Let’s get right to the puzzle this month! Continuing our lineup of guest constructors, February’s puzzle is “Fairy Rings” by Madison Shultz. The meta answer is a literary character. Madison recently started a crossword blog called Crossword Curiosities with fellow ACL constructor Hannah Binney, and “Fairy Rings” is her first meta puzzle! You can find…

Happy 2026! Before we get to the puzzle, a huge thank you to everyone who responded to my call for donations last month. Your contributions are so helpful to the longevity of this project, and I appreciate enormously the show of support. I’ve removed the donation links from the Support ACL page for the time…

Ho-ho-holy Christmas cracker it’s December. Sorry, that was terrible. Moving right along. Before we get to the puzzle, some housekeeping to take care of. I am delighted to report that submissions to ACL from imaginative and talented guest constructors have gone way up in the last month, and we are on track to have many…

Happy Day-after-Halloween! Let’s get right to the puzzle! This month’s contest puzzle is “The Ending Places” by Heather Gearan. The meta answer is a prolific science fiction author. Heather Gearan has recently discovered the joy of crossword constructing and is extremely proud to see her first meta effort published by ACL. You can find her…

The pumpkin spice season formerly known as fall is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than by fixing yourself a mug of apple cider, settling down in a comfy chair, planning the demise of the enormous skeleton your neighbor has inflicted upon their front yard, and solving a meta crossword. Actually, you really…

This month’s contest puzzle is “Don’t Hate the Player” by Emma Oxford. The meta answer is a Shakespeare play. If you’d like to see a wider variety of names in the bylines of these puzzles, please encourage your woman-identifying constructor friends to submit to this project! Or, if you yourself happen to be a woman-identifying…

Hard to believe we are eight puzzles into ACL, but somehow August has come around again. For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m sorry to say this puzzle does not come with air conditioning – you’ll have to supply that yourself. This month’s contest puzzle is “Shh! This Is a Library!” by Emma…

Happy Canada Day to those solvers up north! (WordPress tells me ACL does get some traffic from up thataway.) A great day to listen to some Stan Rogers. This month’s contest puzzle is “Go By” by Emma Oxford. The meta answer is a science fiction author. To submit to the contest, send an email with…

It’s May Day! Hope all of you who attended ACPT last month had a great time. This month’s contest puzzle is “In All Directions” by Emma Oxford. The meta answer is a literary location which should appear as a clue in this puzzle but does not. To submit to the contest, send an email with…