Thumbnails

Chandi Deitmer, of Cambridge, Mass., writes puzzles for Elevate Labs, a brain-training app. Matthew Stock, of Gainesville, Fla., is a master's student in school counseling.

As fellow math lovers, this puzzle's theme is a tribute to all of the math teachers they've had who inspired their curiosity and love of learning.

– puzzle by Chandi Deitmer and Matthew Stock

Meghan Morris is an appellate public defender living in Denver (found in the 110-Across!).

A mother of twin second-graders, this puzzle's theme of milestones is often on her mind. One recent parenting challenge — the "turf war" over who gets to do Wordle on her phone. "I try to take deep breaths and let go of my need to use my regular starting word when I see them typing in something else"

– puzzle by Meghan Morris

Aimee Lucido, of Irvington, N.Y., is a children's author. Her third book, Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta, came out in July.

Puzzles and children's books are "both ways to stretch out language," she says. "They're about using every sentence, every word, every letter to its absolute fullest". Having two related hobbies comes in handy: "I definitely use puzzles to procrastinate writing, and writing to procrastinate puzzles!".

– puzzle by Aimee Lucido

Jeremy Newton, of Austin, Tex., works as an engineering manager for a mobile game company. Tracy Gray, of Hunt Valley, Md., is recently retired from the lawn and landscaping business.

They found that coming up with suitable answers to complete the interlocking shaded squares was the most satisfying part of making this puzzle, as well as the most difficult and time-consuming.

– puzzle by Jeremy Newton and Tracy Gray