Puzzles: If, for some reason, our weekly puzzle email doesn't appear in your mailbox on Monday evenings, no worries -- you can always "re-send" the puzzle to yourself.
But first ....
- Please check the Spam folder. Sometimes the Crossword Nation emails are redirected to Spam folders. This can happen after a software or system update. If it's not in the Spam folder, then try Step 2.
- Visit the Subscriber Portal and Re-send the Puzzle To Your Mailbox. You can always send the latest puzzle (or any puzzle from our archive) to yourself. Visit here:
https://xwnation.puzzleanywhere.com/enable-account/
Choose the "Resend Puzzle" link at the bottom right of the page. From there, you can choose which puzzle to send to your mailbox!
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If you enjoy our 'indie' Crossword Nation puzzles, please give them a positive rating on Amy Reynaldo's blog, Diary of a Crossword Fiend. Your ratings help keep our little puzzle shop independent and strong!
Ade Koiki blogs our puzzle every Tuesday. Simply page through Amy's blog to find the Tuesday blog posts. http://crosswordfiend.com/
Happy solving and be well!
Liz Gorski
