Puzzle 238 – “Listen and Learn”
puz here / pdf here / solution here
Final blog puzzle of 2025 here. Thanks to everyone who’s solved on this site this year. We’ll keep it going into 2026 starting soon!
Seed entry for this one was 22-Across–hence the title, as it’s definitely about listening and more often than not about learning too. (Meanwhile, lots more oblique trivia clues here than I’ve done in a while–listen and learn there too.) And a little more literature-heavy that music-heavy this time around. That’s just a different way to listen and learn, of course, and one that I’ve been spending a lot of my Christmas break doing. I hope the year has come to a pleasant end for yall too. See you in ’26.
Until then, happy solving, yall. Hope you enjoy. Comments welcomed.
Hi Matthew, I just want to thank you for constructing some of the highest quality puzzles that I’ve ever done because your crosswords are very thoughtful and have almost zero green-paint!
And I’m curious how long the submission process of a puzzle takes. Do the national mainstream editors get back to you within a week or month, and do they offer edits? And then the both of you negotiate on what the final crossword will look like?
But thanks again, and I hope you have a more successful 2026!
Time of reply varies a lot, from within a week, up to a few months. Most (but not all) outlets offer a chance to review a proof before a puzzle’s pub date, and it’s entirely normal for editors to change clues as part of that process. Changing the grid, should that happen, is a little more of a conversation, but usually a pretty quick one at that point.
Happy new year to you as well!
Fun one! 22A is basically a national holiday in my house, with 4:30a lineups and all. Every year there seems to be more and more I need to have.
Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year’s! See you in Stamford?
Wouldn’t miss it! It’ll be good to see you there.
Thanks!
Always!