i have lots of takes, all of them lukewarm

sorbier on 15 May 2026

Hi all! Sorbier checking in here with my first foray on the website.

While Skep is a regular crossword fiend, polishing off crosswords from diverse sources every day, I admit that I have taken a long break from crosswording. It's been a few years since my last crossword, so if anyone around here is going to have lukewarm takes, it's going to be me.

AVCX+, May 15 by Hannah Slovut-Einerston

Themeless, titled "Get Ready!".

This crossword was delightful! A really fun re-introduction to crosswords.

wooingly

skep on 10 May 2026

Double-posting since Sorb is too busy writing our CSS to do crosswords.

Lil AVCX, May 4th by Madison Shultz

14-Across: Malcolm in the Middle cooking prodigy sibling
Me: “Oh yeah, I think I vaguely remember that being a thing I guess. Who was that? Dewey and REESE both fit. REESE seems right to me for some reason. What about the older brother who was in the military, what was his name? Right, Francis. That doesn’t fit. …Hold on, why the hell do I even remember all these names?”

Puzzmo Cross|word, May 5th by Henry Lin-David

Clue for 24-Across was These numbers are pointless!. I got INTEGERS on the crosses, but it took a few moments to click for me. It’s referring to the lack of decimal point. Smart!

peeps peeps

skep on 4 May 2026

I have never done a crossword blog before and I don’t know what I’m doing.

AVCX, May 1st by Jess Rucks and Geoffrey Schorkopf

Chock-full of excellent misdirect clues.

22-Across, Polar opposite of a ‘hardcore gamer’ – My immediate instinct (FILTHYCASUAL) was correct, but I initially didn’t enter it, deciding it was too derogatory to be the actual answer. This term is strongly associated with gatekeeping in the hobby so it’s a little disappointing that it was clued in a way that perpetuates this.
25-Across, Place to go outside? – PRIVY is such an underused word in all aspects of life.