New Year's Relay

Difficulty ● ● ◐ ○ ○

Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends,

Greetings of the Season and welcome to Crossword Nation! As we gather with family and friends to celebrate the holidays, let's carve out some "me time" for crossword-solving and all manner of self-care (reading, football, libations, etc.). I've attended a few Christmas celebrations, very close to home. This year we stayed "local" for the holidays, and that's all right with me!

I'd like to welcome new subscribers who found us via yesterday's Sunday puzzle in The Washington Post. For folks who are interested, the Sunday puzzle is available here

An interview with me (and the answers to the WaPo puzzle -- Spoiler Alert!!), is here. I hope you'll enjoy the larger Sunday canvas!

Now, let's roll out our Crossword Nation puzzle of the week:

In terms of our newest puzzle (No. 656), the solving strategy would be to spell things out. No worries -- all will become clear as you progress through the grid. Welcome to Week 656 of Crossword Nation. "New Year's Relay" is on deck and ready for your immediate consideration!

I'd like to thank all of you for subscribing to our little shop of puzzles. And if you enjoy them, please give us a good rating on Amy Reynaldo's site. These ratings help us stay strong and independent! 

Peace of the Season to you and yours. It is an honor to serve you, our Crossword Nation Family.

Cruciverbally yours and with respect,

Liz

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Solvers of The New Yorker puzzles: Please check out my latest 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 ....

  1. 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.
  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