A death in the family...

My copy of The Atlantic arrived in the mail yesterday, so this morning I logged on to their website to access the cryptic puzzle, and encountered the following message:

This is the final installment of The Puzzler. For the last 12 years, Henry Rathvon and Emily Cox have produced this engaging feature, first for the magazine and, more recently, for TheAtlantic.com. We thank Henry and Emily for their passion, creativity, and ingenious wit, and encourage readers to purchase their Puzzler collection, Atlantic Cryptic Crosswords.

For the past twelve years I have eagerly looked forward to each issue of the Atlantic, in part because of the superb cryptics. The pattern above is the grid for this month's puzzle. Each of the four sections of the puzzle consists of 12 clues, 11 of which have clues (always cryptic), none of which indicate where the answer goes in the section.

The Atlantic's cryptic puzzles are immensely entertaining (and challenging). I for one will greatly miss this feature. For those who would like to try this puzzle, a printable pdf is at this link - where you can also access the previous 12 years worth of puzzles. Enjoy.