As always, we're ending the month with a challenging themeless—keep an eye out for tricky clues and fun wordplay. This week's puzzle was constructed by Kate Hawkins and edited by Hoang-Kim Vu. Kate is a city-loving Californian currently living in New Hampshire. In 2012, she had pretty great seats for Matt Cain’s perfect game in San Francisco. In 2024, she can hit a college hockey arena from her kitchen window with an overhead toss of almost any fruit of your choosing.
Defector crosswords, launched in partnership with our friends at AVCX, run every Monday. If you’re interested in submitting a puzzle to us, you can read our guidelines HERE.