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 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

 Last week we had a family vacation out to the Mendocino Coast, and one of my favorite things was time spent with my niece Liesel constructing a crossword puzzle! I had such a blast teaching her about the art of crossword construction - it was so fun working with her to pick out words for filling the grid and discussing different ideas for clues. I interviewed her about the experience...our crossword puzzle is below - please enjoy! Tell me about yourself My name is Liesel Mullerheim - I am 10 years old, going into 5th grade. I live in Tampa Florida with my mom, dad, and pets - my cat Nate and my fish - I have about 19 of them! My favorite subject in school is math; after school I love doing gymnastics, jujitsu, and piano. And I especially love cats🐱🐱🐱 What do you like about crosswords? I love making them with my aunt Katja and it's so fun to make the clues - the whole process is so fun!! 😁😁 Tell us about your trip to California - what was your favorite thing? It was lots of fu...