We've had a few months of trouble on our back-of-the-book puzzle page as we've made some changes with our crossword. There's a long backstory to what happened, but I'll cut to the chase: Sometime near the end of last year, we started running the New York Times Sunday crossword. We soon learned this was a colossal mistake, as many local puzzle fiends had already done the same puzzle in the morning daily on the Sunday before we hit the streets—and boy, did we hear from them. But contracts are not always easy to massage, so it took a little time before we were able to work out a new plan to run the Times' Thursday puzzle. We have settled into the new schedule this month and people have stopped sending me pictures of their butts via Twitter DM, so I think we've got it all worked out. (I've thought that before, though, so I'm sure some angry emails are headed my way.)
We've also got an excerpt from local author Jes Baker's new book, Landwhale. Baker is an irreverent blogger and blunt speaker who has made a name for herself in the body image movement. In our excerpt, she weighs the various pros and cons of being fat.
Elsewhere in this week's edition: Staff reporter Danyelle Khmara continues her coverage of the #RedForEd teacher walkout; staff reporter Christopher Boan explains why Tucson Roadrunner fans are so excited to see Tucson's minor league hockey team in the playoffs; Tucson Salvage columnist Brian Smith learns a few tricks from a local magician; regular contributor Lee Allen looks into whether longtime tamale shop Lerua's can survive the Broadway widening; arts writer Margaret Regan previews Artifact Dance Project's upcoming performance; Sherilyn Forrester reviews Arizona Theatre Company and Rogue Theater; intern Melissa Vasquez travels to Nogales to see how TUSD high school students are using the border wall as their artistic canvas; comedy correspondent Linda Ray rounds up a whole bunch of funny business this week; feature writer Jeff Gardner introduces us to local band Jivin Scientists; movie critic Bob Grimm says Avengers: Infinity War is a senses-shattering summer blockbuster; medical marijuana columnist Nick Meyers adds up how much money a tax on recreational weed could bring the state; and there's the usual collection of other columns that bring you up to speed on where to howl this week.
Excelsior!
— Jim Nintzel Executive Editor
