Lo and behold, it's a Happy Little holiday miracle!
After months of setting, editing, fine-tuning and being so overwhelmed with teaching high schoolers, Nate and I put the finishing touches on our first cryptic collab earlier this week. I'm very proud of it, and I'm so thankful for Nate and our intrepid test-solver, Steve Mossberg (whose new twice-monthly cryptic subscription you should absolutely subscribe to in time for New Years!), for teaching me so much about writing strong and entertaining cryptic clues. Hope you enjoy the puzzle!
Happy holiday solving,
Matthew
From Nate: “It was genuinely a joy to set this puzzle with Matthew - he’s an incredibly quick study with an imaginative mind. If you’ve never collabed with him, I’d highly recommend it. And if you’re cryptic-curious, let me know! I’m always happy to chat and help folks get their American cryptic legs under them, as best as I can. Happiest of holidays, and please stay safe!”
Follow Nate on Twitter @naytnaytnayt.