Below are nine crosswords constructed by Lil AVCX roster members, editors, and alums for the 2026 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut. The inspo? Well, the ACPT logo, of course. Shout-out to Katja Brinck and Matthew Luter for organizing!
“Excellent!” by Brian Callahan 
Brian says: “I wanted to make a Scrabbly puzzle. Once I had my seed at 33-Across, I knew immediately what my answers at 1-Across and 60-Across would be. As for cluing, 53-Across is my favorite. I also loved including the anecdote in the 19-Across clue. Happy solving!”
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“Wait – what?!” by Heather Stanger McIntire
Heather says: “Using the ACPT grid was a fun challenge! One might wonder 33A. My favorite part of this puzzle is the southeast corner, which conveniently ended up with a fun letter pattern: 53A, 57A, 60A, 41D, 42D, and 43D. Hope you enjoy!”
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“Careful, It’s Catching!” by Jess Rucks & Jess Shulman
The Jesses say: “This marks puzzle #3 of the Jess & Jess constructing empire. Hope you enjoy!”
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“Can I Get The Password?” by Katja Brinck
Katja says: “The idea to create a puzzle using the ACPT Logo started as a joke last year between Matt Luter and me at the 2025 ACPT – my original central entry was IDAHO POTATO, inspired by the truck-sized giant potato I saw on the highway while traveling to Sun Valley, Idaho.
This year Matt and I decided we should make this a puzzle pack for the ACPT, as created by constructors who are current or former members of the Lil AVCX mentorship program. I took inspiration from some recent current events to have some fun with clueing – this grid has a nice central 11-letter entry, and then a lot of 5-letter entries to fill – which resulted in a lot of fun puzzles in the pack – hope everyone enjoys solving all the ACPT logo grids!”
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“Somewhat Extremely Online” by Matthew Luter
Matt says: “This is the first time I’ve intentionally set out to make a pangram. Also the first time I’ve tried to break my own record for Muppet clues in one puzzle. How long will the new record stand? Time will tell…”
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“My Dachshund Likes It, Too” by Olivia Mitra Framke
Olivia says: “If you want an authentic Olivia-vibes puzzle, look no further. Also: for 33-Across… I now own two. #LivingTheDream”
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“Feline Fine” by Sally Hoelscher
Sally says: “For those of you who are familiar with my puzzles, you’ll find this puzzle to be completely on brand, difficulty and theme wise. If this is the first puzzle of mine you’ve solved, it’s a great introduction. Enjoy!”
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“Please select all matching squares…” by Terry Sun
Terry says: “This is actually the biggest themeless grid I’ve ever filled. I didn’t realize that at all going in… or that I would rescore almost 6500 5-letter words while trying to get the corners to play nicely. I guess there are worse things to get tricked into doing in the name of a silly puzzle series.”
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“Travel Mixup” by Zoey Foley
Zoey says: “I prefer making themed puzzles, but this premade grid without long entries made that a challenge. I’m glad that I still came up with a set that would fit, and I’m happy with the revealer too. Unrelated to the theme, I also like the juxtaposition of franchises at 6-Across, 26-Down, and 37-Down.”