Puzzle

Puzzle Notes

Dear friends,

We're delighted to feature another puzzle-making debut this week, as the Inkubator's Crossword Women's March comes to a close (though we'll keep on marching biweekly of course). "Can We Talk?" is a lightly challenging and playful construction from the creative and inspired Martina Waluk. Martina was the first aspiring constructor to contact the Inkubator when we launched, and so it's an especially palpable realization of the Inkubator's mission to be delivering her work to our subscribers this week. You'll definitely see Martina's byline here and elsewhere in the weeks and months to come!

Martina is a long-time fan of word games and number puzzles, and only recently started constructing crosswords. She frequently uses the interwebs to research crocheting projects, find forgotten musical hits and TV shows from the 1980s, and play geography trivia. As a retired educator, she hopes to someday launch a website to showcase (and combine) her puzzles and travel photos.

About last week's bonus puzzle: if you enjoyed tackling Stella's cryptic and would like some insight into the mechanics of those cryptic clues and their answers, we've attached a guide to deciphering her puzzle in this mailing.

When you're done solving, check out Diary of a Crossword Fiend for a write-up and discussion, every Friday after an Inkubator puzzle is published. For general updates, follow us on twitter at @InkubatorXWords, and visit our website. Thanks to all of our subscribers for your continuing support, feedback, and kindness!

FREE! The Inkubator is currently offering a free trial subscription. If you know of someone who might appreciate access to Inkubator puzzles during this challenging time, please direct them to the our website to sign up.

Coming up next, on April 9, we're featuring a one-of-a-kind themeless by Emma Oxford.
With love, Laura and Tracy