Games

Dominic Grillo takes me back to my childhood.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — If you are looking for an explanation as to why your crossword puzzle is stained light brown in the center, you are in the right place.Dominic Grillo’s grid is all about nostalgia, and the brown color and shape, along with the answers in the circled squares, may remind you of more carefree days. They may also remind you to eat your vegetables, or at least play with them.Today’s ThemeThat tan oval you see in the center of the grid is a potato. More specifically, it’s a POTATO HEAD (1D and 58D), the toy that allowed children to design their own spud friends by adorning a plastic potato* with body parts and clothes.These included, among other things, a nose, a pair of eyes, a smile, ears, hands and a hat, which can be found on the grid in the circled squares. With the exception of the hat, the circled square groups are in the approximate shapes of their body parts (e.g., the “smile” is a semicircle). Nice touch, Mr. Grillo. That must have been tough to do.*Fun toy history fact: Mr. and Mrs. POTATO HEAD (the honorifics were dropped by the brand’s owner, Hasbro, in 2021) originally contained a set of parts that were meant to be pinned to a real potato or other vegetable. In response to consumer complaints about rotting vegetables, the manufacturers included a plastic body with the parts in 1964.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

Rich Katz twists our words in the wittiest way possible.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — You may pooh-pooh mnemonic devices as childish things, like Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (for the notes of the musical staff) and ROY G. BIV (for the order of colors in the rainbow).The device at the heart of Rich Katz’s crossword, however, serves not just as a singsong memory aid but as a map to his wordplay. I’ll say no more for now, except that I’d hardly need a mnemonic for today’s puzzle: I’m so delighted by it that I’ll have no trouble remembering it for a long time to come.Today’s ThemeOur revealer arrives early at 19-Across, and it’s a good thing. Between starred clues and highlighted entries, we’ve got a lot to figure out.The revealer tells us that a certain “mnemonic device for turning 54-Across” is a “hint to the answers to the starred clues.” But what does “turning” a crossword entry mean? “Toolbox tools” (54A) is easy enough to guess: The answer is SCREWDRIVERS. And I trust that at some point most of us have learned the rhyme that guides such tools’ movements: RIGHTY TIGHTY, LEFTY LOOSEY (19/36A).Meanwhile, our starred clues are still awaiting elucidation. Why does “Closefitting” (9A) solve to SKIN? And how is LEAF “Like some paper and tea” (39A)? The first of these should read SKINTIGHT, and the second should be LOOSE-LEAF. (Can you see where this is headed? I’m getting giddy all over again.)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

Laura Dershewitz and Katherine Baicker make their collaboration debut in The New York Times.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — A handful of clues in today’s crossword, which was constructed by Laura Dershewitz and Katherine Baicker, share almost identical wording — a nod, perhaps, to a different kind of matching contained in the puzzle’s theme — so, let’s take a minute to talk about twin clues. Actually, since the wording of pairs in this puzzle isn’t completely identical, we’ll call them fraternal twin clues.Newer solvers may wonder why, if a clue like “Fairy tale monster” (36D) solves to OGRE, a later clue reading “Fairy tale monsters” (47D) doesn’t solve to “ogres,” but to GIANTS. The answer is anticlimactic, but I’m going to say it anyway: “Ogres” would be too easy. Clues never repeat by accident, and repetition exists only to misdirect you or to add variety. In the case of “Get moving” (1A) and “Get moving?” (6A), we have to interpret the same words in two different ways. To “Get moving,” as in to travel with some urgency, is to SCOOT. But “Get moving?” uses a question mark to indicate an unlikely, more forceful use of the phrase: to PROD someone — a cow, perhaps — to go somewhere.Now, shall we get solving?Today’s ThemeWhether you learned about the art of “fallacious argument” (34A) on your high school debate team or by listening to American politicians speak, I hope you were able to employ it here as a phonetic “hint to the answers to the starred clues.”At 17-Across, a “Mint on a pillow, maybe?” is our first of these clues. We find such an amenity most often in a HOTEL SUITE — and it happens to be a SWEET. That makes it a HOTEL SUITE SWEET, for those following along. And wouldn’t you consider “Pippi Longstocking” (27A) a kind of PIGTAIL TALE?I trust you’re liking the sound of this. Ms. Dershewitz and Ms. Baicker have deployed an AD HOMINEM (34A) attack on our senses by adding homonyms to each starred entry. My favorite of these was the spanner at 57A: “Mother superior?” is a SECOND-TO-NONE NUN.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

Shannon Rapp and Will Eisenberg make their New York Times collaboration debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Spring has finally sprung in New York. Its gentle thaw may be restorative enough for some, but I tend to treat it as a mere preamble to the season that follows. The sight of blossoms budding on park trees drives me into a frenzy of excitement for summer’s arrival. Those are the true dog days of bicycle rides, beach trips and group outings to games of a certain spectator sport — represented in today’s crossword — whose season begins this week.This puzzle is the first collaboration between Shannon Rapp and Will Eisenberg in The New York Times, and it is also Mr. Eisenberg’s Times debut. It has plenty of shorter fill to ease beginner solvers into the week, along with a few longer zingers to whet the appetites of experts — and a seasonally appropriate theme, to boot. I don’t want to spoil anything by using a figure of speech, but what the heck: They knocked it out of the park.Today’s ThemeAbsent a helpful revealer, or visibly themed clues — denoted, say, by special formatting or symbols — you can usually spot the theme set of an early-week puzzle by the longest Across entries. In today’s puzzle, those are 20-, 29-, 47- and 56-Across.The “Woven creation of the Ojibwe people” (20A) is a DREAM CATCHER, and “Thick liquid poured on a hot griddle” (29A) is PANCAKE BATTER. Any patterns come to mind yet? How about if we toss in “Emma Stone’s co-star on Showtime’s ‘The Curse’” (47A), NATHAN FIELDER? Here’s a hint: Take a look at the second words of each entry.The CATCHER, BATTER and FIELDER are all players in a baseball game. Now see if you can score the last entry on your own; otherwise, click to reveal it below.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

Mansi Kothari makes her New York Times Crossword debut in a collaboration with Erik Agard.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — If you solve crosswords regularly and have wondered what it would be like to make one of your own — perhaps you would like to see your byline in a publication such as The New York Times one day — you should know that there are experienced constructors who are happy to mentor new puzzle makers. They volunteer their time so that a wider range of voices and worldviews will be present in our crosswords, and that is a good thing. In fact, I think these constructors provide a noble service, right up there with the person who eventually ends daylight saving time so we can all get more sleep.Learning the ropes from an experienced constructor is important, especially if you would like to see your creation published within the next decade, because puzzle making is not an intuitive art. There are a lot of rules that need to be followed and broken as well. Part of the art is in knowing whether breaking a particular rule is a good idea or whether it’s an idea that will land your puzzle on the reject pile — a mentor can help you with that. Take my word for it, this will save you a lot of time.Erik Agard, a constructor for The New Yorker and former editor of the USA Today crossword, mentors aspiring puzzle makers, but he also contributes something else: He believes puzzles should be made conscientiously, with the intent to educate.Some solvers just want an escape from the world to go with their morning coffee, and there is nothing wrong with that. But there is also nothing wrong with learning something from solving a crossword. Awareness is the first step toward understanding, and understanding solves a whole host of problems.This is Mansi Kothari’s Times Crossword debut, and she acknowledges Mr. Agard in her constructor notes for demonstrating the importance of including entries that make people think. I liked the mix of trivia, pop culture and clues about social topics like the ones in 10D and 34A.Well done, Ms. Kothari. I hope to see more from you soon.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 Marquez’s theme is about my favorite type of puzzle.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — The following is simply my thoughts about today’s puzzle. As always, your mileage may vary.After solving crosswords for many years, I’ve come to the realization that, even when I come across a puzzle that is perfectly enjoyable, there is probably a similar one I’ve already solved that was — I don’t want to say “better,” just closer to what I had hoped for in today’s theme.That’s the problem with having a lot of grids under one’s belt. You start to compare them. And I try very hard not to do that. Sometimes I fail.Joe Marquez’s theme is tight and impressive, but it’s just not the May 29, 2011, puzzle by Tony Orbach and Jeremy Newton (Here’s the Wordplay column if you’re interested.) It didn’t have exactly the same theme, but the mechanics of Mr. Orbach and Mr. Newton’s crossword were exemplary and turned the solve into something that felt alive. Of course, the 2011 puzzle was a 21×21 Sunday, so there was more room to play around with design. But something like that in Mr. Marquez’s similarly themed puzzle would have really elevated it.Maybe this is just me, but if you’re going to make a puzzle about this topic, and it runs on a Thursday — the day that is more likely to contain a trick than others — I feel as if there should be some sort of interactive feature to solve it.I liked Mr. Marquez’s puzzle, and if I were a new solver I would have been happy with it. But that’s the downside of experience: I have the solving skills, but I also know what’s possible.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

E. M. Capassakis makes calculated choices in her New York Times debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — If I have occasionally joked about my slight distaste for math-related clues and entries in the daily crossword, it’s only because I think of numbers and language as standing somewhat at odds with each other. One represents pure logic, the other creative expression. How can you love both in equal measure?E. M. Capassakis offers one possible answer to this question via today’s crossword puzzle. In her New York Times debut, numbers and language not only coexist but are codependent. Solving the grid may invite you to consider whether we need to separate the two at all.Ready to go? I’ll count us in.Today’s ThemeRevealerless puzzles are sneaky but fun, because they leave us to identify patterns and crack the theme. In today’s grid, a series of numerical clues — at 17-, 19-, 31-, 47-, 62- and 64- Across — add up to our answer.The clue “101” is shorthand for a beginner’s understanding of a subject — an INTRO CLASS (17A), in other words. And “007” is a longtime code name for James BOND (19A). These automatic associations are no accident: Numbers double as words. We can say “420” and refer to CANNABIS (31A), euphemize “666” with THE BEAST (47A) and so on.Tricky Clues16A. The “End of a noodle?” isn’t a slurp: It’s an IDEA, since this refers to the kind of noodling done with the mind.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