“All the News That Fits Symmetrically”
This is a follow-up to my four previous Kickstarter projects from July to December 2013, from July 2014 to May 2015, from June 2015 to April 2016, and from May 2016 to March 2017. The puzzles will come once every two or three weeks, over the course of about a year.
Try a Sample Puzzle
Here is a sample puzzle from 2013. To try it, right-click on it and open it in a new tab, and then print it.
(For the answer grid, click here.)
The Backstory
From January 2009 to March 2013, I wrote a crossword for every issue of The Week magazine. Each puzzle was based on the events from the previous week, and I put as many news-related items into the grid as I could.
My big problem with writing for The Week was that I wrote the puzzle on Fridays, but the solvers didn’t get the magazine delivered to them until seven days later. That made the newsworthiness of the crossword less than ideal. By using email, I can send the puzzle to solvers the second it’s finished. Back this project and you can be part of the forefront for how crosswords are delivered to solvers in the digital age.
About the Puzzles
These puzzles will be delivered to your email inbox in two forms: Across Lite, which can be solved on your computer, and pdf, which can be printed and solved on paper. They will generally come every other week, but there will be occasional exceptions. It will finish around March 2018.
Note that unlike the superhard Fireball Crosswords, Fireball Newsflash Crosswords are aimed at a general audience. The difficulty level will be like that of a typical Tuesday or Wednesday newspaper crossword.
Go to www.FireballCrosswords.com to sign up after the deadline.
The Cap
Previous Years
If 20 puzzles aren’t enough for you, you can get the puzzles from previous years. Each year is $5. Note that the older the puzzles are, the harder they get, since many of the topics were newsworthy at the time but are now possibly forgotten. These are the dates:
Year 1 = 7/15/13 to 12/13/13
Year 2 = 7/18/14 to 5/1/15
Year 3 = 6/12/15 to 4/8/16
Year 4 = 5/13/16 to 3/3/17
About Me
I started Fireball Crosswords in 2010 as the first online-only pay-to-play direct-to-the-solver crossword. I have written or edited more than 50 puzzle books, with combined sales of over a million copies. I was the editor of the Post Puzzler, a tough themeless crossword that appeared in every Sunday Washington Post from April 2010 to March 2015. From 2002 to 2008, I was the crossword editor for The New York Sun. I am the editorial director for Puzzlewright Press, an imprint of Sterling Publishing, where I have worked for the last 20 years. I am also the creator of the iPhone app Celebrity: Get a Clue. And since 2012 I have been a member of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel.
Available Books
New York Sun Crosswords #7
New York Sun Crosswords #8
New York Sun Crosswords #9
New York Sun Crosswords #10
New York Sun Crosswords #11
New York Sun Crosswords #12
New York Sun Crosswords #13
New York Sun Crosswords #14
New York Sun Crosswords #15
New York Sun Crosswords #17
New York Sun Crosswords #18
New York Sun Crosswords #19
New York Sun Crosswords #20
New York Sun Crosswords #21
New York Sun Crosswords #22
New York Sun Crosswords #23
Sizzlingly Hard Fireball Crosswords
Blazingly Hard Fireball Crosswords
Infernally Hard Fireball Crosswords
Hellaciously Hard Fireball Crosswords
Diabolically Hard Fireball Crosswords
Scorchingly Hard Fireball Crosswords
Risks and challenges
As newspapers and magazines struggle to survive in the current economy, more and more are cutting back on extras like crossword puzzles. Professional puzzle writers are losing opportunities left and right. There has to be a better way than going through magazines and newspapers to get puzzles to the solvers. By supporting this campaign, you are providing direct support to the writer, allowing me to continue to write the news puzzles that I so enjoy doing.
As for the deadlines, I wrote more than 200 crosswords for The Week without missing any. This is the fifth year I’m doing this through Kickstarter, and the first four years went very smoothly. Solvers will get the puzzles before the ink dries on the news.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterQuestions about this project? Check out the FAQ
Support
Funding period
- (25 days)