Time well misspent.
The Rackenfracker publishes US cryptic crosswords by dadgumituh and jmsr525, whose puzzles have also appeared in AVCX, The Gnomon, Cryptic Crossweird, Out of Left Field, and The Browser, and whose clues have been featured on Minute Cryptic. The Rackenfracker is also the first-ever winner of "Best Variety Cryptic Crossword" from the annual ORCA crossword awards. Subscribe today to get an exclusive puzzle emailed to your inbox every month, as well as free puzzles as we release them. Plus, you'll always be able to get the last four months of exclusive puzzles on the website.
We only email you when we have a new puzzle — we'll put links to our latest shop talk posts and other news in those puzzle emails, and we always announce everything as it happens on Bluesky @therackenfracker.bsky.social and on Threads @therackenfracker.
New Formats
We're putting out puzzles that rack and frack classic solving experiences or invent new avenues. From alphabeticals to acrostics, Battleship to Guggenheim, dodecahedrons to Some Assembly Requireds, we love pushing what the form and the aha of a variety cryptic can be.
For those only testing the variety waters, we have some classical cryptics: our starter puzzle series, the Nerfracker, as well as Downright Tricky, a puzzle built around the concept of escalating difficulty; a test solver said:
It’s a perfect design: I felt palpable pressure/drama to get the top set before heading into the thorny latter hinterlands.
Previous puzzle series include the pop culture celebration Word▶️, the grid-defying Out of Shape, and the instruction-light High Concept.
What are Minute Cryptic solvers saying?
We've had some of our clues up on Minute Cryptic — this was the response to our first.
What about people that have solved whole puzzles?
Just solved this #cryptic and wow! Even though this theme wasn’t in my pop culture wheelhouse, the solve and aha moment were still super enjoyable. https://t.co/Gc1bpifUFZ
— Nate Cardin (he/him) 🏳️🌈 (@naytnaytnayt) August 23, 2022
Best crossword I've ever solved! Took over seven hours, a delight the entire time. https://t.co/eAroLf6jhW
— Gennady Gorin (@GorinGennady) August 29, 2023
Puzzles for Everyone
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