Back in the fall, I started getting itchy to do another puzzle project for charity. The Social Distancing Puzzles had done pretty well, raising thousands of dollars for Feeding America at the height of the pandemic. For my follow-up, where did I want to focus my efforts?

I decided that I was most interested in supporting an organization that sought to protect democracy and bolster voting rights. Too many politicians and pundits seem intent on nibbling away at both of those — or even taking big painful bites. It has been alarming to watch, and I have felt quite helpless to do anything about it.

So, a fundraiser, then. But what should the puzzles look like? The Social Distancing Puzzles had a neat hook, where two or more people could co-solve the puzzles without necessarily being in the same room–the project literally encouraged social distancing. What should the hook be this time?

The answer came soon enough: I would make one puzzle for each of the 50 states!

On the heels of that: No. It’s a good hook, but I am not making 50 puzzles. A charity project is all well and good but let’s not go insane here.

But I still liked the general idea. So I turned to the puzzle community — I recruited some people I knew, and some people I didn’t know; I sought out crossword types and logic types and adventurous hunt puzzle types.

Ultimately over 30 puzzle constructors joined, and together we indeed made a puzzle for each of the 50 states — plus one for Washington, D.C.

Fifty-one puzzles in a big ol’ pdf! And you can get them all with a contribution of any size to Common Cause, which since 1970 has been fighting those who would erode our country’s democracy.

Please give generously, and please enjoy the puzzles!