The theme of this month's puzzle is pen names, aka noms de plume. Did you know that nom de plume in French literally means "name of feather," and that "feather" in that term refers to the quill that people used to write with? (For some reason, the German Schriftstellername didn't take hold among English readers quite as well.) Whether your favorite authors use their real name or a pseudonym, you can use the Author Alerts service to get an email or text whenever any library in our network orders a new book or audiobook by them. Check it out at https://mhl.org/author-alerts!

Throughout 2020, we'll post a new puzzle the first day of every month as part of our Elect to Connect in 2020 campaign. If you have questions or feedback, get in touch—we'd love to hear from you!