Funny thing how puzzles work out sometimes, part I: last year I got a rejection from the New York Times because unfortunately it had an identical revealer as one of their upcoming puzzles. That puzzle, by Jim Peredo, came out this past Thursday, and it was a good one. Bad luck on my part to get one of those “We would have accepted this crossword but” e-mails, but it wasn’t a completely lost opportunity. That’s because I published my puzzle here back in November 2014. That’s just a couple of great things about having your own site: you can skip the publication line whenever and however you want, and you can always find a home for any puzzle you make.

Funny thing how puzzles work out sometimes, part II: it’s rare to have two identical clues in adjacent entries, but this time I was very close to squeezing in three identical clues in adjacent answers (the middle one’s slightly different, but, whatevs). Also, I didn’t plan for the clue echoes at 6-/23-Down — in fact, I didn’t even know about those facts until I started cluing — but that’s how it ended up.

Finally, have you heard the big Indie 500 Crossword Tournament news? Registration is now open! And we’ve got our sixth constructor, Finn Vigeland! Major congrats to him. You can register by clicking on the REGISTER page in that link above. Remember, the tournament’s at George Washington University on May 30 from 10 am-6 pm. So start your motors, rev your engines, gas up your tanks, insert random car expression, and come on down!

Enjoy the puzzle. There will be a new one on March 14.

p.s. A happy early birthday to Official Devil Cross Wife Vicki, who I promise to spend time with on the actual birthday instead of doing puzzles.