Games

Kathy Lowden makes a few changes.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — When the cold weather first sets in, which often happens right around this time of year in New York City, the gloomy, chilly days that sweep through can bring about the winter blues. On days like those, I am especially grateful for the reliably sunny experience of solving a crossword. You can have your SAD lamp; it’s word puzzles for me (and possibly for some of you, too).It’s particularly delightful amid such melancholy to encounter a puzzle constructed by Kathy Lowden, because she is an utter whiz at whimsical themes. On Halloween last year, she collaborated with Erik Piepenburg, a writer and horror columnist, to pull off the perfect fright of a puzzle, in which movie titles combined to form a scary story. This October, she brought us a series of witty rhymes for groups of various people and things: dozens of cousins, oodles of poodles and so on. Today’s theme uses wordplay of another kind, but retains Ms. Lowden’s signature winking style of humor. Let’s smile on it together, shall we?Today’s ThemeThere are technically only two terms in today’s themed entries, but their cleverness is in triplicate. A [Snide comment about a collectible figurine?], for instance, is a KNICKKNACK KNOCK (17A). A [Kerfuffle over beach footwear?] would be a FLIP-FLOP FLAP (26A). If you’re experiencing a [Feeling of guilt after cheating at table tennis?], it might be referred to as a PINGPONG PANG (48A). And [Singer Parton when she’s aimlessly wasting time?] is DILLYDALLY DOLLY (63A).Only the vowels change from syllable to syllable, and the effect is just wondrous. It reminded me of a tongue-twister that we used in my college acting classes to warm up our voices, though that had decidedly darker instances of alliteration than those used in today’s grid:To sit in solemn silence on a dull, dark dockIn a pestilential prison with a lifelong lockAwaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shockFrom a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black block.Tricky Clues33A. As someone without a putting bone in her body, I don’t quite relate to the idea that GOLF is [“a good walk spoiled,” per Mark Twain]. The implication, as I understand it, is that an otherwise pleasant walk through green fields is rendered monotonous when it’s just for a round of golf. To my mind, the quote makes more sense if the “good walk” being spoiled is that of a non-golfer’s when hit in the head by a stray ball.40A/7D. If you discover two identical clues in a puzzle — in this grid, it’s [“Scram!”] — you’ve stumbled onto what we call twin clues. Be careful, though: While the hints may have similar meanings, their entries are never “twins.” At 40A, [“Scram!”] solves to GIT! At 7D, the same clue solves to SCAT!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

Ailee Yoshida crafts her origin story.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — I often hear solvers refer to taking shortcuts or asking for help on a crossword as “cheating.” Looking up trivia to solve a clue? Cheating. Asking a friend how to spell an entry word? Cheating! Such assessments are reductive, and they strike fear into the hearts of beginners everywhere. Friends of mine still balk at the idea that they’re capable of “actually” solving.I say that there’s no dishonesty in making an honest assessment of your knowledge. I have as much respect for the spartan solvers who mentally muscle their way through themeless grids as I do for those who prefer to solve on Autocheck. Whatever makes you a better solver is fair and square(s).While solving today’s puzzle, constructed by Ailee Yoshida, I had to ask for help from the internet. Stuck at intersection of 64A and 51D (I temporarily forgot the word ILIUM), I had to look up the name of Phil SIMMS. Was that cheating? You can say so, and we’ll agree to disagree. But I’d offer that, if you insist on swearing off shortcuts and lifelines, you might just be cheating yourself.Today’s ThemeHow do you take your COFFEE BREAK (34A)? If you’re like Ms. Yoshida, you might simply “break” a coffee beverage across a pair of entries in a crossword puzzle.A certain caffeinated beverage with steamed milk forms between 17A and 18A, for example, with SPLAT/TELL. Combine a [Hi-___ image] (22A) with a [Department handling media inquiries] (23A) and you’ve got a strong shot of RES/PRESS OFFICE. Two drinks remain to be discovered, but my break is over and it’s back to work, so I’ll leave the sleuthing to you.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

Ryan Patrick Smith’s crossword put up quite a fight, but there is always a way to win.FRIDAY PUZZLE — Welcome to First Pass Friday, an occasional Wordplay column in which I show you my first few passes through the clue list. This serves two purposes: It provides encouragement for those who are just starting to solve the harder, end-of-the-week puzzles, and it proves to those who have finished the crossword that they are much smarter than I am.I kid, of course — you’re all smarter than I am — but I really did struggle with Ryan Patrick Smith’s clever puzzle. It could have been for any number of reasons: Maybe I wasn’t fully caffeinated when I solved, or perhaps the clues and entries were outside my wheelhouse. But writing in that first correct entry when you’ve been staring woefully at the opaque clues and the blank grid goes a long way toward inspiring solvers to hang in there. It’s a rush, and that rush pushes me to build on that success.And that, in a nutshell, is how you solve a tough puzzle. I once attended a yoga workshop where the instructor said that there were only two steps to a fruitful practice: 1) Start, and 2) continue. It’s good advice for just about any aspect of life.But if you’re still interested, I’ll walk you through my first couple of attempts at Mr. Smith’s puzzle. Please note that there will be multiple spoilers after the jump. If you don’t wish to see them, avert your eyes and scroll down to Mr. Smith’s notes on his puzzle.Deb AmlenWe 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

Daniel Bodily’s puzzle will have you looking in all directions.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — This is Daniel Bodily’s 12th crossword in The New York Times and, in my opinion, his puzzles just keep getting better. I really enjoyed this one, not because it was difficult, but because I had so much fun solving it and discovering the theme.I predict that some commenters will say that the puzzle was too easy for a Thursday. While the clues are fairly gentle for a Thursday grid, remember that other parts of a crossword may be tough for some. Not everyone sees things or processes information in the same way. Some may have been stuck on the theme, for example, while others may have needed time to figure out the visual elements that were included.Let’s be gentle with each other and enjoy this clever puzzle together.Today’s ThemeI will admit that I originally thought this was a football-themed puzzle and that the highlighted numbers were plays being called (“16! 22! 51! Hike!”). Feel free to chortle in amusement, because everything I know about football I learned from cartoons.Then I solved my first theme answer at 19A by using the crossings and said, “Huh. The [Part of a bat that produces the best contact] is certainly not SWEET SIXTEEN!” I was pretty sure the answer was really SWEET SPOT. It was at that moment that my eyes spotted the first highlight at 16A and lo, the entry was SPOT. The number that is spelled out in the theme answer refers to the highlighted circle.Another example is 36A’s [Get serious hang time, as a skateboarder], which, when solved, is CATCH TWENTY-TWO. Now look at 22A, another highlighted number: The answer is AIR, and CATCH AIR is another phrase for soaring through the air while skateboarding.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

Kathy Bloomer and Jeff Chen have their first Times collaboration.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — My first instinct as I wrote my introduction to today’s crossword, brought to us by Kathy Bloomer and Jeff Chen, was to use the phrase “mixed feelings” as a witty play on the puzzle’s theme. But to use that expression risked muddling my true impressions of the puzzle, which were hardly halfhearted. My solving experience was unequivocally delightful.If you have any other witty summaries to offer for Ms. Bloomer and Mr. Chen’s theme, I hope you’ll share them in the comments section, also known as a place where we mix feelings.Today’s ThemeAt 28-Down, we get a [Description of this puzzle’s circled letters, and a clue to what they spell]: IN ONE SENSE.Now, follow along carefully. Each circled letter in this puzzle appears IN ONE SENSE of the bodily kind. The entry at 5-Down, REHEARSING, places its circled S within a gray-shaded HEARING. At 23-Down, the [Appliance with a door and a crumb tray] is a TOASTER OVEN, and its circled O appears inside the word TASTE. A similar pattern places the first R of FREELOADERS (24D) inside FEEL, the first T of HANGS TIGHT (10D) in SIGHT and the A of SAM ELLIOTT (30D) in SMELL.Not only do the circled letters appear within human senses, but together they spell the word SORTA — an expression that can be used in lieu of IN ONE SENSE. (Now, see what I meant about “mixed feelings”?)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

Brian Callahan and Geoffrey Schorkopf have their first Times collaboration.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — If your goal is to get better at solving crosswords, you might want to start by practicing a form of exercise named at 33D of today’s grid: HATHA YOGA. It’ll help you keep calm when you first open a Thursday or Sunday grid.On a more sincere note, though, I make the suggestion because hatha and other forms of yoga tend to involve inversions like shoulder stands, headstands and handstands. The benefits of these poses are manifold: Inversions can not only regulate mood and heart rate, but also give one a fresh vantage from which to see the world. What things look like upside down can be drastically different from how they appear right-side up.Today’s crossword, constructed by Brian Callahan and Geoffrey Schorkopf, is a perfect occasion for a few yogic inversions. Practicing one while solving may even help you spot the puzzle’s theme. Let’s flip the page together, shall we?Today’s ThemeWhen themed answers are nested inside other entries, constructors will often shade or circle the relevant squares. Here, a title for [Some movie set workers] (14D) doubles as a way to describe what we do by filling in the shaded squares. After solving the clues in which the squares appear, we have, from left to right: AYOG, TMILK, ORIM and EELK. Perfectly (in)coherent.The movie-set workers are MAKEUP ARTISTS — and if we read this title as three separate words, we get MAKE UP ARTISTS. At first, I thought this meant that we were inventing (i.e. making up) names for artists — doesn’t T Milk sound like a rap sibling of T-Pain? — but I doubted that this passed muster for a puzzle theme. Then I saw what was actually going on.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

Elliot Caroll makes her New York Times Crossword debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — The cardinal advice we give to those who have never solved the New York Times Crossword before is to start with Mondays. Puzzles get harder as the week goes on; sticking to Mondays for a while is a wonderful way to build your confidence. It will also, most likely, make you realize that you’re actually pretty good at this whole crossword thing.Elliot Caroll’s puzzle almost makes me jealous of newer solvers, because it’s the kind I wish I’d started with: simple, clever and clean. Shall we go through it together?Today’s ThemeIf you’ve ever wanted to take up the invitation of the [1986 hit song for Paul Simon] YOU CAN CALL ME AL (55A), then do I have the crossword for you. The beginnings of the entries at 20-, 34- and 41-Across suggest that you “CALL ME AL,” because each of them begins with the letters A-L.A [Cocktail made with Southern Comfort, sloe gin, amaretto and orange juice] is an ALABAMA SLAMMER (20A). Certain [Crinkly kitchen wrap] is ALUMINUM FOIL (34A). And the [Writer, director and co-star of “Defending Your Life,” 1991] is ALBERT BROOKS (41A).Tricky Clues29A. Entries must match their clues’ parts of speech — a noun clue solves to a noun entry, and so on — but on occasion you’ll be presented with multiple options. [Relax, or a place to relax] refers to the noun and verb forms of LOUNGE.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

We wish you a merry Robyn Weintraub Day.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — I don’t need to tell you how fond I am of Robyn Weintraub’s puzzles. I’ve said it before, and besides, you’re probably fond of them, too.Ms. Weintraub has a knack for making crosswords with sparkling long entries, no junky fill and some of the most clever clues I’ve had the honor of solving.And we have reason to congratulate her: While Ms. Weintraub makes puzzles for multiple venues, this is her 50th crossword in The New York Times.Tricky Clues10A. The word rash can describe acting without thinking about the consequences, but in today’s puzzle, it’s a skin irritation. If you [Have a rash reaction], you ITCH.16A. I first entered the word cami for [Teddy alternative], but the substitute we’re looking for is the nickname THEO.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