Ah, September, that baffling month where pumpkins are for sale in containers labeled with pictures of watermelons. But I digress. Back to crosswords! This month’s contest puzzle is “The Brains of the Operation” by Carina da Rosa. The meta answer is a famous novel.

You can find Carina’s bio over on our Team Ariadne page. She is also one half the constructing team for ACL’s March 2026 puzzle.

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 Saturday, September 5. The solution, as well as the name of the randomly chosen winner, will be published on Monday, September 7.

AcrossLite (puz) file can be downloaded here.

PDF for download is below.

Happy solving!

Ex libris Ariadne