Special solvers solve special crosswords. This week's puzzle was constructed by Erik Agard and edited by Hoang-Kim Vu. Erik is a crossword editor and would like to dedicate this puzzle to his dad John and brother Vince, the football fans of the family (left hand up!).
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."
