It feels completely trite and trivial to talk about what puzzle I’m working on in the midst of what is happening in my country. I know we all need a respite from the news, the increasingly only terrible news; it might be nice to just not think about it and talk only of puzzles, which is what normally happens here.

But not thinking about the bad things that happen and acting as if they aren’t happening is what has gotten us to where we are – which is a frightening, horrible place.