The New York Times crossword puzzle Totally Explained

Everything about The New York Times Crossword Puzzle totally explained

The New York Times crossword puzzle is a daily puzzle found in The New York Times. The puzzle is created by various freelance writers, and is edited by Will Shortz. The puzzle becomes increasingly more difficult throughout the week beginning with the easiest puzzle on Monday, and the most difficult puzzle on Friday or Saturday. The larger Sunday crossword is an icon in American culture, and is typically intended to be as difficult as a Thursday puzzle. The standard daily crossword is 15 squares x 15 squares, while the Sunday crossword measures 21 squares x 21 squares. All crosswords have symmetry: they can be rotated 180 degrees and still keep the same position of the white and black spaces.

History

While crosswords became popular in the early 1920s, it wasn't until 1942 that The New York Times began running a crossword in its Sunday edition. In 1950, the crossword became a daily feature. There have been four editors of the puzzle: Margaret Farrar, Will Weng, Eugene T. Maleska, and the current editor, Will Shortz.
In 2007, Majesco released The New York Times Crosswords game, a video game adaptation for the Nintendo DS handheld. The game includes over 1,000 crosswords by the New York Times, and features them from all days of the week, with their correct dates next to the puzzle.

Clues to solving

Any time a clue contains an abbreviation, the answer will also be an abbreviation (for example M.D. org. = AMA).
Any time a clue is a statement ending in a question mark, the answer is a play on words.
Occasionally, midweek puzzles will require certain squares to be filled in with multiple letters or a word, rather than one letter. This word will be repeated throughout the puzzle, and will be hinted at in another clue.
French- and Spanish-language answers appear several times a week, often indicated by a French or Spanish city or personal name in the clue (for example 'Friends of Pierre' = Amis).
Any time a clue is plural, the answer is also plural.
The tense of a clue is the same as the tense of its answer.

Newspapers which carry the puzzle

The following is an incomplete list of other newspapers which carry the syndicated New York Times crossword puzzle:

Long Beach Press Telegram

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Montreal Gazette

North County Times

Orange County Register

The Oregonian

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

San Antonio Express-News

San Diego Union-Tribune

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Seattle Times

South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday only)

Syracuse Post Standard

Vancouver SunFurther Information

Get more info on 'The New York Times Crossword Puzzle'.

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