Somehow, 2026 is half over. Starting off the second half of the year, we have “State of Communication” by Emma Oxford for your meta-solving enjoyment. The meta answer is a novel published in the 1980s whose title would make a good sixth theme answer.

To submit to the contest, send an email with your answer in the subject line to damefoxwords@gmail.com. The contest deadline is 11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, July 5. The solution, as well as the name of the randomly chosen winner, will be published on Tuesday, July 7.

AcrossLite (puz) file can be downloaded here.

PDF for download is below.

Happy solving!

Ex libris Ariadne