Friday, September 29, 2023 - Beware the SUNDAYSCARIES!

Spencer Leach and Jem Burch have produced a splendiferous Saturday crossword that entertained, educated, and ... whatever the opposite of enervated is, ah, yes, energized. The highlight of the grid wa...

18 Helmi 202416min

Colin Adams has turned in a fine (debut!) Friday crossword: no theme (as befits a Friday puzzle), but plenty of sharp cluing (as one would also expect). We cover a boatload of them in today's podcast,...

17 Helmi 20249min

Years from now, cruciverbalists will be able to say, I remember where I stood (or, more likely, sat) when I finally solved this crossword, it's that good. To find out why, we beseech thee, with all du...

16 Helmi 202415min

Today is Valentine's Day, and the NYTimes Crossword team was ready, thanks to a fabulous opus by Ella Dershowitz. It was a crunchier than usual Wednesday crossword, but all for a good cause - a lovely...

15 Helmi 202418min

A lovely pre-Valentine's Day crossword, clearly a labor of love by Peter Gordon, his ninth in the NYTimes. There was a sizable ... what's the term for a collection of inspired crossword clues? Apparen...

14 Helmi 202420min

A gentle Monday crossword to get our work week going, with a theme that involved nonverbal answers. For those of you unaware, a nonverbal answer, written in [ ], is meant to evoke a sound or an action...

13 Helmi 20246min

Depending on your upbringing and life experiences, you have found this crossword to be a breeze (Jean), or a quagmire of naticks (Mike). Both agree that it was a fine crossword, for reasons that are s...

12 Helmi 202415min

An elegant Saturday crossword by Zhouquin Burnikel, her 79th! It was a perfectly timed reminder that today is the Chinese New Year, the YEAROFTHEDRAGON, so GONGXIFACAI, everyone! The crossword was rel...

11 Helmi 202417min