Games

You’ll have to use all of your senses to solve Kareem Ayas’s crossword.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Today’s puzzle is for those who believe that rules were made to be broken. If that’s you, read on — and if it isn’t, welcome to the party.Since they serve as ideal entry points for newer solvers, and format changes might intimidate those just learning the ropes, Monday crosswords rarely break with tradition. But an unusual grid isn’t necessarily an impenetrable one, and this puzzle, constructed by Kareem Ayas, bends the rules in a way that solvers of any level will enjoy.Christina Iverson, a puzzle editor for The New York Times, emphasized the accessibility of Mr. Ayas’s crossword. “The trick would be too easy for any other day,” Ms. Iverson said, adding that solvers will be further aided by explanatory clues and a theme that, once revealed, has a domino effect. “Once you get it, you can write in all the three-letter words.”Today’s ThemeThe reason all the three-letter words can be identified so quickly is that they’re all the same word. That word is the “Guinness world-record holder for ‘English word with the most meanings’” (71A): SET.SET has 430 senses recorded in the Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, according to the Guinness entry, so the “Complete collection” (62D) of meanings (that is to say, the SET) could not be featured in today’s puzzle.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

Alice Liang and Christina Iverson open our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — Alice Liang made her New York Times Crossword debut almost a year ago as part of the 2023 class of the Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship. Each of the fellows is mentored by a puzzle editor in order to learn how to construct crosswords, and Ms. Liang worked with Christina Iverson.This puzzle is Ms. Liang’s second in The Times and is likely to be a hit with solvers who feel that the Friday puzzles have not been as difficult as they used to be. I wrestled mightily with this one and had a good time doing it. I also learned a few things along the way. Any mistakes were of my own making. For example, a crossing that I originally thought was unfair turned out to be perfectly cromulent after I went back to reread the clues.I encourage those who are just starting to solve the late-week, tougher puzzles to hang in there, because there is a lot to see in this grid. Today’s crossword may give you a run for your money, but you can solve it. The usual methods apply here:Fill in the entries you definitely know first. You can always branch out from there.Take breaks when you feel stuck. Your brain continues to work on the clues in the background, while you are doing something else, and you will probably be able to fill in more answers when you return to the puzzle.Work those crossings. If you don’t know an Across answer, try the crossing Down entries. Your brain loves filling in missing information, and you may be able to take an educated guess at the Across entry once you have a few letters filled in.Look things up if you don’t know them. I know. Some people feel that’s cheating. But trust me: You will become a better solver for it, because you will probably see that clue again.The one thing I hope you don’t do is get so frustrated that you stop solving the puzzle. There’s no rule that says you have to finish, but you will feel so satisfied and pleased with yourself if you do. And hopefully, you will have learned something from the puzzle, as I did.I’m rooting for you. Go get this one.Tricky Clues5A. It’s easy to assume that “Doing long-distance, say” is about running, but this clue refers to a long-distance relationship, and the answer is APART.10A. A bird “Flaps” its wings, and you can have a flap on a bag or pocket, but in this puzzle, “Flaps” is a synonym for states of excitement. The answer, in the corresponding plural, is ADOS.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

Michael Lieberman is not the person he used to be.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — Despite what the headline and the photo may seem to imply, Michael Lieberman has not become an emu, at least as far as I know. When I said that he was not the person he used to be, it was a roundabout way of hinting at his theme. And the chance to put an emu at the top of this column was just too much to resist.So the message may be a bit confusing, but the point (to the extent that I have one) holds: Some things are just inevitable. Let’s find out what they might be.Today’s ThemeMr. Lieberman’s theme is relatively gentle for a Thursday. No need to metaphorically swing from the chandeliers in order to solve this one. It’s a simple letter-change theme, which some readers may say is too easy for this late in the solving week. But I think the revealer at 53A was funny enough to make the trade-off worthwhile.The revealer, I’VE CHANGED, is the answer to the clue “‘The old me is gone’ … or what happened between the first and second parts of 19-, 28-, 37- and 48-Across?”The four theme entries are two-word phrases where both words are virtually the same, except that the first word ends in IVE, and the second in ES.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

David Rockow gets organized.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — I have often observed, both privately and in this column, that a daily crossword-solving habit gives way to casual conspiracy theories about patterns in the puzzles. Aside from the theme — an intentional pattern that is concealed and awaiting discovery — these theories rarely amount to more than an appreciation for the occasional synchronicity of the cosmos.I include myself in this observation, of course. While looking into the origins of the phrase at the heart of today’s crossword, constructed by David Rockow, I noticed a clue that seemed to be worded too cleverly to be a coincidence. But my sleuthing revealed that neither the constructors nor the editors had intended anything by it. Drat! I was forced to admire the rest of the puzzle on its own brilliant merits.Today’s ThemeThe “State of order that this puzzle fails to achieve?” (37A) can be observed by looking at the words that each cluster of circled squares spells. Between 16A and 19A, we get TEAL; from 27A up through 24A, we have MALLARD. Two more ducks follow: the common EIDER and a RUBBER variety. This would all be unremarkable, but for the placement of the circles: None are entirely in alignment. This puzzle, in other words, can’t get its DUCKS IN A ROW.As for the coincidence that had me all atwitter: At 40-Across, T.S.A. is clued as “Org. that specifically prohibits bowling pins and pool cues.” Two of the origin stories for the phrase DUCKS IN A ROW happen to come from pool and bowling. Can you believe it? Should we all buy lottery tickets?Tricky Clues14A. Rule-based clues are both infuriating and brilliant, because the only way to solve one is by guessing a little — ideally with the help of crossings — and then checking your guess against the parameters outlined by the clue. The “Feeling that can be caused by the final three letters of this answer” is NAUSEA, from a trip by -SEA. (Hatred also fits, if you have an aversion to the color red.)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

Daniel Bodily takes a hands-off approach.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — I was excited to see Daniel Bodily’s byline at the top of today’s crossword for two reasons. The first is that, as a relatively recent addition to the Games desk, I still get a thrill whenever I recognize constructors’ names from past puzzles — a novel way of marking time, somewhat similar to notching a wall to track growth spurts. The second reason is that I had a lot of fun solving Mr. Bodily’s last puzzle for The New York Times, a Thursday thinker in which common phrases had their halves reversed to create new ones — “craps tables” became “table scraps,” and so on.It won’t be that hard to spot Mr. Bodily’s trick this go-round. But solving the puzzle is a real throwback — as in, you might just throw out your back laughing, once you figure out the theme.Today’s ThemeMy, my, my. How did it feel when you applied a certain famous “MC Hammer lyric” — the words of which are split across the bottom row of the grid at 66-, 67- and 68A — to all of the starred clues?The sheer catchiness of (U) CAN’T TOUCH THIS, the 1990 hip-hop hit, is part of what makes this revealer so satisfying. I recommend listening to the song while reviewing the puzzle’s list of things you CAN’T TOUCH (or can, but really shouldn’t): a CAMERA LENS (17A), WET PAINT (31A), an ELECTRIC FENCE (38A), a LIMBO BAR (44A) and anything at a CRIME SCENE (60A).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

Alana Platt makes her New York Times debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — I trust that many of you, being puzzle lovers, have already stumbled upon a New York Times game called Strands. It’s a word search gone rogue that relies on wordplay for its themes. The current version is still a beta, but I mention it here because the impish spirit that makes its puzzles so much fun is present in spades in today’s crossword, constructed by Alana Platt.Ms. Platt’s theme entries, much like the hidden phrases in a word search puzzle, aren’t easy to see. Even after solving the revealer, I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. But after my “aha!” moment, I bounced around the grid again just to enjoy the cleverness of the finished product. Congratulations to Ms. Platt on a dynamic debut. I hope to see more from her soon.Today’s ThemeAlthough I don’t eat any “Artfully arranged meats” (35A), this was the only themed clue that jumped out right away. The answer had to be CHARCUTERIE — though another version of this arrangement may be called a “girl dinner.” “Cousin of a pushpin” (32D) wasn’t too obscure, either: THUMBTACK.A phrase for “Helping to manage a nonprofit, say” (56A) tells us, in some witty way, “where to find” the entries above. ON THE BOARD describes where a THUMBTACK may be found — a bulletin board, anyway — and how CHARCUTERIE is presented. WOOD GRAIN (10D), the “Texture in a cross section of timber,” is found on a floorboard. And I hardly need to tell you where to find a CHESS PIECE (17A).I love that the grid is also a kind of board, which makes Ms. Platt’s revealer even more of a wink.Tricky Clues19A. How novel to have a crossword clue that reads like a riddle: “What’s black and white and wet all over?” An ORCA. Other answers that don’t fit in the grid include: photographs in a darkroom, a soggy newspaper or a nun after a water balloon fight.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

Aidan Deshong captures our hearts with a lively yet accessible Friday puzzle.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — When Will Shortz became crossword editor at The New York Times in 1993, he vowed to freshen up what had been largely seen by the public as a stodgy, über-intellectual endeavor. To do that, he encouraged younger constructors to submit puzzles with contemporary entries and clues. In fact, he has published the work of more teenage constructors than the three puzzle editors before him did — 63 out of the 70 whose puzzles have run since The Times began offering crosswords in 1942.Make that 64 out of 71, as Aidan Deshong joins that illustrious club: He will graduate a week after his Times debut and will be headed to college in the fall. Congratulations, Mr. Deshong. That’s what I’d call a big month.Tricky CluesThose who solve the Crossword regularly know that the puzzles increase in difficulty as the week goes on (more or less), but that difficulty is sometimes about vocabulary rather than wordplay or misdirection. Here are some of the clues and the entries that stood out to me.1A. A CAPTCHA is a program designed to distinguish between human users and bots. “One might read ‘Select all images with bicycles’” — and clicking on the correct images would allow the user to proceed to a web page, for example.8A. Some companies GAMIFY, or incorporate fun ways to navigate, their apps or websites in order to make the experience “more fun and addicting, in a way.” Waze, the automobile navigation tool, is the first app I have encountered that does this, or at least used to. When it was introduced to the public, users could win points for reaching certain milestones, and the cars on the screen could be customized.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

Shh … Royce Ferguson’s puzzle holds secrets.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — I know some of our readers like to figure out why a given photo was chosen for the top of each column, so if you are curious, it’s because of the headline — the parade is walking through a park. Also, I am currently bingeing the Scottish television show “Outlander,” so bagpipes and kilts are top of mind.Now that we have that settled, let’s talk about Royce Ferguson’s puzzle. Keep your voices down, though. You never know who is listening in.Today’s ThemeWhen you start solving past the early week puzzles, you begin to see the revealer in places where you might not expect it. In Mr. Ferguson’s crossword, the revealer is in the central Down entry, at 7D. The clue reads “‘Shh! People may be listening’ … or a hint to eight squares in this puzzle,” and the answer is THE WALLS HAVE EARS.The WALLS in this grid are the left and right borders of the puzzle, and they certainly do have EARs — eight in total. And yes, they are rebuses, or entries where you need to write more than one letter in a square. If you are just joining us and are not sure how to do that on your device, here is a handy clip-and-save article that will help.Each long Down entry on either side of the grid has two EAR rebuses. For example, the answer to “Routine damage” (1D) is W[EAR] AND T[EAR], and the answer to “Open and honest conversation” (36D) is H[EAR]T TO H[EAR]T. The rebuses also work with the crossing entries: “One paying taxes” (14A) is an [EAR]NER, for example.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