themeless no. 21

i had a very long blog post written here, reflecting on a lot of things, including the unique loneliness that really hits you at like 2:30 am in mid-february when it's 11 degrees outside and nothing seems to be going quite the way you hoped. then i realized that the post read as...well, sad? and extremely self-pitying. and not actually representative of how i really feel—which is still kind of amazed that i get to spend any amount of my time doing this, which brings me such happiness! i also have so many of you to belatedly thank—a bunch of people i like/love/adore/admire/respect, etc. signed my birthday card in january and it is something i truly cherish and makes me feel very special. so thank you, to everyone, for the incalculable difference you all make in my life.

this post is not turning out much shorter. i'm wrapping it up, i promise!

i've decided, in my newly acquired age, that i think life is about like, maybe three things:

1. wearing sunscreen
2. finding/creating/multiplying joy
3. a little bit of mischief  

i can promise you will always find at least 2 of these things in my puzzles. i can't make you wear spf, but so help me god if you don't i'll make sure you never hear the end of it.

okay i'm done I'M DONE. there's a new puzzle after the jump. i am not going to fixate on the fact that it's march, i am simply here to offer it to you and ask that you be kind. alex tested it, and there's a new tag on the crosswordnexus blog for all my favorite puzzles, so you should bookmark that. xoxoxoxo

[FULLSCREEN | JPZ | PUZ | PDF]