It’s time to wrap up the month with a challenging themeless. Keep an eye out for tricky clues and fun wordplay. This puzzle was constructed by Will Eisenberg and Brian Callahan, and edited by Hoang-Kim Vu. Will is a French horn player, music teacher, and puzzlemaker in the Twin Cities. He hopes the Wolves can one day be as amazing as the Lynx. Brian is a puzzlemaker from Chicago who cheers for the Bulls and the Sky. He wishes that both teams’ owners would get serious about winning and/or sell their teams. Both Will and Brian are editors at AVCX’s midi division, Lil AVCX, which is now taking applications for its 2026 constructor roster. More info on Bluesky at @lilavcx.bsky.social.
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. Note that we’re pausing open submissions until Dec. 1.
