Skip to main content

It's the Pears Division!

 I recently returned from my first in-person Lollapuzzoola crossword tournament in New York City - this was Lollapuzzoola 18 - "We put the zoo in Lollapuzzoola!"  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

Comments

  1. Terrific puzzle, Katja! I attended Lollapuzzoola in person for the first time this year; such fun! Great to see your pic of Owen and Harry!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! Lollapuzzoola was so fun - hope
      I can go again too

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Crossword Mini-festo

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

It's the Winter O-lympics

 My favorite sporting event ever will always be the Winter Olympics. As a former ski racer myself...I live vicariously through all the winter sports. I never of course made it to that level, but I still loved it so much. Ski racing taught me so much about training hard, facing fears, going out of your comfort zone, and then believing in the foundation on race day. Mikaela Shiffrin absolutely crushed the slalom today, proving that there's no victory like one from a comeback.  Today I made a puzzle inspired by the Olympic rings...this should hopefully be a smooth and easy solve. (I apologize in advance for any *almost* duplicates - that's what happens when there are a lot of Os in the puzzle. 😬) Made by Katja Brinck with the free crossword puzzle generator from Amuse Labs

Performance Improvement Plans

Constructed by Katja Brinck with the free crossword builder from Amuse Labs The idea for this puzzle all started Friday night at the 2026 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Friday night kicks off with the opportunity to solve some different puzzles, such as a spiral, cryptic, or a split decisions. I was sitting with some crossword friends, and when the puzzles were being passed out, a particular member of the NYT Games Team was passing puzzles out in my row...and I exclaimed "hey - it's the guy with the Pips!" (IYKYK.) He laughed, as did my seat mate Matt Luter. And I don't quite remember how the conversation continued, but Matt and I then laughed when we realized there was another Pips connection, and when this turned out to be a symmetric, the puzzle had to be made.