What’s the deal?

• New releases, including an original puzzle, come out on Sundays.

• Posts are available for 2 weeks before going behind a paywall.

• Paid subscribers get a Welcome Gift.

• There may be additional puzzles and other bonuses for paid subscribers.
  Psst: it’s only 29¢/week.

• Or if you’re feeling crazy, you can make tax season super complicated.

Crosswords…but how?

• Here’s a good guide for solving crosswords from The Atlantic.

• Do the puzzles your way. Take your time. Look stuff up. Learn something.

• Puzzles come in varying sizes. You never know what you’re gonna get… but probably a 15x15 one.

• The general “rules” of crossword construction are more like guidelines. Give us the benefit of the doubt.

  

Guest/cross posting

If you’re interested in guest posting on Crosswords OR if you’d like to crosspost a Crosswood’s puzzle (easy to do on Substack) or if you’d like us to create an original puzzle for your publication, reach out! heycrosswoods [@] gmail dot com.

“What’s this mean?”

• Solve-alongs — videos where you can solve a puzzle with the Crosswoods crew live with chat participation and streaming video. Fun times all around! You’ll need the Substack app to participate and to be notified when we’re live. Videos are subsequently posted in the “Solve-alongs” section.

• The Commons — section devoted to common, re- (sometimes over-) used answers, and crosswordese. We try to make these words less eye-rolling with a guessing game featuring interesting clues from various constructors.

• Cryptick — section serving as an intro to cryptic crosswords, which are more popular in the UK. Here’s a good explainer on them. They can get wild!

• “Backwords” — archived puzzles from 2022 and 2023 before the launch of Crosswoods.

• Connections (retired) — section about the connections between everyday life or the serendipity that can arise from crossword clues and answers

Why to consider supporting?

• Get an original crossword and newsletter each week.

• Play every single one in the archives.

• Hear what’s going on in the Crosswoods.

• Get special edition puzzles.

• Contribute to the tip jar.

Support Crosswoods

• Contribute to the crazy, wild, never-gonna-happen tip jar.

Get in touch: heycrosswoods [@] gmail.com

Aww yeah?

• “A Walk in the Words” (aww) features recorded puzzle solving with narration and strategy.

• It’s like slow radio. Calm and relaxing; something to decompress to, ease into the day with, or fall asleep to.

• You can currently listen on Substack, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

• Episodes don’t come out on a regular interval, but probably at least once a week.