Thursday, April 14, 2022 - Today's puzzle analyzed, FROMSTEMTOSTERN

Today's crossword was Blake Slonecker's 9th in the NYTimes, and his 4th Saturday, so he definitely knows how to write challenging clues. The grid here was impressive, with 4 full-width and 4 full-heig...

8 Jun 202512min

What, you may ask, makes for a perfect Friday crossword? We're not sure about the what, but we are about the who: Adrian Johnson, the author of today's and 5 prior NYTimes Friday crosswords, definitel...

7 Jun 202519min

This crossword had a most ingenious theme. Jean spotted it at once, enabling her to solve the puzzle in a goodly time; Mike, alas, solved it in a not-so-goodly time, meaning he had more time to savor ...

6 Jun 202518min

It is unclear when "crunchy" was first used to categorize crosswords, but what is clear is that today's was definitely a crunchier than usual Wednesday - just the way we like it! Need proof? Check out...

5 Jun 202516min

There was a lot to love in today's crossword, but it had us at 25A, Ref. work with definitions for "colour" and "aluminium", OED (our favorite reference work of all time). We became even more smitten ...

4 Jun 202516min

This was a very fine sophomore crossword by Anthony V. Grubb, appearing almost exactly one year after his NY Times debut (also a Monday). The theme was cute; the clues, at an apposite Monday level, in...

3 Jun 20258min

If you grew up on Jumble (as, apparently, the author did), then you'll feel right at home tackling this awesome homage to anagrams, an impressive debut by Sam Brody. Ironically, the word anagram does ...

2 Jun 202516min

Today's puzzle was an enjoyable albeit challenging tag-team effort by Adam Aaronson and Ricky Cruz. Jean got through it in good time, Mike ... got through it, slowed down in numerous areas, but primar...

1 Jun 202516min