Crossword Puzzles

David Steinberg wants us to tuck things away for safekeeping.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — When I visited my father’s extended family as a child, one of my favorite parts of the get-together was when my grandmother would pull me aside and say in a conspiratorial voice: “Here’s a dollar. Don’t tell your grandfather.” At some point, my grandfather would pull me aside and say: “Here’s a dollar. Don’t tell your grandmother.” The same thing would happen with most of the adults until I had amassed what, in my child mind, seemed like a small fortune.These relatives had one small quirk that I noticed. As they handed me the money, each one of them said the same thing: “Put it away so you don’t lose it.”This irritated me. How incompetent did they think I was, I wondered. Why would I lose track of this sudden influx of wealth, I said to myself, as I set the dollars down somewhere and promptly forgot about them.So my relatives were right, I guess. You should definitely put things in a safe place so you don’t lose them. David Steinberg, the constructor of today’s puzzle, apparently agrees, and his charming puzzle is a lesson in how to do just that.Today’s ThemeMr. Steinberg’s puzzle offers a double rebus with a visual component that I thought was charming. If you are not sure how to enter more than one letter in a square using the rebus key on your device, here are instructions.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Dan Caprera spreads the word.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Solving crosswords sometimes makes me feel as though I’m connecting to some communal store of knowledge, a place where idioms, bits of sports jargon, celebrity names and lesser-known abbreviations are held and can be drawn on as needed. There was certainly something instinctive about the way I solved today’s crossword, constructed by Dan Caprera, which hinges on a series of terms and phrases that are both familiar and entirely arbitrary. One special word connects them, and I think you’ll figure out what it is in short order. Well, maybe not so short.Today’s ThemeIf you’re utterly lost on how to proceed, that’s OK. When we last featured a theme like this, in a puzzle by Neville Fogarty from 2020, it appeared on a Thursday — a day with a reputation for challenging solves. So, while today’s grid may be Wednesday-level hard, its use of a rebus (in the sense that the word “long” is represented symbolically, rather than as a word itself) makes it Thursday-worthy, especially with no revealer.The themed entries are 4-, 9-, 15- and 17-Down. The clue [What a stereotypical bartender asks after a horse walks into a bar] (15D) is a helpful way in, since the phrase it alludes to is well known: “Why the long face?” That’s not how the entry is written, though. Instead, we have WHY THE FFAACCEE? The word “face” is long, literally.Here’s another example: The [Inspiration for a seafood chain] (4D) would normally be the well-known pirate Long John Silver, but it appears here as JJOOHHNN SILVER.(I hope it doesn’t take you a TTIIMMEE to figure out the rest of these.)Tricky Clues14A. This entry makes waves whenever it appears because it uses a Latin plural. [Contents of some shots] are SERA, as in the plural of serum.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Greg Snitkin’s puzzle takes us back in time.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — We all fall victim to a little cultural nostalgia. Things were just cooler when we were young! Modern trends seem invariably tethered to days gone by. Right now, cassette tapes are cool again, the teens insist they’re Luddites and chunky ’80s jewelry is making a comeback 40 years later. Heck, ritual wassailing is the new clubbing.In keeping with societal trends, this crossword from Greg Snitkin brings us another artifact of the past. I still see these things around, so I don’t think they’ve been made obsolete just yet — but time will tell. I mean, it really will.Today’s ThemeThe revealer at 56A is a double entendre. It’s a way to say [“I forbid this” … or what a smart device wearer might claim regarding the ends of 20-, 30-, 40- and 48-Across?]. The answer is NOT ON MY WATCH — as in, something not found on a smart watch.When I say that your enjoyment of this theme may depend on your age, I’m not being glib: Some people aren’t learning how to read analog timepieces anymore and thus could hardly be expected to know wristwatch anatomy. I had to look up a few terms myself! BILLY CRYSTAL — [Meg Ryan’s co-star in “When Harry Met Sally …”] (20A) — refers to watch crystals, the protective coverings on watch faces. A [Call after last call?] (30A) is a DRUNK DIAL (heh, heh); the dial of a watch is its circle of hourly markings. Who knows these terms? Maybe you do. I guess what I’m saying is, different clock strokes for different clock folks. If you haven’t got the time to solve the others, click to reveal them below.40A. [Kook]NUTCASEWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Colin Adams opens our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — We tend to be very hard on ourselves, and I really wish we weren’t. Some people may see self-criticism as a display of high standards, or something that might stem from an experience in their pasts that I am highly unqualified to discuss.In the first instance, we may believe that being hard on ourselves spurs us to achieve our goals, but, most of the time, it really just holds us back. It makes us afraid to try new things, because we feel as if we’ll be bad at it, and therefore, what’s the use of even trying?Maybe that’s why there are so many people who — hang on tight, here comes a big segue — are afraid to try crossword puzzles. They’ve read about how hard they are, internalized that and given up before they even got started. And that’s such a shame.You’ve probably heard the idiom “Everyone has to start somewhere.” You may be picking up your first crossword ever (a Monday, please, as those are the most straightforward and the easiest to get into) or deciding whether you want to leave your midweek solving comfort zone by trying a Friday grid.What’s stopping you? The fear of making a mistake? That’s what the backspace key and the eraser are for. Here’s another idiom: “If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t make anything.” Free yourself from that fear.The best way to achieve your solving goals is to just get started. And then continue. You’ll get better as you go along, I promise. And if you need some help, there is Wordplay, as well as our warm and welcoming commenters.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Peter Gorman offers a puzzle that is gentle to solve … and confusing. But he meant to do that.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — As the columnist who tackles the Thursday puzzles, I’m usually witness to readers’ frustrations with the so-called “trickiest” day of the week for New York Times Crosswords. They’re not the hardest — that distinction is reserved for Saturday grids — but Thursday puzzles force your brain to think outside the box. (Mind you, I’m not suggesting that you should write the letters outside the grid, although that has happened, too.)The thing about Thursday puzzles is that they’re not all meant to make you feel as if your brain is exploding. Will Shortz, the crossword editor, has said that while the really tricky themes seem to appear mostly on Thursdays, the puzzle is really meant to simply be “one harder than Wednesdays.” In fact, some Thursday crosswords are fairly gentle, and this Times debut by Peter Gorman is one of them. It’s enjoyable, without the feeling that the theme is so insurmountable that you might as well quit while you’re ahead.There is a trick — you may feel a bit thrown off as you solve — but I believe that this puzzle can be enjoyed by those who resolutely claim to be only Monday-through-Wednesday solvers.Give this one a try. Set yourself up for success by trying Mr. Gorman’s puzzle and then saying to yourself, “Look at me, solving a Thursday Times Crossword!”Today’s ThemeI knew something was up when I filled in the answer to [This clue] at 20A. It turned out to be TWENTY-ONE ACROSS, which meant that either the clue or the answer was off by one.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Joe Deeney leaves us in stitches.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — We all have different gifts. Some of us are naturally athletic; others seem to have a green thumb. I have been blessed (cursed, really) with the ability to pun on cue. The theme of Joe Deeney’s crossword celebrates yet another area of expertise: handicraft.If you have a special skill beyond those listed above, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section. Maybe we can collectively confer our weird and wonderful talents onto one another.Today’s ThemeJust as there are spelling bees, there is a [Social sewing event] called a QUILTING BEE (59A), but I’m told it’s noncompetitive. The participants are in a room just working on their own quilting projects. What a lovely idea for a gathering. More bees, please!The revealer at 59-Across tells us that QUILTING BEE is a [hint to the starts of 17-, 29-, 34- and 44-Across]. In this case, “starts” refers to the first words of each entry. Each themed entry begins with a bit of quilting jargon (except for 29A, which starts with the fairly obvious “blanket”).A [Film megahit] is a BLOCKBUSTER (17A), as in quilt blocks. The name of a [Small British hunting dog] begins with a word for what surrounds the quilt pattern: BORDER TERRIER (34A). And a [Slugger’s pregame warm-up] is referred to as BATTING PRACTICE; the first word refers to the stuff that makes your quilt nice and puffy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Erik Agard extends his regards.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — You may come across the odd entry in the New York Times Crossword (or any crossword, for that matter) that doesn’t seem to be a real word. That’s valid! While we don’t need to argue over whether specific words do or don’t “exist” — in certain scholarly arguments, none of them do — it’s reasonable to wonder why some words appear in the crossword but not in the dictionary.With that said, I hope you’ll understand why Erik Agard decided to include 66-Across in today’s crossword. I think you’ll understand why the word had to be used … even if it is a bit of a stretch.Today’s ThemeThere’s no revealer in this theme, but it does feel as though each themed entry builds on the previous one as you move down the grid. Four identical clues at 17-, 36-, 44- and 66-Across read: [“Seriously?!”]. The answers are distinct, albeit tonally similar, but one of them stands out.I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU (17A) leads to WHO DOES THAT? (36A) and THE AUDACITY! (44A). Then it’s just WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW (66A).The joke dawned on me when I noticed that I had some kind of grid-spanning entry that ended in -OOW. What kind of expression of disbelief was this? I filled the row with O’s, half-joking at the notion. Only once several Down entries crossed the O’s successfully did I realize what was going on. “Ooooooooooohhhh,” you might say.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Kate Hawkins and Erica Hsiung Wojcik make their collaboration debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Before we begin our weeks and dig into the day’s puzzle, I’d like us all to pause for a moment of communal self-care. Please join me in gazing at this column’s header image of wild piglets sleeping in a stripy little pile and feel its curative effects wash over you.If that seems like too saccharine a sentiment, consider it compensation for the biting wit in today’s crossword theme, which Kate Hawkins and Erica Hsiung Wojcik have woven into an otherwise guileless and beginner-friendly puzzle. Don’t feel guilty for enjoying the acerbic tone therein — we can have a little snark, as a treat.Today’s ThemeA sarcastic phrase akin to [“Uh-huh, I bet”] is YEAH, RIGHT. The circled letters in 17-, 24-, 36- and 50-Across reveal what this phrase describes, in a literal sense: words synonymous with “yeah” hidden in the right side of their entries.The [Memento-filled craft project] at 17-Across is a SCRAPBOOK, with OK at the end. At 24-Across, the [Fast-food chain that serves Louisiana chicken] is POPEYES, which ends with YES. And so on and so forth.I appreciate a cute and uncomplicated theme like this one to start my week. It elicited a chuckle, which is all we can hope for sometimes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More