PUZZLE 24: UNITED WE STAN (themeless)

[ACROSS LITE | PDF]

Solving Music: Hall and Oates - Out of Touch

Fair warning, this puzzle is gonna skew hella male. I was hoping to get some longer answers that weren't dudes' names, but the cards were just not in my favor this time. (I could've even had SOCIAL ACTIVISTS in this puzzle as a nice relevant answer, but then I noticed an offensive entry and the fates were not having it.)

That said, pretty happy with this one. Hopefully the central entry is still relevant enough; it's a phenomenon that's made my month, and I'm sure it has for others too. I recently gridded another themeless on my Twitch stream, but I'm still debating whether it's passable enough to post here; chances are it'll be the next puzzle here.

Also as a heads up, a week from today (on Thursday the 18th), I've got a puzzle in the New York Times, so give that a shot if you can.

Lastly, I wanted to share a couple more BLM resources.

First is the Racial Justice and Equality Game Bundle on itch.io; for at least five dollars, you can get MORE THAN A THOUSAND VIDEO GAMES. That's INSANE. Like "$9,000 worth of games for $5" insane. This isn't even like those shoddy "1000-games-in-1" packages you get at Walmart full of Bejeweled clones; a lot of these are legit games. Honestly, let me just go to the site and list off some of the ones I've heard great things about: A Short Hike, Night in the Woods, Celeste, Nuclear Throne, Pikuniku, Quadrilateral Cowboy, GNOG, OneShot, Super Hexagon, No Pineapple Left Behind, and way more. Also included are packs of assets for game development (graphics, guides, etc.). It'd be ridiculous not to drop $5 on this; all profits are being split 50/50 between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Community Bail Fund. It's only available for the next 3-4 days, so if you want in, get it soon.

Second is another Carrd site, this one more focused on protester safety, black history, and mental health resources. Go check that out, and share the link as well. The Carrd I shared last time is the one I've seen shared around the most, but I think I've only seen this one once, which is pretty sad. Spread the word.

Enjoy the puzzle!

SOLUTION:

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