Changes to this list - and introducing the American Values Club xword!

[Benjamin Tausig]

Friends:

With apologies to those who've already been contacted (and especially to those who've already donated!), this message is to let you know that the A.V. Club puzzle will soon cease to be distributed via this email list. The Onion has dropped our crossword from its print and online edition beginning this week, citing production costs. That was a bummer, but we are determined to continue. As a result, we're moving immediately to a subscription model, and changing our name to the American Values Club xword. Same constructors, same unfortunate sense of humor! 

We don't want to charge for our puzzles, but we figure the least we can do is 1) keep the price reasonable (fifteen bucks a year, or 28 cents a puzzle!); 2) offer you something in return - fun rewards on our Kickstarter page 3) add new stuff like periodic contest puzzles, difficulty ratings and, soon, an online applet, and 4) thank you profusely for being the best solvers in the world. We hope that if you enjoy doing the A.V. Club puzzle each week, you'll be willing to pay a small amount to help keep us afloat as an independent venture. 

Subscribe today at avxword.com! We've made more than 75% of our $10,000 goal in just three days, and as soon as we reach our goal, we'll be able to send out the next A.V. Club xword to our new list of subscribers. As a gift and maybe an incentive to sign up, Francis Heaney wrote an exclusive puzzle (attached here) to mark the occasion of our amicable divorce with the Onion.

For those of you who might be on the fence about paying for a weekly puzzle, check out what Fireball Crosswords editor Peter Gordon has to say about the new feature:

"The American Values Club xword is the premier indie crossword. Fresh, original themes on the bleeding edge of pop culture. If you want to solve a puzzle that breaks the mold, you should subscribe to the American Values Club. Some of the best constructors in the business working without the usual constraints make it well worth the money."

With thanks for your many years of support,

Ben

[Benjamin Tausig]

Oh, and P.S. - the Ink Well puzzle will continue to be distributed through this list. 

Ben