We’re celebrating our first full year of Defector crosswords with a slightly different kind of puzzle than you’re used to, a cryptic by Hoang-Kim Vu. Kim works in global public health in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the crossword editing team at Defector and AVCX. His puzzles have appeared in numerous outlets, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week, but thanks for solving along. It’s been a fun year of puzzles.
Defector crosswords, launched in partnership with our friends at AVCX, run every Monday. Launched 16 years ago as the house crossword of The Onion, the AVCX not only offers weekly standard crosswords, but also midi puzzles, a cryptic, a themeless offering, and a trivia contest. Like Defector, AVCX is an independent venture with a fresher sensibility than mainstream outlets, and is committed to diversity in its masthead, fair pay to our contributors, and a fiercely progressive streak. And like Defector, the AVCX relies on subscriptions from solvers like you. If you like Defector's puzzles, please consider a subscription with the AVCX.