just gridding!

Hello and welcome to our THIRD just-the-grid, where we post a grid and then crowd-source the clues! This is an opportunity for new constructors (or non-constructors!) to get some experience writing clues and for experienced constructors to show off. Clr and I will review the submissions, and then we'll live stream our thought process as we go through the submitted clues and pull together a complete puzzle.  The grid is here , and the google form for submitting clues (up to 5 at a time) can be found here .  The live stream will be on 10/7 at 7pm eastern.

300 people have donated $ 26,382 to Texas-based abortion funds! This is a truly incredible number of donors, and to thank you all for spreading the word about this fundraiser, I am delighted to offer you this truly incredible puzzle from Chris Piuma , aka the Wordgarbler. Chris contributed to the original 'These Puzzles Fund Abortion" puzzle pack and is back with this floral themeless masterpiece. I love Chris's puzzles, which you can find here , and their near-daily Twitch stream is a highlight of my lunch breaks. Chris is incredibly thoughtful and generous with their time and brilliance, and I'm so honored to host this puzzle on Just Gridding!  Our next incentive puzzle is by Vox constructor/ Inkubator managing editor  Juliana Tringali Golden , and will drop at 320 donors or $27,500 whichever we hit first! Notes from Chris, a garbler of few words:  “Thanks to everyone for donating and thanks to Norah and Rachel for test driving the puzzle.” pdf puz

We reached 260 donors! As of right now, we have raised $24,622 from 262 donors, which means we've unlocked the next incentive puzzle. Thank you to Eric Peterson for coming out of crossword-constructing-semi-retirement to contribute this aptly-themed puzzle as an incentive. It's been a blast to work with Eric on this one, and I'm really pleased with how this puzzle turned out. The next incentive puzzle will drop at 300 donors or $27,500, whichever comes first. It'll be a * gorgeous * themeless puzzle from Chris Piuma, so be sure to tell your friends where they can get These Puzzles Fund Abortion and our bonus puzzles! Notes from Eric:  I was inspired to participate in this fundraiser after the Supreme Court recently declined to stop the Texas abortion ban from going into effect. I wanted to do more than make a donation, so I asked Rachel Fabi if I could contribute a puzzle as a fundraiser incentive, and she enthusiastically agreed. As a male who has never been affect

a 16x14 themeless for your solving pleasure. enjoy! -clr puz pdf        

Hi folks, congratulations to all of us on making it to $22,500 raised to support Texas abortion funds! This incentive puzzle was generously contributed by the unbelievably prolific and immensely talented  Ross Trudeau , who has published 43 puzzles in the New York Times Crossword and also runs his own blog, Rossword Puzzles , where he regularly posts his own puzzles. I'm so grateful to Ross for offering this puzzle, which contains an appropriate message for the people of Texas who are fighting for reproductive justice.  Our next incentive puzzle will drop at $25,000 raised or 260 donors, whichever comes first!  pdf puz

 WOW I really never expected us to r each 178 donors in support of Texas-based abortion funds, but here we are! I'm so inspired by the generosity of the crosswo rd community, both the solvers and the constructors, who came together to make this fundraiser a success. This puzzle is a themed one from me ( Rachel Fabi ) and my puzzling buddy Kate Chin Park , who also contributed to an earlier incentive puzzle with Brian Thomas . We hope you enjoy this slightly-tricky puzzle!  The next incentive puzzle is from prolific constructor Ross Trudeau , and will drop at $23,500 or 228 donors, whichever comes first! pdf puz

 If you're seeing this puzzle, it means we've just raised over $16,000 for Texas-based abortion funds, or more than 135 donors. This puzzle was created by the brilliant mind behind half of the regularly scheduled puzzles that appear on this site, and my partner-in-blog, Just Gridding's very own clr! They're one of the best constructors in the game right now, and I am truly honored that they chose to contribute this puzzle to the cause. The clues clr writes are just BRILLIANT, and I hope you enjoy the solve! The next bonus incentive puzzle is a themed (!!) puzzle from me (Rachel Fabi) and Kate Leiserson, which will drop at $20,000 raised or 178 donors, whichever comes first! pdf puz

We just hit 101 donors in support of Texas-based abortion funds, and my heart truly could not be more full. It continues to blow my mind how generous and social-justice-oriented the crossword community is, and how we always manage to rally together around important causes like this.  When we started blowing through my incentive benchmarks, I was worried I wouldn't have enough bonus puzzles to keep up the momentum, but so many selfless constructors stepped up to offer me puzzles, and the first person to construct *an entirely new puzzle just for this purpose* was Kim Vu , the brilliant constructor behind this puzzle, one of my all-time favorite Boswords puzzles, and several gorgeous USA Today puzzles, to name just a few. I'm so grateful to Kim for creating this anger-channeling incentive puzzle on such short notice ❤️ Next incentive comes at $16,000 or 135 donors, whichever comes first, and is a gorgeous themeless puzzle from Just Gridding's very own clr! Notes from Kim: 

  Amanda and Brooke generously contributed incentive #4, which can be found over on Amanda's site Brain Candy . Enjoy!!! Brooke ( @xandraladee ) and I are so incredibly honored to contribute a puzzle to such a wildly important cause. Thank you to @faBioethics for putting this together and to all who donated to unlock this puzzle. Hope you enjoy! https://t.co/Lt6FxuofJO — Amanda Rafkin (@AmandaRafkin) September 4, 2021  Our next incentive will be reached at $12,500 or 90 donors, whichever comes first, and is a rage puzzle that Kim Vu wrote to channel his anger about SB8. Watch this space! Hello, I made this puzzle last night halfway between a fugue state and seething anger... which if I'm being honest shows up in the grid. More importantly, this is an incredible cause that I'm fortunate to be able to contribute to. Please consider donating what you can! https://t.co/jXFXybnBDz — kim vu (@dcwdkim) September 4, 2021

Whew, well, we blew through our THIRD incentive benchmark today ($6,000/50 donors), and are currently sitting pretty at $7492 and 41 donors! Thank you so much to gridmaster  Brian Thomas and cluemaster  Kate Chin Park , who stepped up to crank out clues for Brian's lovely grid. I'm a huge fan of both their work, which can be found here (for Brian) and here (for Kate).  Next goal is $10,000 or 65 donors, whichever comes first, and that will unlock a gorgeous, hot-of-the-presses puzzle from Amanda Rafkin and Brooke Husic ! Let's keep this momentum going to keep abortion accessible to anyone who needs one. pdf puz

WOW well we blew through our second fundraising goal overnight, so here is the second bonus puzzle, this one from Matthew Stock and Nam Jin Yoon. It's an honor to host a puzzle from these two brilliant constructors. Matthew is the brilliant mind behind Happy Little Puzzles , and also publishes a monthly puzzle for Yale's Public Humanities program. Nam Jin is the brilliant mind behind many recent sparkling NYT themeless puzzles and also created the incredible puz-to-pdf crossword editor we use right here on this very blog. This puzzle you're about to solve is a piece of ART, and we're thrilled to host it here as a thank you to donors who have supported Texas abortion funds. We are currently at $4164 raised by 26 donors, so the next benchmark will be at $6000 raised or 50 donors, whichever comes first! Notes from Matthew and Nam Jin: Matthew:  "Thankful to Rachel for hosting this puzzle as part of such an important cause, and thankful to one of my themeless heroes

Because of the anti-abortion  fuckery going on in Texas, we are promoting "These Puzzles Fund Abortion" to support Texas-based abortion funds.  If you haven't donated before, you can donate to any Texas fund and receive the full puzzle pack. AND, all donors, new and returning, will be entered to win a custom 15x15 puzzle made just for you. AND, as an added incentive to get your friends to donate as well, we will be releasing puzzles right here on Just Gridding as we reach donation milestones. The first of these milestones was reached tonight after an incredibly generous human donated $100 each to the Texas Equal Access Fund , the Frontera Fund , and Whole Women's Health Alliance , bringing us over $1000 in just one day! The incentive for this milestone was contributed by Erik Agard  and  Brooke Husic , both of whom are featured in These Puzzles Fund Abortion. It's an incredible honor to host the work of these two unparalleled constructors who are changing the c