Jess Shulman

Classic is at capacity for the current submission cycle! Thanks for all the beautiful puzzles you’ve sent these past couple months. We look forward to seeing more in December when we reopen.

-Ben and the editorial team

Someone just posted about your win on FB, came here to say congrats!!! That’s huge! So amazing.

Screenshot of a blank crossword grid, with the title and author of the puzzle printed underneath: “Have It Your Way,” by Jess Shulman

I keep forgetting to post here. New Walrus puzzle up this week—enjoy!
Walrus.ca/games/crossword
#thewalrus #crossword

Picture of crossword puzzle titled “Inside Information.” One clue is highlighted and says “IUD hormone that might lead to a period-free life” (9 letters)

Our third sample puzzle is now available to solve!

You can solve “Inside Information” by Jasmeet Arora and @xws.bsky.social for free at abortionpuzzles.com!

If you enjoy this puzzle, wait until you see what’s in store with the full TPFA pack! Available with a donation at fund.nnaf.org/tpfa!

AVCX Classic submissions are open again! Our May-June season is live, and we look forward to seeing your stuff.

We welcome work from all, but are especially excited to see crosswords from queer, non-white, and non-male constructors.

Details:
avxwords.com/submit-a-puz...

Crossword puzzle with 5-Down highlighted: [Key to a capital?] (five letters)

We're back this week with a smooth-as-butter 11x11 puzzle for you to bite into! "Mega Bites" comes from AVCX editor Jess Shulman (@jessshulman.bsky.social), who is bringing some hangry vibes to today's party.

Image of cryptic-style crossword grid. The first word, POWER, has already been filled in. Some of the squares in the puzzle are circled.

✨Constructor Spotlight✨

Sara Goodchild (she/her, @sarathegood.bsky.social) is an editor & puzzlemaker based in Toronto. She’s honoured to be contributing to TPFA for a 2nd time: abortion is health care!

Sara co-created a brilliant puzzle with Steve Mossberg.
Available at fund.nnaf.org/tpfa!

😊

Screenshot of TPFA fundraising page, showing 30,423 dollars raised toward the 50,000 dollar goal

We reached $30K this week! 🤑

That’s 6,000 💵 EACH to

@baltimorefund.bsky.social
Tampa Bay Abortion Fund
Chicago Abortion Fund
@iwrising.bsky.social
Mariposa Fund

We are so grateful to everyone who has contributed to and shared our campaign!

Thank you, thank you!! 💜

fund.nnaf.org/tpfa

photo of Jess smiling

✨Constructor Spotlight✨

Jess Shulman (@jessshulman.bsky.social, she/her) is a crossword constructor and editor in Toronto, Ontario. In the early 1970s, her mom helped found the Toronto Women’s Caucus, one of Canada’s first activist feminist groups, which led some of the country’s earliest…

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Aww I love that

Image of crossword puzzle titled “Lessons in Chemistry” Cryptic by Jess Shulman, with the first clue highlighted (One agent had changed where the topic on this puzzle’s edges should always be (2,3,6))

Our second sample puzzle is now available to solve for free on our website!

Check out the cryptic puzzle “Lessons in Chemistry?” by @jessshulman.bsky.social at www.abortionpuzzles.com!

(& if you like this puzzle, you’ll love the 20+ other puzzles you’ll get when you donate at fund.nnaf.org/tpfa!)

Screenshot of the title card for the LA Times crossword puzzle of Monday, March 10, 2025, by Jess Shulman & Amie Walker

So happy to see this puzzle come out, a fun collab with my good friend @amiewalker.bsky.social
Enjoy! Thanks as always to Patti for her insightful editing.
www.latimes.com/games/daily-...

Screenshot of the LA Times crossword splash page for Friday March 7 2025

My son has his crossword puzzle debut in the LA Times today.

He is the youngest person to publish a puzzle there, at 12 years old!! Sorry for the earnest post, but I love him a whole lot!!

I’m very proud to be a part of These Puzzles Fund Abortion 5 — what’s happening to our friends south of the border is damn scary, and this is a great way that we can help. This year’s pack contains 23 original, brand-new puzzles centered on social and reproductive justice themes (mine’s a cryptic)

Exactly this

I had the pleasure of editing this lovely puzz from Katja — please enjoy!

Yay yay yay! New roster for 2025! Super excited to meet and work with this impressive (and so smiley!) gang 😊
Congrats to you all ❤️

I constructed this week’s Walrus crossword. Happy solving!

Ah, baby time! How fun. Hope you’re sleeping.
😁 Thanks for the solve - I’ll check in on the replay.

Also, sorry to hear you’ve been sick 🤒 😢

Hey, fun! I was actually just thinking the other day that I hadn’t seen a post by you in a while and wondered if you were still doing this. Clearly I’m just self-centred and only raise my head when my name is mentioned 😆 Hope you enjoyed it!

I always have to stop and think through what eponymous is referring to. Just like latter/former 😆
I figured it out 😁 — and I liked that one too! 🙏

woot!! Thanks, Jesse - hope you enjoy it! No coats or Tay Tay songs in sight, so shouldn't be as hard as some other puzzles we've seen lately...

Yaaay! Thanks, momes! I’m honoured (with a u) to be your first regularly scheduled puzzle… Can’t wait for more 😍

So thrilled to be a part of Cryptic Crossweird. And touched by the note in their Patreon email this morning: “We loved how collaborative the process was with Jess, and it’s clear to us from working with her what a wordsmith she is.” ❤️❤️❤️
Hope you like it!

Thanks to everyone who submitted a puzzle to AVCX Classic this cycle. We’ve reached our submission limit for this cycle, so we’re closing up a few days early.

We invite and very much look forward to seeing your work in May, when we reopen.

Thread with AVCX’s revised editorial policy regarding Donald Trump:
—

In early 2017, AVCX announced a new editorial policy, namely that we as a feature would regard Donald Trump as an asshole when we referred to him in print.

I'm happy to announce The Gnomon: a new variety cryptic crosswords outlet launching June 2025, with free previews coming February and April.
www.gnomoncryptics.com

Lil AVCX: Call for applications for our 2025 constructor roster Lil AVCX: Call for applications for our 2025 constructor roster We’re looking for new and emerging crossword puzzle constructors to regularly contribute “midi” puzzles. Yes, you’ll get paid, and you ...

Deadline to apply for Lil AVCX's 2025 roster is Monday! If you're newish to crossword construction, and looking to make some great crossword pals while being mentored for a year in a very supportive environment, I can't recommend this enough
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
@lilavcx.bsky.social