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 Time for a collaboration! This time with the amazing Matthew Gritzmacher (yes the one from Daily Crossword Links - subscribe here !). He reached out to me during a particular brutal stretch of rain for both of us (in Hawaii and the San Francisco Bay Area, respectively)...and a puzzle was born. Created by Matthew Gritzmacher and Katja Brinck using Amuse Labs

 It's late November, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and then the rest of the holidays will come flying in. But more importantly...the winter ski season has begun - we are already two race weekends into the season, and all of this is leading up to the Winter Olympics in February. A long time ago, I realized that a certain amazing ski racer is a 15...and finally decided it was time to celebrate her in a crossword puzzle. Made by Katja Brinck using PuzzleMe's crossword generator

 Today it finally is starting to feel like fall...more leaves have been falling off the trees, there is a crisp in the air, the local scarecrows are out around town, and today we had a good bunch of rain. It's been a few weeks since I've published a puzzle here on the blog, but it seems as the rain inspired me today. Please enjoy! Made by Katja Brinck with the free cross word maker from Amuse Labs

 I've been watching the 2205 World Athletics Championships from Tokyo (track and field) - and have gotten caught up in all the competition, which is why my normal blog puzzle is a couple days delayed. All of the athletes are incredible - but I especially enjoyed the women's marathon, which had an amazing finish, especially for the bronze medalist who didn't at first realize she came in third; and then watching the pole vault men's final was unbelievably exciting - and ended up inspiring this puzzle. Hope you enjoy! Built by Katja Brinck using PuzzleMe's online cross word builder

For those who are sad about the NYT mini going behind a paywall, never fear there are lots of other crossword options out there for you - including this multi-mini-fest for your solving pleasure. Thank you to my husband Matt for being my test solver!  And for even more puzzles, don't forget to check out  https://dailycrosswordlinks.com/ ! Constructed by Katja Brinck using the free crossword puzzle generator from Amuse Labs

 I recently returned from my first in-person Lollapuzzoola crossword tournament in New York City - this was Lollapuzzoola 18 - "We put the zoo in Lollapuz zoo la!"  It was an amazing time connecting with fellow crossword enthusiasts, solving clever and tricky and wonderful puzzles, and getting to see some thrilling competition in the finals. And if you didn't get a chance to go, I highly recommend getting the puzzles to solve at home - you can get them here .  While Lollapuzzoola features a few different divisions for competing - express, local, or pairs - there was a new division this year, spun out of a bit from the Fill Me In podcast. The "Pears" division featured competitors Owen Bergstein and Harry Wieand competing and dressed up as pears. This silly bit has inspired my latest blog puzzle - solve with a friend or solo, and enjoy! Made by Katja Brinck with the online cross word creator from Amuse Labs