Important Note: This puzzle is no longer available to solve on my website because I updated it and published it in the Washington Post Magazine on June 4, 2017. My apologies for the inconvenience. Puzzles #1-61 and #69 are still available to solve.

(Photo credit: B. Wrenn)

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday, and what did I get as a present? The Apopecalypse! There are seriously National Guard members patrolling every couple of blocks here in Philadelphia while Francis makes his big entrance into town. In fact, this photo above more-or-less accurately depicts what the city looks like right now. Parking is going to be a big problem this weekend, so I made a puzzle about it. It’s another Sunday-sized one — a good way to spend your day while the Pope and his army of pterodactyls have us all on lockdown.

In other news, I’ll be subbing tomorrow on Rex Parker‘s blog. Should be a fun time.

Finally, a programming note: from now on I will be publishing Devil Cross puzzles on Saturdays at 12 pm ET. That seems to be a more likely time for me to finally hit publish than earlier in the morning. And yes, I realize this went up a bit later than 12 pm today — my PUZ file wasn’t working for a little while. FRANCIS!!! (*shakes fist*) Anyway, I’ll make that my new regular schedule and update you as necessary.

Enjoy the puzzle. There will be a new one on October 3.

Important Note: This puzzle is no longer available to solve on my website because I updated it and published it in the Washington Post Magazine on July 31, 2016. My apologies for the inconvenience. Puzzles #1-61 and #69 are still available to solve.

Another Sunday-sized puzzle? Yes indeed. It’s funny; just the other day, Brendan Emmett Quigley wrote that he sometimes likes to write puzzles with lower word-counts so that he can save some time on the clue-writing front. I can dig that — clue-writing often takes me longer than building the grid itself. But sometimes, I just feel like expanding a regular theme to a bigger grid, and strangely enough, I find that I can bang out a large set of clues faster since I already know the task is more daunting. Besides, I’m enjoying writing the 21×21 puzzles, so why not?

Oh, and this upcoming Friday’s my birthday. One of my presents appears to be the impending visit of a certain pope-like character in Philadelphia. Something tells me that Devil Cross won’t be the first website he visits when he gets here.

Enjoy the puzzle. There will be a new one next week.