Another year, another American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT). Your 2024 champion is Paolo Pasco, whom you might remember as the first of my guest constructors while I went on paternity leave in the fall. He came oh so close to winning it last year, so it was only fitting that he break through as this year’s winner. He even told me that he “panic-solved” (in his words) my “Playing the Hits” puzzle not long before he went up onstage to tackle the championship puzzle. If this helped him conquer the ACPT even a little bit, then I feel I’ve done something good for the world. Well done, Paolo!
Washington
Analysis | Solution to Evan Birnholz’s April 14 crossword, ‘Boxed In’
I finished in 42nd place, but with a mistake. In fact it was the same exact error that bit me last year — I left a blank square by accident in Puzzle 6. I think what’s happened now two years in a row is that I get so amped up from finishing the challenging Puzzle 5 successfully that I let my guard down for the next puzzle, which is always much easier. Without the blank square I’d have finished in 24th, which still was not enough to make the B division finals (this year I’d have needed to finish 15th or higher to make it). Then again, I was operating with literally the world’s greatest excuse for why I wouldn’t solve well at all: being a new dad! Elliot came with us to the Stamford Marriott, and the sleep I got on Friday night was … not good, to say the least. Even with that added difficulty, I still had only one mistake for the whole tournament, so I should probably consider myself lucky I didn’t have several more. The tournament was still a blast and, of course, my son was the real star of the weekend. We brought Elliot into the lobby on Saturday evening, and just about everyone within 10 meters of his orbit came up to say hello and show him their best smiles. A few friends suggested that I should have entered the Pairs division with Elliot and then used him to distract everyone else. I think this strategy would have worked brilliantly and no one would have been mad about it. He’s too adorable.
So let’s do the ACPT next year again, shall we? In the meantime, you can order the set of ACPT puzzles for solving at home, and you can start planning for some other crossword tournaments on the horizon. There’s Westwords in Berkeley, Calif., on June 23, Lollapuzzoola in New York City on Aug. 24, and the Midwest Crossword Tournament in Chicago on Oct. 5.
Today’s puzzle will look unusual immediately upon seeing the grid. There are five sets of black squares that create enclosed boxes in 3×3 sections, with a single white square in the middle of each box. In addition, if you solved the puzzle in print, you’ll notice that the grid featured gray squares rather than black ones, though they were regular black squares in the online version. Another odd feature is that several answers in the puzzle don’t seem to fit their clues. 38A: [Gives up] is … PAC? 17D: [One predicting disaster] is … DOO? These don’t look right, but note that both answers run perpendicular to the enclosed box in the upper-left corner.
You’ll get your first hint to the theme at 23A: [Confined, like five letters in this puzzle that spell an apt word] which is TRAPPED. So those five isolated white squares contain letters, but the bigger hint is at the bottom of the grid, with an especially long clue at 122A: [Portal represented 20 times in this puzzle that lets you in and out of a confined space (Note: These special letters, reading left to right, row by row, will produce an apt four-word phrase)]. That answer is DOORWAY. The idea is that you have to create passages in and out of the enclosed boxes to make sense of ten clues in this puzzle. How do you do that? By finding the correct letters hidden inside 20 black squares (or gray squares, for print solvers) and in the five isolated white squares.
- 38A: [Gives up] is PACKS IT IN. It starts with PAC at 38A, continues through the enclosed box with K-S-I, and ends with TIN at 39A, which has a normal clue of its own ([Shortest element]). The last three or four letters of these theme answers are all regular words with standard clues, so you’ll have to spot how the word exiting the box is connected to the word entering it on the opposite side.
- Crossing PACKS IT IN at 17D: [One predicting disaster] is DOOMSAYER. It starts with DOO at 17D, continues through the box with M-S-A, and ends with YER at 50D. The intersection of these two theme answers — the isolated square in the middle of the box — is an S.
- 40A: [Units of exposure to X-rays] is ROENTGENS. A potentially tough word if you don’t know it — it’s named after the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen — but there is a way to make it easier to figure it out without needing to look it up. We’ll come back to this.
- Crossing ROENTGENS at 13D: [Weapons and equipment in the “Medal of Honor” video game franchise, say] is COMBAT GEAR. The isolated square here is a T.
- 72A: [Not intimidated] is UNDAUNTED.
- Crossing UNDAUNTED at 45D: [Looked upon with resentment] is BEGRUDGED. The isolated square here is a U.
- 102A: [Parsnips, turnips, etc.] is ROOT CROPS.
- Crossing ROOT CROPS at 76D: [Perfect, just perfect] is IMPECCABLE. The isolated square here is a C.
- 104A: [Second leg of the Triple Crown] is PREAKNESS.
- Crossing PREAKNESS at 80D: [Loser to Barack Obama in a 2004 Senate race] is ALAN KEYES. The isolated square here is a K.
The isolated squares inside the boxes spell STUCK. That’s the apt five-letter word referenced in the clue for TRAPPED 23A.
Now, go back to the clue for DOORWAY at 122A. It said “These special letters, reading left to right, row by row, will produce an apt four-word phrase.” The more theme answers you uncover, the more doorway letters you’ll reveal. When you’ve got enough of them, you can maybe begin to predict what the final four-word phrase is and then fill in any gaps with tougher answers like ROENTGENS.
The secret doorway letters, when you read them row by row in the puzzle, spell MAKING A GRAND ENTRANCE.
Even though the grid features letters hidden by darker squares, this crossword was not inspired by the total solar eclipse earlier week. I don’t think it had any direct inspiration other than just wanting to break a typical crossword convention and see what I could do with enclosed spaces. What I found especially difficult was finding a set of answers that could accommodate both the meta answers and real words outside of the boxes. The -NTG- string crossing the -ATG- string in the upper-right box gave me a lot of trouble until I found COMBAT GEAR with its helpful COMB and EAR words on the outside.
The final four-word meta answer MAKING A GRAND ENTRANCE is also the reason this puzzle was printed in gray squares rather than black ones. 20 secret letters is a lot to write inside black squares, and the boxes are spread somewhat far apart from each other, making the final answer hard enough to read already. I figured that making the squares a lighter shade would help you see the hidden letters more easily. Don’t expect to see gray squares again soon, though; I wouldn’t want to tip you off early about hidden letters all the time.
The state of Washington is getting a seventh temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Marysville Washington Temple was announced Sunday night during a devotional in the Marysville Washington Stake by Elder Hugo E. Martinez, a General Authority Seventy in the church’s United States West Area Presidency.
“We are pleased to announce the construction of a temple in Marysville, Washington,” the First Presidency said in a statement. “The specific location and timing of the construction will be announced later. This is a reason for all of us to rejoice and express gratitude for such a significant blessing — one that will allow more frequent access to the ordinances, covenants and power that can only be found in the house of the Lord.”
The other temples in Washington are the Columbia River, Moses Lake, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma and Vancouver temples.
The church has 214 temples in operation. Plans for another 170 temples have been announced; many of those temples are in various stages of planning and construction.
Sunday’s temple announcement follows the new practice of the church’s First Presidency, which determines where temples will be built — and when and how they will be announced.
The First Presidency directed a General Authority Seventy to announce the first temple in Maine at a fireside there in December.
In January, church President Dallin H. Oaks said the Maine announcement set the pattern for future temple announcements.
“The best place to announce a temple is in that temple district,” he told the Deseret News.
The First Presidency will continue to decide where future temples will be built. It then will “assign someone else to make the announcement in the place where the temple will be built,” he said.
This pattern came to him as a strong impression after he assumed leadership of the church in October, following the death of his friend, President Russell M. Nelson.
This came as a strong impression to him shortly after he assumed the leadership of the church, President Oaks said.
The church remains in the midst of an aggressive temple-building era. President Nelson announced 200 new temples from 2018 to 2025. All but one were announced at general conference.
Five dozen temples are now under construction.
President Oaks now has overseen the announcement of two temples, neither at a general conference.
At the October conference he said that “with the large number of temples now in the very earliest phases of planning and construction, it is appropriate that we slow down the announcement of new temples.”
Ten new temples are scheduled to be dedicated in the next six months.
- May 3: Davao Philippines Temple.
- May 3: Lindon Utah Temple.
- May 31: Bacolod Philippines Temple.
- June 7: Yorba Linda California Temple.
- June 7: Willamette Valley Oregon Temple.
- Aug. 16: Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple.
- Aug. 16: Cleveland Ohio Temple.
- Aug. 30: Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple.
- Oct. 11: Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple.
- Oct. 18: Managua Nicaragua Temple.
Two-thirds of the 170 temples still to be built are outside the United States.
Temples are distinct from the meetinghouses where Latter-day Saints worship Jesus Christ each Sunday. Temples are closed on Sundays, but they open during the week as sanctuaries where church members go to find peace, make covenants with God and perform proxy ordinances for deceased relatives.
On a perfect day in Seattle for football, Washington took the field inside Husky Stadium for its first scrimmage of spring practice, and ahead of his third season at the helm, Jedd Fisch seemed pleased with the results.
“Guys played and competed their ass off,” he said after the Huskies ran 120 plays. “That’s the type of day we want to have…We have a lot to work on, but we’re excited that today gave us this opportunity.”
The 120 plays had a little bit of everything, but the biggest thing the Huskies showed during the day was that, despite the inexperience that Fisch’s coaching staff is looking to lean on at several positions, there’s plenty of talent littering the roster. The best example of that is sophomore safety Paul Mencke Jr., who had his best practice in a Husky uniform after Fisch announced on Saturday that senior CJ Christian is out for the year after suffering a torn Achilles tendon during Tuesday’s practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
“Paul’s done a great job of competing and being physical and playing fast, and you could see over these three years, he’s really grown into understanding now the system, and what’s asked of him as a safety,” Fisch said. “I think there’s a lot of in him that he wants to be like (safeties coach Taylor) Mays. He sees himself as a tall, linear, big hitter. So when you have your coach that is known for that type of play, I think Paul has done a great job.”
Mencke was all over the field. Not only did he lay some big hits, just like his safeties coach did during his time at USC, but the former four-star recruit also tallied a pair of pass breakups, an interception in a 7-on-7 period, and multiple strong tackles to hold ball carriers to limited yards.
While the defense did a good job getting pressure throughout the day and making the quarterbacks hold the ball with different looks on the back end, with safety Alex McLaughlin, linebacker Donovan Robinson, and edge rusher Logan George all among the players credited for a sack, quarterback Demond Williams Jr. got an opportunity to show off how he’s improved ahead of his junior year.
Early on, he showed off his well-known speed and athleticism, making the correct decision on a read option, pulling the ball and scampering for a 25-yard gain before displaying his touch. Throughout the day, his favorite target was junior receiver Rashid Williams, whom he found on several layered throws of 15-plus yards in the various scrimmage periods of practice.
On a day when every able-bodied member of the team was able to get several reps of live action, here are some of the other noteworthy plays from the day.
Spring practice notebook
- Freshman cornerback Jeron Jones was unable to participate in the scrimmage and was spotted working off to the side with the rest of the players rehabbing their injuries.
- The running backs delivered a pair of big blows on the day. First, cornerback Emmanuel Karnley was on the receiving end of a big hit from redshirt freshman Quaid Carr before the former three-star recruit ripped off a 13-yard touchdown run on the next play. Later on, every player on offense had a lot of fun cheering on freshman Ansu Sanoe after he leveled Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, letting the sophomore linebacker hear all about it when the play was whistled dead.
- Sophomore wide receiver Justice Williams put together a strong day with several contested catches, showing off his strong hands and 6-foot-4 frame, including a 25-yard catch and run off a drag route from backup quarterback Elijah Brown.
- Of all the tackles for a loss the Huskies were able to rack up throughout the day, two stood out. First, junior defensive tackle Elinneus Davis burst through the middle of the line to wrap up freshman running back Brian Bonner. Later on, freshman outside linebacker Ramzak Fruean wasn’t even touched as he shot through a gap in the offensive line to track down a play from behind, letting the entire offensive sideline know about the play on his way back to his own bench.
- The Huskies experimented with several defensive line combinations on Saturday, and for the first time this spring, it felt like freshman Derek Colman-Brusa took the majority of his reps alongside someone other than Davis, who he said has taken on an older brother role to help mentor the top-ranked in-state prospect in the 2026 class.
“Elinneus is a phenomenal guy. Great work ethic. He’s kind of taken on that older brother mentor for me. He’s been a great help just to learn plays and learn the scheme. Can’t say enough good things about the guy.”
- Ball State transfer Darin Conley took a handful of reps with the first team, while rotating with Colman-Brusa, who got a lot of work in alongside Sacramento State transfer DeSean Watts.
Twenty Sioux Falls School District art teachers have their own original pieces on display at the Washington Pavilion’s University Gallery now through May 31.
The “Teachers as Artists” exhibit showcases their work not just as educators, but as artists inside and outside of the classroom, and highlights how art education builds critical thinking, creative problem-solving and self-expression skills.
Edison Middle School art teacher Meagan Turbak-Fogarty said she dreamt of such a showcase since her first year teaching.
She and Kathy Dang, an art teacher at Marcella LeBeau Elementary School who also serves on the city’s Visual Arts Committee, partnered with the city and Washington Pavilion to bring the showcase to life.
Turbak-Fogarty has taught at Edison for five years and said her passion for art is “instantly felt” on her classroom walls, but that students have asked where they could see her art in the classroom, or what kind of art she creates in her own time.
“I always felt the feeling that I stand in front of all these kids every single day and preach about how much I love art, and how art has changed my life,” Turbak-Fogarty said. “That got me thinking, ‘I want to show them.’”
Some of her works on display at the Pavilion include art she created in her first year teaching, including a large Cheetos bag she created as an example for her eighth grade classroom when they were working on a large chip bag project. Turbak-Fogarty said she loves painting, working with acrylics and unconventional materials.
“I wanted to show my students that art can be anything,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be hanging up in a museum to be considered art.”
Continuing to do her own art while teaching the subject helps keep her inspired, Turbak-Fogarty explained, adding that it helps her push her own creativity when it comes to projects she works on with students.
Samantha Levisay, an art teacher at John Harris Elementary School, showed three pieces in the show — “Moments in Time,” “Midnight Butterfly Garden” and “Whimsy” — with the same mixed media, watercolor and printmaking skills that she teaches in different units at every elementary grade.
Levisay educates her students that “art is everywhere.” She said her favorite memories as an art teacher are “moments when I show students a lesson, and they take it even further.”
“Kids are so creative; I marvel at them all the time,” she said. “They inspire me every day with their endless creativity and imagination.”
Roosevelt High School art teacher Ruth Hillman showed two pieces in the show: “The Potato on the Wall,” a mixed media work, and a collection of her handmade clay charms in a shadow box.
She also wore some of her art — miniature potato earrings made of clay.
Hillman is in her third year at RHS. When she’s not teaching art, she’s also making art, and sells her charms at shows like the Art Collective.
Washington High School art teacher Mollie Potter displayed a three-part painting series at the show that she said were inspired by her English language learner students’ stories, and how teachers help students “take flight,” as represented by balloons, parachutes and kites in her work.
Porter said she is often inspired by her students’ art in the classroom; for example, one former student was obsessed with swans, and Porter said she later created a painting inspired by one of the student’s stories about swans.
At an April 17 reception, Mayor Paul TenHaken emphasized the arts as an “important economic driver in the community,” and said the show honored educators “who are artists in and of themselves,” but who might not have had a chance to display their art outside the classroom before.
“This is a way for us to honor them and show their incredible work,” TenHaken said.
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