I very much appreciate the near daily entertainment provided by the admins, judges and users of this site for many years and I'm sad that it seems to be over. In case anyone else comes back and looks at the forums for news/changes, I thought I'd tip you off to an alternative site that I've come across.
It's called Puzzle Square JP. There are pros (notably *lots* of puzzles) and cons (notably it's in Japanese) but I've been enjoying it. I've also been making some notes as I figure out some of the language issues and I'm saving that doc in an accessible place in case it can be of use to others.
I offered my help to the developers of PuzzlePicnic to upgrade the website and make it accessable again, but apart from a first response by Maarten L��ffler it is quiet since months. In my opinion PuzzlePicnic is dead and almost buried. And that is a pity for this popular puzzle site.