If you’ve run out of puzzles to solve in Black Ink, or just want to try another style of puzzle, there are tons of options. Most puzzles are not distributed with a predictable URL pattern that Black Ink can automate the downloading of within the app, but you can still download and open files from a variety of sources.

Black Ink works with any puzzle in the “Across Lite” format, whose file names typically end with “.puz”. After downloading a “.puz” file to your Mac, just double-click the icon to open it in Black Ink. Puzzle files received via email can be opened in the same way.

Here are links to a variety of puzzles and other resources for finding puzzles on the web:

Major Publications

• New York Times Premium. Considered by many to be the gold standard of American crossword puzzles. If you already subscribe to the Times, you may have free access to these files. If you don’t, you can sign up for an annual subscription. You’ll get instant access to the daily puzzles, which range in difficulty from easiest on Monday to hardest on Saturday. Subscribers also get access to a huge archive of over 2,000 puzzles from the weeks and years gone by!

  Although the New York Times no longer publishes their puzzles in Across Lite format, Black Ink is able to connect to and download these puzzles directly from within the app.

American-Style Puzzles

• American Values Club. Ben Tausig’s premium reincarnation of the Onion AV Club crossword. Puzzles arrive several times a week and can be easily opened for solving with Black Ink.
• Bewilderingly. Free puzzles by Will Nedinger.
• Brendan Emmett Quigley. Free puzzles by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Just click the links that he has labeled “Across Lite” next to the puzzle name.
• Fireball Crosswords. Premium puzzles by Peter Gordon, formerly of the New York Sun. Delivered by email for an annual fee.
• Grids These Days. Free puzzles by Paolo Pasco.
• Inteltainment. Free puzzles by Stella Zawistowski.
• JKL Crosswords. Free puzzles by Jesse Lansner.
• Rossword Puzzles. Free puzzles by Ross Trudeau. No longer publishing, but there is a large archive.
• ZeroFiftyOne. Free puzzles by Ben Wilson. Click “Download as .puz” below the web solving interface.

UK-Style Cryptic Puzzles

• Ashley L V Smith. Click the “Download File” link next to files with a “.puz” in the filename.
• The Browser. Subscription-based service featuring several free samples in .puz format.
• Private Eye Cryptic. Look for cryptic crossword puzzles released here
  in Across Lite format.

Other Resources

• Crossword Fiend. Amy Reynaldo’s list of puzzles organized by
  day of the week. Just click the “Lite” icon for a version that can be solved with Black Ink.
• Will Johnston’s Puzzle Links. An expansive list of puzzles,
  many of which are solvable in Black Ink. Some of these puzzles have ceased publishing, though.
• Wordplay: the NYT Crossword Blog. Check out the “Blogroll” section of the site to see a list of links to puzzles and other resources.

What’s Missing?

• If you know of other puzzles available in the Aross Lite (.puz) format, drop us a line to suggest that we list it here. If you have a favorite newspaper or indie constructor whose puzzles are not available in “Across Lite” format, ask them to consider supporting the format!