Just shut up and solve our Monday crossword already. This week's puzzle was constructed by Owen Bergstein and Nick Dent, and edited by Hoang-Kim Vu. Owen and Nick are longtime frenemies based in Boston. They met when Owen was a freshman in high school and Nick (aka "Mr. Dent") was a math teacher. Over the years, Nick served as the advisor for Owen's ever-growing Puzzle Club, one of the school's most popular clubs. By the time he graduated this May, Owen was spending all of his free time in Mr. Dent's room, annoying him with puns and music recommendations. Mr. Dent, in return, sends Owen gift links to Defector articles and fails to beat him at online Scrabble. This puzzle is the culmination of their four-year friendship/mentorship. This is Nick's first published crossword; for more by Owen, check out Dissonant Grids, the avant-garde crossword blog he ran for a year.
Defector crosswords, launched in partnership with our friends at AVCX, run every Monday. If you’re interested in submitting a puzzle to us, you can read our guidelines HERE. The AVCX, an independent puzzles and games outlet, invites you to subscribe, or sample the goods with a two-month free trial: "With an AVCX subscription, you get access to weekly themed and themeless crosswords, minis, cryptics, and trivia, by email or in your favorite app. We have no corporate overlord, and we publish top-flight stuff only. We also pay our people fairly, always. Check us out."
