crosstina aqua-zine-a, vol. 1

i posted my first crosstina puzzle on october 31, 2021—a bamboozling three years ago. i'm not really sure where the time has gone, both in terms of crosswords or just my regular, degular life. i knew that i wanted to celebrate the occasion of this passion project turning into a threenager, and that i wanted to do it with more than a regular puzzle. (i did briefly consider a rows garden, but that was easier said than done) (which is not to say that this was easy either lmao). i've spent a lot of time thinking about what it means that crosswords are essentially ephemera, and i decided i wanted to create something with more permanence—something that was visual and tactile. so what i did was make a crosstina zine—a crosstina aqua-zine-a, if you will. with some art, some personal thoughts, some personal photos, and 14 midi puzzles. i hope you like it, but it's okay if you don't! it's very personal, and i'm very proud of it.

i want to thank kate, for listening to all of my unhinged ideas (always, but especially with this), alex for some tech support, and will nediger for test-solving. there are extended thanks, including one for you—yes, you!—within.

if you would like to indulge me* ** and receive an actual, physical copy of the 20-page zine in the mail, please fill out the google form here: google form

* i really, truly, genuinely want to send these to anyone who wants them. *extremely sabrina carpenter voice* please, please, please take me up on this

** i bought cute stamps and everything please i'm begging 

you can also solve the puzzles online, in acrosslite/xword/the nexus solver by downloading them here: zip file download

additionally, you can download the PDF of the zine, including the essays and accompanying foofaraw here: pdf download (answer key)

thank you all so much for everything, from the bottom of my heart.

xoxo

something has happened!

 

themeless no. 18.5

 

here, have a midi! no reason!

this post is dedicated to my mother who routinely says motherfucker but once grounded me for a month in seventh grade because she felt that i was saying 'crap' too often.

for all the crossteenies playing along on twitter, this is NOT the puzzle i have been tweeting about for the past few days. this is actually a stopgap measure that happened, by chance, to have temporarily alleviated the out-of-control nausea i was feeling about not posting here all month because i've lost control of my life. but, uh. that's a blog post for a different day. or maybe just a different blog.

this puzzle was edited by will nediger (or maybe by kate? who's to say. it's almost like i'm telling you where this puzzle got pulled from)—surprise! and then un-edited by me—wahoo!

[ FULLSCREEN (for a midi? really?) | PUZ | PDF ]

happy national crayon collection month from crosstina & kate

YEAH I WRITE MY R'S WEIRD, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT

(we didn't have this test solved 🤞🏽)

[ FULLSCREEN | PDF ]

themeless no. 16 ½ (feat. will eisenberg)

 

boy are y'all in for a treat: i'm pleased to announce will eisenberg's crosstina debut! how did this come to pass, you might ask? well, the story is quite simple: i demanded it. be the change you wish to see in the world!

if you aren't sure who is who in this conversation, i can't help you

we wound up doing TWO grids together and now you, dear reader, have the distinct pleasure of solving the world's first Half-Baked™ Hot Crosstina Buns™. 

will's notes:

[ed. note: all will did when asked for a comment was stare into the middle distance and start laughing. he's still going, he hasn't stopped—it's been days. i think i broke him?]

thanks to alex for test-solving! applets below the jump, pdfs and fullscreen links here. bon appetit!

[FULL 1/ FULL 2] [PDF 1/PDF 2] [JPZ 1/JPZ 2]