Super excited to partner with rising crossword star Pravan Chakravarthy on this timely midi and today's Universal puzzle, his published debut! We first connected back in the spring, and it's been a joy to collab and talk puzzles with him over the past several months. Check out "Double Down" here for a Monday pick-me-up (make sure you're on the right puzzle!), and be sure to look out for Pravan's name and killer gridmaking skills in the future!
Lastly, if you haven't done your part to 23-Across, there's still time to make a plan for tomorrow. Please take the time to make your voice heard.
Best,
Matthew
From Pravan: "Hello, crossworld! I’m a high school senior from NJ and I’m super excited to have my debuts on Universal and HLP! I got into crosswords in middle school, but didn’t start seriously constructing till this spring, when Matthew and I met. I’m really indebted to Matthew for all his help and wisdom in showing me how to put puzzles like these together, and for completely redefining my view of the puzzleverse.
For the Universal puzzle today - it was very instructive going through and filling the grid, because I got a really good sense of how to cleanly do it. We got some good bonuses in, as well as a neat title (credit goes to Matthew for that!).
For this Little-ish Puzzle - I really love some of the clues we came up with, especially 20-Down and 13-Down. I’ve discovered that one of the many positives of indie sites like Matthew’s is the timely, immediate nature of puzzles like these!
Hope you enjoy, and remember to 23-Across."