Vote for Chicago Public Square in the Reader’s Best of Chicago poll?

Chicago Public Square returns in force Jan. 5—but watch for a year-end quiz Jan. 2. Meanwhile …

Now’s the time to vote in the Reader’s Best of Chicago poll—which ends at 11:59 p.m. Central time New Year’s Eve.

It’ll take less than 30 seconds to cast your ballot for Square as Best Newsletter here and as Best Blog here—both under the “City Life” category.

And before the year runs out, you can also support Square by underwriting the cost of producing and distributing Chicago’s “smartest daily news aggregation”—for as little as $1, just once.

Thanks, and happy New Year.

It's the end of the year as we know it / Quizzapalooza

Chicago Public Square returns in force Jan. 5. Meanwhile, you can get your fix of breaking news and perspective via the Square account on Bluesky. But for now …

It’s the end of the year as we know it. Time for Lyz Lenz to crown her Dingus of the Year—a man who’s spent 2025 “leaking war plans on Signal, doing alleged war crimes, calling generals fat … and using the Geneva Convention to wipe his butt” …

■ … and for Pulitzer winner Dave Barry to recap a year that “has left us, as a nation, lying face-down on the floor of despair, between the wastebasket of stupidity and the commode of broken dreams.”

Quizzapalooza. The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel, has assembled a two-part, supersized 2025-in-review extravaganza.

■ Your Square columnist got just nine of this week’s first 12 questions right. Your turn:

■ Then try your hand at the Tribune’s 60(!)-question year-in-review quiz—on which your Square columnist got just 35 correct.

If you’re not all clicked out … Consider taking another 30 seconds or so to vote for Square as Best Newsletter and Best Blog in the Reader’s Best of Chicago poll.

■ We’ll be back with Part Two of the year-end quiz in a week …

■ … and an early preview on New Year’s Day for those who support Square at the Advocate level or better.

■ Thanks for reading. Happy New Year.