One of the challenges for Black Ink lovers is finding a steady supply of new puzzles to solve in the app. I publish a list of resources with pointers to many sources of free and paid puzzles, but there are yet more options out there!

Matt Gritzmacher has a novel approach to addressing this problem, in the form of a daily email newsletter with direct links to puzzles:

Daily Crossword Links

The newsletter includes links to many puzzles that include “.puz” downloadable links. This is a file format that Black Ink can open directly. So if you’re looking for a steady source of puzzles to solve in Black Ink, beyond what’s included in the app, be sure to give Daily Crossword Links a look!

Black Ink 2.0.6 is now available on the Black Ink site and on the Mac App Store.

This update improves some of Black Ink’s nuanced solving affordances, including its support for “direct clue navigation”. When you type a numeric value while solving in Black Ink, you see a heads-up display previewing the clue number you’ll navigate to:

Previously to 2.0.6, after typing a clue number you had to press return to “confirm” the jump. Starting with this release, after a short pause the focus will automatically jump without confirmation. It’s the little things that add up!

Complete list of changes for this release:

• Typing a number to jump to a clue now automatically commits without pressing enter
• Change default navigation preferences to not pause cursor movement when changing directions
• Fix the appearance of circled cells to prevent the circle being shifted a little too high
• Fix a crash that could occur when tabbing in a puzzle with squares that do not correspond to any clue
• Fix a bug that could change other answers when revealing a multi-character answer
• Fix a bug that caused the wrong clue to show when reopening the app with a down clue selected

If you enjoy Black Ink, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the Mac App Store, spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.

I’m excited to announce a new premium puzzle source for Black Ink: The Inkubator. This puzzle is dedicated to showcasing puzzles constructed by women. Or, as they put it: “cis women, trans women, & woman-aligned constructors.” The puzzles come out twice a month, and normally cost $25/year, but at the moment they are offering a free, two-month trial, which also includes access to the archive of past puzzles.

Black Ink 2.0.4 is available on the home page and on the Mac App Store.

If you enjoy Black Ink, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the Mac App Store, or spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Questions or concerns? Get in touch at [email protected]. Thank you.

What better way to pass the time indoors than by enjoying a nice crossword puzzle?

For many of us who solve the New York Times daily crossword, Rex Parker’s blog is a regular post-solving stop. If there’s anything that seemed unusually great or, more likely, unusually groan-worthy about a particular puzzle, Rex is likely to have nailed it with concision in his daily review.

Today’s entry is a particular treat because Rex shared a live video of his solving process, featuring none other than Black Ink, our Mac crossword solving app. Here’s a direct link to the YouTube video, which I don’t recommend clicking through to until AFTER you’ve solved the puzzle, unless you don’t mind spoilers:

Watch Rex Parker solve the New York Times crossword with Black Ink

It’s fun to see a master at work, especially when he’s using such an excellent tool to get the job done!