xword-dl is a command-line tool that downloads crossword puzzles from over 30 online outlets and saves them in the standard .puz format. The codebase implements a plugin-based architecture where each outlet (e.g., New York Times, Guardian, Los Angeles Times) has its own downloader subclassing a base class. The main entry point (xword_dl.py) discovers plugins via package walking, parses command-line arguments, and dispatches to the appropriate downloader. The download flow consists of locating the puzzle URL (by latest or by date), fetching solver data, parsing the outlet-specific format (JSON, XML, or obfuscated payload) into a unified Puzzle object, sanitizing content for the .puz format, and saving the file. Notable technical challenges handled include deobfuscating AmuseLabs' proprietary encoding using a brute-force BFS key search, authenticating with NYT's subscription API, and translating diverse grid/clue representations into a standardized binary format. The project is actively maintained with pinned dependencies, GitHub Actions CI, and a well-documented plugin pattern. While it lacks unit tests and some downloaders are disabled due to anti-scraping measures, the core architecture is clean and the deobfuscation module is a standout reusable asset.