Warren Biro gave us season's greetings in the form of a New York Times crossword debut. His first puzzle appeared on Christmas Eve and can be found here . Way to go, Warren! That puzzle was followed by another debut on Christmas Day. We can thank Eric Tentarelli for his efforts. His puzzle is here . Nicely done, Eric. We hope to see more puzzles from both of you in 2009!

One of the best constructors in the crossword biz has started a new blog. Brendan Emmett Quigley will be posting puzzles on a regular basis and will be adding puzzle-related commentary. Visitors can post their own comments. This is a great opportunity to peek inside the mind of one of our most unique and gifted puzzle makers. Congratulations, Brendan! Looks great so far! www.brendanemmettquigley.com

Ed Sessa had his first puzzle appear in the LA Times on November 18th. He acknowledges Nancy Salomon for her help and support. You can get the puzzle here . Well done, Ed!

The chances of a constructor seeing his or her New York Times debut appearing on a Saturday has got to be petty slim. But Don Willing managed it on Nov. 1, 2008. What a way to start! Congrats to Don and let's hope we see more of his work. The link to his debut puzzle is here.

Merl and Will in Simpsons episode

As many of you know, Will Shortz and Merl Reagle will be featured in an episode of The Simpsons, to be aired this Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. Merl was recently interviewed about appearing in the episode, and about crosswords in general. You can read the article here: Simpsons Article