Games

Stick to your instincts as you solve Neil Padrick Wilson’s crossword puzzle.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — If you’ve come to the Wordplay column directly after glancing at today’s crossword, don’t panic. This puzzle, constructed by Neil Padrick Wilson, is as Monday-friendly as they come, even though it doesn’t look that way. The grid is a little more open than one might expect for the top of the week — and I share your initial alarm at the number of longer entries Mr. Wilson managed to fit into his grid. But I can assure you that it’s an easy solve. I might even call it child’s play.Today’s ThemeELMER’S GLUE (58A) can be interpreted as the puzzle’s revealer in two senses. The first is literal, since the adhesive is [What a kid might use to hold] a PAPER PLATE (17A), COTTON BALLS (24A), MACARONI NOODLES (35A) and a PIPE CLEANER (47A) together. And 58-Across also represents the more figurative “glue,” as the revealer of any crossword serves to bring the elements of a theme together.I’m far more interested in what the imagined “kid” of this puzzle plans to make with those crafting items. Are we thinking a classic necklace of MACARONI NOODLES? A fluffy animal mask for Halloween that uses the PAPER PLATE and the COTTON BALLS? A PIPE CLEANER stick figure? Whatever the finished product, I promise to react to it with feigned enthusiasm, as any responsible adult would.Tricky Clues29A. One generally kneels while being knighted — that’s what the movies tell me, anyway — so the [Direction to a newly knighted knight] is ARISE.32A. I spent several minutes cycling through possible mononyms for all my immediate family members and extended relatives before realizing that the [Family member who usually goes by one name] referred to a PET.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

Jesse Cohn introduces six lively entries to the New York Times Crossword.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — Maybe it’s just me, but I love finding debut entries in my puzzles. It shows me that the constructor has made an effort to salt the grid with words and phrases that feel fresh to the solver, as opposed to leaning on the autofill function in crossword-building software. I find it particularly entertaining to see new words that young people are using, although I draw the line firmly at “skibidi.” And maybe I just don’t get out enough, but discovering a debut entry is a bit like watching a baby being born. The word or phrase is appearing for the first time in the Times Crossword, and it may even be new to the lexicon.“It feels especially exciting,” said Ian Livengood, a veteran constructor who joined the puzzle-editing team in September. “Often, the entry may feel topical and hypercurrent, so it can be cool to see a new name or phrase enter the lexicon.”Jesse Cohn made his debut as a Times Crossword constructor in May, and he sprinkled five debuts in his first puzzle. In his sophomore outing, Mr. Cohn packed six new entries into his grid, including two that cross in the center.Are debuts or entries that feel fresh something you notice in puzzles?Tricky Clues1A. The [Juice provider] in this puzzle is not Tropicana or any other brand; it’s a CHARGER for an electronic device.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

August Lee-Kovach’s puzzle is very punny.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — August Lee-Kovach’s puzzle is very funny if you’ve done what I’ve done and been where I’ve been.I won’t go into detail in this section because it would give the theme away. Let’s just say that I have been on both sides of this conversation in my career and I laughed out loud at Mr. Lee-Kovach’s crossword (in an appreciative way, of course).Today’s ThemeAs a journalist, I appreciate my copy editors. They make me a better writer. As an editor, I appreciate the writers who decide how many spaces they should leave after a period and stick with that number throughout an entire piece.That’s why Mr. Lee-Kovach’s revealer at 56A, an ALTERCATION between an editor and a writer, is so funny to me. Setting aside the pun of having “alter” The four common phrases that make up the puzzle’s theme have been repurposed as puns on what might happen if there is a disagreement about the copy.A PERIOD DRAMA becomes [Much ado about some punctuation]. A TENSE EXCHANGE is redefined as [Harsh words regarding the past and the present?].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

Hanh Huynh’s puzzle is a lesson in patience.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Although it exposes me as a card-carrying Canadian, the theme of today’s puzzle compels me to share that, from kindergarten through the 12th grade — or Grade 12, as it is called there — I attended a French school. In order to develop bilingualism, we were allowed to speak only French in the hallways, and scolded whenever we didn’t.Rather than contributing to fluency, this led most of us to adopt the defiant patois known in French as Franglais (or Frenglish, in English), a tangle of two languages that was as disappointing to all of our French-speaking teachers as it was amusing to us. And I’d like to think this old habit has finally demonstrated its usefulness by helping me to solve today’s crossword, constructed by Hanh Huynh.If your solve sparks any memories of forays into second and third languages, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section. Otherwise, allons-y.Today’s ThemeMr. Huynh has enrolled us in BEGINNER SPANISH, the [Introductory foreign language class suggested by this puzzle’s theme] (39A). How do we know it’s for beginners? Because although all of today’s themed entries begin in Spanish, they revert to English halfway through. Ah, well — the point is that we tried.The clue at 17-Across, for example, is [Three tickets]. Your crossings most likely led you to discover an odd answer, TRESPASSES, but in the sense intended by the theme, it’s TRES PASSES. Here’s another, at 26-Across: [With money] is CON/TENDER.Generally, crossword themes use terms that can exist independently of the theme, even if they don’t directly solve their clues. LOCOMOTIVE (60A) isn’t a [Crazy reason], but it is a word. The exceptions to this convention are rebus puzzles, which tend to appear on Thursdays; I can’t vouch for the labyrinthine language therein.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

Lindsay Rosenblum’s Crossword debut is a hit.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — You might expect a New York Times Crossword debut to be more simple and less thrilling than one constructed by a longtime puzzler, in the same way that a black-diamond-level ski run offers definitively more excitement than a bunny hill. But we only use the term “debut” to indicate the first time a given constructor is featured in The Times. It is by no means indicative of how much you can hope to enjoy the puzzle itself. If anything, a debut means you’re more likely to see something you’ve never seen before.Today’s crossword is Lindsay Rosenblum’s debut, and I found it to be exceptionally lively. Her theme is subtle, but smart. The grid contains one or two debut Crossword entries, too, and an Easter egg entry that may help you uncover the theme. In short, Ms. Rosenblum has set a high bar for herself with this puzzle. I can’t wait to see her vault over it with her next one.Today’s ThemeWhether it’s Tinder, Bumble or the [Match.com alternative], OKCUPID (1D), there’s no shortage of ways to find love online. But how does one [Show interest on a dating app]? The answer to this clue, at 60-Across, is key to discovering what connects the themed entries 16-, 25-, 36 and 51-Across. More specifically, as our revealer suggests, it will tell us what these Across entries [must do to be successful]. The answer is SWIPE RIGHT.Each of today’s themed entries must, in a different sense, SWIPE RIGHT (as in correctly). Your CREDIT CARD (16A) must swipe properly through a payment machine. A PICKPOCKET (25A) has to swipe valuables without being detected. An INSULT COMIC (36A) must take effective verbal swipes at a roast’s honoree. And you’ll see many a swipe dealt by an M.M.A. FIGHTER (51A), who, incidentally, participates in a different kind of “match” than the one alluded to by the revealer.Tricky Clues1A. I half-jokingly wondered whether [No longer taking, as a medication] might solve to “Cured!” but relented once crossings proved that it didn’t. The correct answer is OFF OF, though to my mind, simply saying “off” is just as common. Perhaps other constructors agree with me, since OFF OF has appeared in the Crossword only once before — in 1966.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

Dana Edwards makes his New York Times Crossword debut, and it’s a slam dunk.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Today’s New York Times Crossword is a debut for Dana Edwards, so I won’t presume to describe his constructing style just yet — but I am giddy at the prospect that it might be an indication of what we can expect from his future puzzles.Mr. Edwards has managed to construct a grid that, despite containing four 15-letter spanners and a brilliantly self-referential theme, sits firmly in beginner-friendly territory. As I said, I don’t know whether this is a rare occurrence or just what he does. I look forward to seeing more from him soon.Today’s ThemeAt 54A, our revealer asks us to name a [Statistical feat achieved four times in N.B.A. history]. But don’t worry, no one needs to bone up on their basketball jargon in order to solve it. We can tell that double letters are central to today’s theme just by looking at the starred entries at 17A, 24A and 41A: ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, MISS MISSISSIPPI and WELL WHOOP-DEE-DOO all contain four pairs of double letters. This compelled me to try QUADRUPLE DOUBLE as the revealer entry even though I had no idea whether it was associated with basketball. I was able to confirm my guess was correct by checking it against its crossings. Swish!I mentioned earlier that Mr. Edwards’s theme was self-referential. Not only does his grid contain exactly four themed entries with double letters — achieving a QUADRUPLE DOUBLE of another kind — but the feat he alludes to has also happened only four times in the N.B.A.’s history, which feels like an added wink.Tricky Clues20A. We refer to clues that appear between quotation marks as vocalizations because they are written as though they’re being spoken aloud. These clues tend to solve to colloquialisms; we don’t use quotation marks in entries, but while solving you can and should imagine that they are present. A casual way to say [“Go ahead, I’m an open book!”] is ASK AWAY.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

Billy Bratton opens our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — We’ve talked about crossword stacks in the past, and how constructors must make sure that the entries crossing these stacks are interesting fill as well. If you try to stack entries as a newer constructor, there is a chance that you will run into issues as you build out the rest of the puzzle around the stack. You may find yourself resorting to less than desirable fill, such as obscure acronyms or crosswordese. If you are not sure what crosswordese is, you can learn more about these words by taking our quiz.Billy Bratton, who constructed today’s puzzle, has mastered the fine art of stackery. His 10-letter stacks in the northwestern and the southeastern parts of the grid are lively reading across, and their crossings aren’t plagued by obscure and dull fill. (I allow for one or two whiffed entries. I’m not a monster.) The same goes for the stair-step stacks in the southwest and northeast.I learned a bit from Mr. Bratton’s puzzle, too, which is always a good thing. More on that in the Tricky Clues section.Tricky Clues15A. The clue [Musician’s pitch?] sounds as if it refers to how well a musician hits the notes, but this is about a marketing pitch. Musicians who are looking for work in advertising and television pitch their work via DEMO tapes. Up-and-coming artists post their work on social media and send out DEMOs. Source: My ex-husband, who is in the music industry.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

Choose your battles carefully while solving Grant Boroughs’s puzzle.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — Grant Boroughs has had two very entertaining crosswords published in The New York Times, but today’s puzzle, his third, might just put him on the map of constructors to keep an eye on.Not many constructors attempt this type of puzzle, which is sad, because I happen to enjoy them — and the whole New York Times Games enterprise is about entertaining me specifically, right?Even if the creation of our games is not all about me (I maintain that it is), crosswords with this sort of theme are rare because of how difficult they are to put together. And if a constructor manages to tie this theme into a clever revealer, as Mr. Boroughs does, the result is even more elegant.Today’s ThemeHave you ever solved a Schrödinger puzzle? If you are relatively new to solving, it’s possible that you may not have encountered one before.A Schrödinger puzzle — named after Dr. Erwin Schrödinger and his famous thought experiment about a cat — is one where certain squares accept more than one letter, and using either letter is considered correct. That means a Schrödinger puzzle accepts both versions of a changeable entry, even though there is only a single clue.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