Puzzle 253 – “Write What You Don’t Know”
puz here / pdf here / solution here / full screen here
ACPT 2026 was an absolute blast. Had so much fun seeing so many crossword people. And the competition itself went well for me: wound up squeaking into the top 10 at ninth place overall! After two years in the top 20, my real goal was just clean solves, but I thought top 10 was possible as the stretch goal. And it happened. But most of all, hanging with puzzle folks is the best. See yall next year in Philly (and if you’ve never been, please join us!).
This week’s themeless… so, yeah, you see a lot of music and literature references in the blog puzzles here. Write what you know, they say. Those are things I know. So for a change of pace, the seed entry here was 12-Across, which is… not what I know, to say the least. Favorite clue here: 7-Across.
As always, yall, comments are welcomed. Hope you enjoy. Happy solving, friends.
Great one thanks!
agree. 7A vg
Glad you’re enjoying!
Fun puzzle as always, Matthew! And great to see you this weekend. Major congrats on the top 10 finish – that is a huge accomplishment!
Great to see you too! Still kinda floored that top 10 happened.
Great meeting you in Stamford, Matt; congratulations on a stellar showing! And thanks, as always, for yet another fun solve. Love seeing one of Frances McDormand’s many great performances cited.
So good to meet you too! I’ll keep making a point of checking out your blog puzzles as well.
I am so behind on my solving; coming back to one of yours is a delight! Love so much here. Faves include 7A, 55A, 3D, 10D. It was SO GREAT to hang with you this weekend, and see your stellar finish! Huge congrats. (All because of that good-luck hoodie, of course. You can never take it off.)
The hoodie continues to serve me well, I guess. Fantastic to see you too!!