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Front Desk · The Epic Gazette
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Section // The Puzzle DeskDaily Crossword · No. 12Puzzle Desk
The 209 Crossword
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 · the 209 history edition · California
Pick a square — the clue you’re answering shows here.
3Community famous for its big cheese visitor center (6)
6The 'Apricot Capital of the World' (9)
8West-side town on Highway 33 (6)
9Gold Rush ferry town with the covered bridge; county seat 1862-71 (12)
11Community whose name is Spanish for 'departure' (6)
12First word of the Modesto arch motto (5)
14New ___ reservoir, over the old gold town (7)
15County seat -- its Spanish name honors the rail man too 'modest' to take it (7)
Down
2Community that held the county seat back in the 1850s (6)
4Orchard nut that pays a lot of county bills (6)
5The county's name, and one of its rivers' (10)
7Town that throws the Cheese & Wine festival (9)
10Modesto winery founded 1933; grew into the world's largest (5)
13Oakdale's signature April weekend (5)
Every answer is the 209 history or geography.
Wrong letters turn red on Check grid — tap a square twice to switch
across/down. New grid at midnight; “deal another” sets a second board off today’s shoe.
