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	Welcome to The $pend Zone, where you can trade your hard-earned dough for puzzles of all shapes and sizes. I've got multi-puzzle extravaganzas and puzzle books, as well as the opportunity to get your very own customized puzzles, suitable for gifting, framing, or handing out at your next special occasion. And remember: "Money is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow." —Thornton Wilder

Welcome to The $pend Zone, where you can trade your hard-earned dough for puzzles of all shapes and sizes. I've got multi-puzzle extravaganzas and puzzle books, as well as the opportunity to get your very own customized puzzles, suitable for gifting, framing, or handing out at your next special occasion.

And remember: "Money is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow." —Thornton Wilder

Musical Puzzlefest

Available now

It gives me great pleasure to announce my 3rd annual interconnected suite of crosswords, available for $9.95 via the PayPal button marked "Musical Puzzlefest" on the right. The puzzles were released on December 15, and each one will lead to a larger puzzle, which leads to the final answer. Send me the correct final answer by the end of the day on February 15 to be entered in the drawing for prizes.

The Puzzlefest will have a musical theme this time around, and the difficulty level increases from Monday NYTimes level at the beginning to Thursday NYTimes level by the end. Extracting the final answer will be tricky, but not as tricky as it was last year. I'm super jazzed to be doing this again, and for a sample of the kind of thing I like to do, please check out my free monthly puzzles.

I'm also doing things a little differently this time: once I get your payment, you'll be invited to join my Google Group "Musical Puzzlefest," through which I'll be distributing the PDF of the puzzles. This will allow me to contact everybody in one fell swoop, rather than sending hundreds of emails. I'm also spreading out the distribution of prizes this time: two solvers will be awarded $100 Barnes & Noble gift cards, one solver will get a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card, and 10 runners-up will receive a copy of my latest book: "Easy Breezy Crosswords."

"If music be the food of love, play on" —Twelfth Night

Summer Puzzlefest

“I Know Where I Was Last Summer”

I’ve constructed a handful of crossword puzzles (10 crosswords and one diagramless, to be precise), each one leading to part of a larger puzzle, which leads to a final answer.

The Puzzlefest itself has a travel theme, and the difficulty level is around Tuesday/Wednesday NYTimes level. Extracting the final answer will be a lot trickier, though, so be sure to put on your thinking caps for that part. I'm uber-excited about sharing these puzzles with everybody, and for a sample of the kind of thing I like to do, please enjoy my free monthly puzzle (available on the Play page).

To order, simply click on the Summer Puzzlefest button on the right and make a payment of only $9.99 via PayPal. I'll email you a pdf of the Puzzlefest, which you can then transfer to paper via your favorite printing device. Thanks for reading. I promise that none of my Puzzlefest clues will be this long.

Holiday Puzzlefest

I wrote an interconnected suite of puzzles for a holiday-season contest in 2009 (189 people supported the project; I got exactly 100 correct answers; the winner was Rachel Melman of San Francisco). The contest is over, but you can still solve the puzzles and send me your final answer for confirmation. It's only $10 for a printable pdf of 13 puzzles (11 crosswords, 1 diagramless, and 1 wordoku) — such a deal! Click the "Buy Now" button on the right to make a payment, and I'll send you the entire Puzzlefest as a pdf.

For a taste of the kind of thing I like to do, try the free puzzle over on the Play page.

My Bookshelf

Whether you're into crosswords, sudoku, crossword-sudoku hybrids, mazes, word searches, or word ladders, I've got some puzzle books for you. Upcoming projects include "Hip Pocket Crosswords" and "Hollywood Hangman."

Puzzlewright Press

I work with Peter Gordon and Francis Heaney over at Puzzlewright Press (an imprint of Sterling Publishing), where we crank out around 60 puzzle/game books every year. You can see what we've been up to lately by visiting puzzlewright.com.

Custom Puzzles

Letters Image My work has appeared in places like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and GAMES magazine, and now I'd like to offer up my services for a customized, New York Times-style crossword puzzle (full interlock, no 2-letter words, etc.). It would make a great gift for that crossword-loving friend or family member's birthday, anniversary, wedding, or other special occasion.

Simply tell me all about the situation, detailing the occasion and providing me with a list of words/names to use in the puzzle. I will use your answers as often as I can, while still maintaining the highest possible quality throughout the grid. The completed puzzle, clues, and answer will be emailed to you as a pdf.

Here are some samples of my previous work: This puzzle (solution) was recently commissioned for my client's mother, and I was able to incorporate the mother's maiden name, the names of her husband, daughters, and grandson, as well as things that have significance to her (AZALEAS, HATTIESBURG, WIGGINS, etc.). This puzzle (solution) made a great hand-out at a wedding rehearsal dinner as well as a unique gift that the happy couple can cherish forever. NADIA and AARON are the names of the bride and groom; their hometowns are GREENDALE and St. GENEVIEVE; they live in ASTORIA and met at a place called VINTAGE. EVERLASTINGLOVE ties the whole thing together, running through the heart of the puzzle.

This is truly a one-of-a-kind gift for that puzzle-lover in your life. Contact me for more information and a rate quote.

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