Crossword Puzzles

Colin Adams is a very busy person these days.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — As the great sage Ferris Bueller once said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

via GIPHYGiphy.comI hope Colin Adams is looking around and feeling proud of his accomplishments today. As he says in his constructor notes, 2024 has turned out to be a big year for him. If that weren’t enough, this puzzle is his New York Times Crossword debut.It’s a good one. Mr. Adams made some lively stacks in the northeast and southwest, and the long Across and Down entries were fun to write into the grid.More on this below. There will be a few spoilers, so if you don’t want to see them, scroll up to the “Tricky Clues” jump link above the Games newsletter sign-up box. Clicking the link will take you directly to the section where I discuss the clues.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

Are Rich Katz and Teddy Katz pulling a disappearing act on us?Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — If you are here after trying to solve today’s crossword by the father-and-son team of Rich and Teddy Katz and you have gotten yourself into a tizzy, come sit right here next to me. We’re going to make sense of this.Oh, and you’re not seeing things. More about that later.Rich Katz, Teddy’s father, has had three puzzles in The New York Times, and today the younger Mr. Katz makes his Times Crossword debut. Their constructor notes suggest that the theme was Teddy’s idea, and it’s an exciting one. I hope we see more from both Katzes soon.Today’s ThemeBefore we get started with the theme, let us take a moment to admire two constructors, both named Katz, who decided to make a crossword in which we are not completely sure whether the letters in the circled squares need to be there or not. Get it? Katz/cats? Schrödinger puzzles? Is this thing on?Even if you don’t appreciate that duality, stay tuned. This is an impressive theme nonetheless.Anyway, the theme revealer at 32A is DOUBLE OR NOTHING, clued as “Risky wager … with a hint to the letters in this puzzle’s circled squares.” There are five circled squares in the grid, and each one needs a double-letter rebus to complete both the Across and Down answers.Or does it?Let’s look at the intersection of 19A and 3D. The answer to 19A’s “Disturb, in a way” is RIPPLE, with the double P entered in the circled square. At 3D, the answer to “Sat on a clothesline, say” is DRIPPED.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

Ella Dershowitz declares her feelings in a lighthearted holiday puzzle.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Subtle it’s not, but I still got a chuckle out of Ella Dershowitz’s declaration of L.O.V.E. blaring from today’s Valentine’s Day crossword. I also needed some L.O.V.E. myself, since I spent over 15 minutes struggling in the puzzle’s southeast corner and wondering: Is this the day I finally choo-choo-choose to walk away from a Wednesday?I didn’t walk away, of course. I persevered, filled with certain gray-shaded sentiments represented in today’s theme. Valentine’s Day may be tiresome for single and partnered romantics alike, but Ms. Dershowitz’s crossword is a welcome escape from the demands of the day. Solving it also reminded me that there’s nothing I L.O.V.E. quite so much as a good puzzle.Today’s ThemeIn discovering the layers of today’s theme, I felt like a child plucking petals from a flower: I’ve solved it! I’ve solved it not. I’ve solved it! I’ve solved it not.Gray-shaded letters in the grid clearly spell the word LOVE. But we don’t discover the significance of their fill until 35-Across, where a revealer points out that certain “Valentine’s Day exchanges” double as a descriptor for “what this puzzle’s shaded areas are?”The answer is LOVE LETTERS. At first, this entry may seem too obvious — of course we’ve seen how those LETTERS spell LOVE! But as we fill in the grid, we discover that each letter contains a term for loving affection: The shaded L is filled with ROMANCE, the O with FONDNESS, the V with PASSION and the E with RESPECT.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 Gordon has the right attitude in today’s crossword puzzle.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — I was asked on a recent evening to participate in a comedy show in which panelists gave slide show presentations on topics of their choosing. I opted for a language-focused segment (obviously) about clichés in reality television, inspired by my longtime fascination with the “Bachelor” franchise.One of my cohorts, a commercially successful actor, presented a lighthearted review of the many odd jobs he’d had on the road to his career. It got me thinking about the language (obviously) of the gig economy, which commodifies our qualities. I have learned to describe myself, for example, as a self-starter — which is a fancy way of saying I’m a morning person.One of these work-force-ready qualities can be found at the heart of today’s crossword, which was constructed by Peter Gordon. As with any crossword theme, the phrase requires a different interpretation to apply to the rest of the puzzle. In corporate terms, it’s versatile and adaptable to new environments!Shall we clock in and get to work?Today’s ThemeAre you a sports fan? If not, today’s theme might not have hit home for you. Appreciating it requires a knowledge of “Ones unconcerned with individual achievements” — that is to say TEAM PLAYERS. Each themed entry is made up of two sports team names; the leagues the teams belong to are appended in brackets.An “Indication that a gas stove is functioning properly” (3D), for instance, is a BLUE FLAME — for the St. Louis BLUEs and the Calgary FLAMEs of the N.H.L. Remember “Clarence in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’” (54A)? He’s a GUARDIAN ANGEL, made up of the Cleveland and Los Angeles baseball teams in the American League of the M.L.B.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

Christina Iverson offers solvers a challenging Friday puzzle.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — As I like to say, some days you get the puzzle, and some days the puzzle gets you. This is especially true of Friday crosswords, because the work that goes into solving is much harder. There’s no theme to lean on, the vocabulary may be tougher, and the clues are written to send the solver off on wild goose chases.But that’s what I love about the Friday puzzles. They’re exhilarating. Solving them is the closest I will ever come to walking a high wire, mainly because I am a chicken about heights.Still, I am beaten by the puzzles sometimes, even after years of practice. At first, I made very little headway on Christina Iverson’s excellent puzzle. It was a bit distressing, but I used a well-known, tried-and-true technique for breaking through my puzzle block: I put it down and walked away from it.Task avoidance may not seem like an especially efficient way to solve a puzzle, but it does the job, as long as you come back to the crossword eventually. I’m not sure exactly how this works, but when you return to the puzzle, you see it differently. You may be able to solve clues that stymied you before. Do the avoidance thing a few times, learn some of the tips from our solving guide, and you may find that you’ve conquered one of the hardest New York Times Crosswords of the week.It’s worth it, in my opinion. If you don’t at least try the late-week puzzles, you’re missing out on some excellent clues and entries. For me, admiring and sometimes giggling at the crossword shenanigans is what makes solving fun.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

Samuel A. Donaldson returns with some advice for people trying to date.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — The first time I heard that Sam Donaldson was coming to the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, I was very excited. Mr. Donaldson had been the highly respected chief White House correspondent for ABC for as long as I could remember, and there were rumors at the tournament that he enjoyed making crossword puzzles as well.So you can imagine my confusion when a man who was decades younger than the veteran journalist walked up to me and introduced himself as Sam Donaldson. It turned out that the puzzle constructor was a law professor in Georgia with the same name as the correspondent.I was not disappointed. I made a friend that day, and he is an incredibly nice person who happens to enjoy crossing words. Also, it may be the reason that he now uses Samuel A. Donaldson for his byline.This is his 39th crossword in The New York Times, and I’m happy to see him back. Also, it may be the reason that he now uses Samuel A. Donaldson for his byline.Today’s ThemeIn four places, two theme entries lie next to each other on the same row. Please note that the theme clues are not italicized or starred, but you will know that you are onto something when the answers don’t make any sense. I know. Welcome to the Thursday puzzle.At 18A, the answer to the clue “Highway crossing” is written as PASSOVER. Now, I have been to plenty of Passover seders in my life, and not one of them took place on a public roadway. There must be more to this entry. In fact, it makes a lot more sense if you flip the word and make it OVERPASS.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

Make some noise for Daniel Mauer’s musical crossword.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — If you have only recently begun solving the New York Times Crossword and reading the accompanying Wordplay column, you may be flummoxed by some of the terms that get tossed around here. Why is everyone always bringing up emus, for example? (It’s an apocryphal reference to our comment moderators.) And what the heck are veiled capitals? (They are hidden proper nouns in clues; read more about them in our solver’s guide.)One bit of crossword slang I’m still getting used to myself is the “revealer,” which is a clue that cracks the rest of the theme by pointing out its pattern. Some themed puzzles have them, while others — like today’s grid, constructed by Daniel Mauer — leave us to discover the pattern for ourselves.Shall we cross the threshold of revelation together?Today’s ThemeThe entries at 18-, 28-, 47- and 64-Across make up today’s theme set, and all of them deal in “refrain(s)” of hit songs. But repetition concerns more than just the choral hook. In the case of these particular songs, it comes down to the syllables themselves.What’s the “Refrain in a 1971 hit by David Bowie” (28A), for example? It’s CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES, as written. (Yes, he drops one CH- in the second line of the chorus.) And the “Refrain in a 1965 hit by the Who” might have come easily to you as MY G-G-G-GENERATION — depending on your generation, indeed.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

Victor Barocas takes a detour.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — Those who know me have learned that I tend to involuntarily vocalize. I yelp during suspenseful movies; I sigh while reading an emotional book; and I chuckle when I discover particularly clever crossword entries, a hearty handful of which can be found in today’s puzzle by Victor Barocas.This is Mr. Barocas’s 20th crossword for The New York Times, and you can be certain that my colleagues were treated to periodic cackles while I solved it. It’s nice to know that, even as constructors become more experienced, they never tire of keeping puzzlers on our toes.Today’s ThemeI was giddy about discovering today’s revealer because, while I didn’t know exactly what was going on with the themed entries, I could see that they were common expressions that had somehow been altered.The “Gist of a Dear John letter?” (21A), for example, is LOVE DONE, as in a breakup note. But since there are no spaces in the grid, my brain also read it as the more natural phrase LOVED ONE. Ditto with “Tinkling racket on a windy day?” (54A). That’s a CHIME DIN, though I’d normally read this string of letters as CHIMED IN.62-Across reveals there’s more to this game than just a few clever punchlines. Parsed in a certain way, “Change a map of southern England?” tells us what we “need to do to the answers to the starred clues.” It’s MOVE DOVER — which can also be read as MOVED OVER, in the style of the other odd entries, but cracks the formula when read as MOVE “D” OVER.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