Four things

This week's Chicago Reader puzzle by Ben Tausig: Do you like mixed drinks? Do you like anagrams? Do you like coming up with anagrams while under the influence of mixed drinks? As long as your answer to the second question is "yes," you'll like this week's offering from Ben. As usual, top-notch fill and clues rock the joint.

The new Wordplay poster: Trip Payne reports that the new poster—which features Will Shortz, Merl Reagle, and ace solvers Trip, Ellen Ripstein, Tyler Hinman, Al Sanders, and Jon Delfin—has been unveiled at CHUD.com. Those of you in New York, make sure you pick up a copy of the New York Times today, as there's a Tribeca film festival insert with the Wordplay poster.

A new blog in the sidebar: Patrick Blindauer has had some crosswords in the New York Sun recently, including that showy connect-the-dots star puzzle published the Friday of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Patrick's started a LiveJournal that focuses on the Sun puzzles and his puzzle creation activities.

A new old blog in the sidebar: You know, I've been reading Trip's LiveJournal every day for months and have had it bookmarked since before it took on its current title, "In Black and White." Somehow I never added it to the blogroll until today. When you're hankering for the latest on Wordplay, check out Trip's, Ellen's, and Tyler's LiveJournals.