Saturday, September 11, 2021 - ITSMAGIC

Today's crossword, Jake Bunch's second for the NYTimes, and his second Friday, was splendid: even though Friday crosswords are typically themeless, this did have a meta-theme, really, really intriguin...

28 Sep 202417min

This is Jesse Guzman's first ever NYTimes crossword, and they've started off with a bang, with a theme that took both cohosts (working independently, as they are wont to do) quite some time to suss ou...

27 Sep 202418min

This is Peter Gordon's 129th NYTimes crossword, and a perfect example of why the NYTimes keeps publishing his work. The theme is brilliant, the clues sharp and, pardon the pun, upbeat -- quite a lot t...

26 Sep 202417min

Today's episode is action-packed, but at its heart is a crossword by Kevin L. Shellito, his debut, and an excellent debut it is, with some ingenious cluing and a delightful theme - deets inside. Also,...

25 Sep 202424min

We're starting the work week with a pleasing Monday crossword by Freddie Cheng, his 17th for the NYTimes. It had a straightforward, cute theme, and quite a few musicians in the grid, including 35D, "A...

24 Sep 202410min

Today's puzzle was a delight - harkening back to an old movie (whose name we will not reveal here, to maintain the suspense), and with some crisp, entertaining cluing -- in short, the NYTimes Sunday c...

23 Sep 202424min

Joel Fagliano's given us a bit of a breather, a challenging but relatively straightforward Saturday crossword -- certainly in comparison to the last few weeks, we're still recovering from Sam Ezrsky's...

22 Sep 202417min

This was a fine, challenging, themeless Friday crossword by Jackson Matz (his second Friday puzzle, and third overall). It is refreshing, after struggling with a theme some days, to get a break, even ...

21 Sep 202415min