August 17, 2025 - "Leaving the Nest" (variety puzzle) - Ryan McCarty, edited by Sid Sivakumar

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Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

The AVCX+ crew is very excited to start a series of variety puzzles today! We'll publish non-crossword, non-cryptic variety word puzzles sporadically on Sundays (i.e., Saturday nights) for the next few months. We've got some outstanding puzzles to share with you from constructors you know and love. And, thanks to generous donations from solvers like you, these puzzles are all a bonus for subscribers! In other words, you'll still get your biweekly AVCX+ themeless as usual.

We're kicking this series off with a marvelous back-to-school puzzle by Ryan McCarty, titled "Leaving the Nest". This is a "Boxes"-style puzzle, and it's also a contest with a prize up for grabs -- instructional text is in both the attached PDF and IPUZ files. Submit your meta answer to leavingthenest@avxwords.com by 11:59pm ET on Saturday, August 23, 2025 for a chance to win!

Ryan McCarty has written dozens of puzzles for various publications over the past decade, though this is his first published non-crossword variety puzzle. When he's not busy being a dad, Ryan works in technology consulting and sings as a baritone in several D.C. vocal ensembles.

Note: The attached IPUZ file works in the online Crossword Nexus solver or on squares.io. Please also note that these AVCX+ variety puzzles won't work in the embedded AVCX website player, nor in Across Lite. They play best with pencil and paper!

The solution file for this puzzle will be sent out next weekend, along with the name of a randomly chosen winner. Enjoy and good luck! We'll have your regular AVCX+ themeless soon.

Cheers,

the AVCX+ crew

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