slurpees at 7-eleven

matt forest

Matt Forest is a guy living in Minnesota with his wife, three kids, and a dog. He enjoys hiking, biking, being outdoors, and occasionally making crossword puzzles (when he can find enough free time)! You can find more of his puzzles at mattsword.com and in various mainstream outlets.

color coding

aidan deshong

Aidan Deshong is a high school senior in Los Angeles, CA. When he isn’t making crosswords, he’s probably trying to break the world record for fastest time to eat a head of lettuce.

what feeds a soul? (cryptic)

bob weisz

Once again I'm delighted to be your shot of Gin & Grapefruit! (do not mix with certain medications). Also, let's raise a toast to Steve Mossberg — this lil midi wouldn't be so shiny and cute without his great mind. And he's nice too! Huzzah!

bon appétit!

jeanne breen

I started constructing in mid-spring of 2023 and am continuing to learn the ins and outs/nuts and bolts of putting together an appealing grid.  I’ve had key input and encouragement from several folks in the crossworld, including Taylor and Shannon here at gin + grapefruit, which published my debut this past October. When I’m not constructing, you might find me swimming laps at the YMCA, reading, or being entertained by my winsome 12-year-old Chihuahua, Griffin. 

get in loser, we’re going puzzling!

greg snitkin

greg snitkin is a fund accountant from south orange, NJ. he has three small kids and is just now getting into “frozen”. when he's not puzzling he can be found negotiating bedtimes and talking up vegetables. he's excited to be here and hopes you enjoy!

it’s D-lightful!

dena witkes

dena witkes may be the only constructrix immortalized in song. while 1980s TV guides served as the gateway drug to a lifetime crossword addiction, she only recently delved into constructing. she is truly amazed at the altruism amidst the cruciverbalist community. when not puzzling, dena can be found chasing rainbows.

happy hour

tim giannetti

Sometimes, it takes me a long time to come up with puzzle themes.  When I saw the team behind lemonade disco was starting up gin & grapefruit, the themers for this one just jumped off the page at me.  Thanks to Shannon and the LD team for the encouragement, help, and support fine-tuning the puzzle, and cheers!

whiz kids

rose sloan

Rose is a computer scientist currently living in New York. They have been constructing crossword puzzles since 2021 and have had puzzles published in outlets such as USA Today, LA Times, AVCX, and Inkubator, as well as being part of the 2023 Lil AVC X editing team. In 2024, they look forward to knitting a comfy sweater, breaking ancient curses, and publishing more puzzles on their blog A Crossword Rose

cocktail hour (cryptic)

will eisenberg

Will (@TlMBERWOLVES) is a French horn player and music teacher in the Twin Cities. He is the current 3rd horn of Orchestra Iowa, and the reigning champion of the Boswords Themeless League Choppy division. Will is part of the leadership team for Lil AVC X in 2024. More of his puzzles can be found on the blog Half-Baked Puzzles.

space junk

shannon rapp & ori brian

shannon: This puzzle is a rare example of a theme just coming to me! I'm so happy that Ori agreed to come along on this little journey through some space junk with me in our first collaboration. I am currently enjoying hot coffee, heated blankets, warm lapcats, and dreaming of beach vacations. As always, thank you for solving! 

ori: Hi! I'm Ori, and I've been making crosswords since 2015, for a variety of outlets including my own blog here. Thanks to Shannon for the opportunity to collab on this one, and hope you enjoy the solve!

ok wise guy!

adrian johnson

"you think you're smart enough to solve this puzzle? ok wise guy, prove it!"

seriously, prove it. solve this puzzle, then tell your friends, tell your grandmas, tell your cousins to solve it, because lemonade disco and gin & grapefruit are gifts to our indie crossword world that we don't deserve and the humans behind them are the best of us. we owe them our eternal love and respect <3

when lifelong cowboy and dad joke factory adrian johnson isn’t gallivanting through the mountains or cooking food so good even his kittens snowy and range can’t resist it, he sometimes writes crosswords, like this one.

sloth girl (cryptic)

bob weisz

Oh hello! Sooo this is my puzzle debut (thank you everyone @ Lemmy Disco!!)… as such, these are my debut constructor notes! I'm kinda nervous. What do people normally write here? my A/S/L is 30something/m/BW3s. I love dogs and I hate bleu cheese. My favorite class is Wild Magic Sorcerer. I make props and edit videos and popularized datamoshing. If you like what you see, check out talesfromthecrypticcrosswords.blogspot.com — new small cryptic every Saturday! Difficulty is switchy, but leans top. Thanks for reading, hope you swipe right!

boomer bonanza

jeanne breen

I’m a physician, piano player, voracious reader, lap swimmer, animal lover, movie buff, student of baseball, and a lifelong resident of the Northeast.  I drink my coffee with milk and my gin gimlets straight up and ice-cold.  I’ve enjoyed solving crosswords and other word puzzles for years and just started constructing this spring (2023); I’m honored that gin + grapefruit is the site of my debut.  The ‘crossworld’ is such a warm, welcoming community and I’m genuinely in awe of how creative puzzlers are with their themes, themeless seed entries, and cluing.  My thanks to Taylor for encouraging me to give midi construction a try and to Shannon for editing.  I hope you enjoy the solve! 

poster child

sala wanetick

I am a lifelong word game enthusiast and pop culture junkie - so it is a wonder it took me this long to get into crosswords. I knew I wanted to try my hand at constructing but didn’t know where to start until I mentioned it to my good friend Emily, who shared ‘I notice many puzzles are co-written…’  The rest is history! Big thanks to Shannon for her guidance and getting us on the right track - I look forward to getting to know more people in this community.

emily biegas

My crossword obsession just turned a year old this July and I am thrilled to be making my publishing debut here on lemonade disco with my good friend Sala! I didn’t even know constructing was “a thing” before she mentioned it. Big thanks to Shannon for helping us workshop this theme, which was born out of a totally different idea.

untitled (cryptic)

joe o’brien

I've been constructing American-style crosswords since 2020, writing them for family, friends, and the school I teach English at (shout out to the Salesianum Crossword Club!). Getting into cryptics has been a fun but difficult challenge. I'm really proud of the surfaces on this slate of clues (especially 6D and 17A!)--I hope you enjoy solving this one as much as I enjoyed setting it! 

the seven

brian gubin

I'm thrilled to be making my gin + grapefruit debut! Thanks to Taylor and Shannon for working with me on this and allowing my voice to come through in the grid and in the clues. The first entry I had was 2-down and I built out from there. The plus sign in the middle of the grid wasn't planned but I like how it looks. Enjoy!

a quick one (variety cryptic)

steve mossberg

I make a lot of hard puzzles and some easier ones. Truth be told, even easy cryptics aren’t so easy. I edit at Lemonade Disco in order to help others make better, fairer puzzles. That way, more solvers can enjoy them, regardless of intended difficulty. We have a couple of nice ones coming this fall from new setters, but in the meantime, here’s a little variety cryptic from me. It’s fun and not TOO hard, though I did feel kind of limited by the modest size — more on that in the instructions below. I hope it brightens your day!

get crazy with the cheez whiz!

taylor johnson

an alternate clue for 9-D: [1998 Disney Channel Movie about aggressive inline-skating that gave us the line: “Val and his crew were dissin' us. We started givin' 'em beef right back, but they wanted to hit it right there at school. Clearly, we couldn't step off, so we had to battle."]

we’re going shopping!

shannon rapp

“hi! i'm so happy to kick off our gin+grapefruit series with this mini-themed midi i made just for the occasion. i hope it provides a little brightness in your day. :)”