Let’s kick into high gear and solve! This week’s puzzle was constructed by Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas, and edited by Hoang-Kim Vu. Sala is a crossword constructor and cheesemonger based outside of Detroit. Her sports knowledge specialty areas include reality stars’ romantic partners, and common crossword clues (shoutout to Mia Hamm, Pele, and Epee.) She would love to connect with solvers and constructors—Sala Wanetick on all platforms, she is the only one. Emily started constructing crosswords with Sala last year; they have had puzzles published in the LA Times, USA Todayand Universal. Besides crosswords, her other passion is music (shoutout to the three-letter king, ENO!) A corporate girlie by day, by night Emily plays guitar in a garage rock trio called ZEM that plays shows in and around Detroit.
Defector crosswords, launched in partnership with our friends at AVCXrun every Monday. If you’re interested in submitting a puzzle to us, you can read our guidelines HERE.