New York Times Crossword Puzzle — Style And Conventions
The New York Times Crossword uses a variety of clue types including puns, anagrams, cryptic clues, sound clues, and double clues. The answers reference a variety of topics including television shows, movies, classical music, art, history, and other elements of popular culture. The Sunday puzzles have a theme, which is referenced in a humorous quotation or pun found in the answers. Friday/Saturday puzzles are not themed but tend to use longer words. Other interesting puzzle traits include:
- Clues with “abbr.” have an abbreviation as a solution
- Some themed puzzles require squares to be filled with symbols, multiple letters, or a word
- Words form other languages are sometimes used
- Plural words can only be used on clues marked plural
- The answer word never appears in the clue
- If there is a theme, it will affect the entire puzzle
- Words that are currently popular can feature, like the names of pop stars or popular sayings
- The first letter of the clue is always capitalized, regardless of the structure of the clue.
Who Writes The New York Times Crossword?
The puzzles are written by a variety of different contributors. A specification sheet is available on the New York Times website for anyone interested in submitting a puzzle.
Who Is The Editor Of The New York Times Crossword?
All New York Times Crosswords are edited by Will Shortz, one of the world’s most experienced crossword editors. Born in 1952, Will was raised in Indiana and obtained a college degree in enigmatology (the study of puzzles) in 1974.
He began his career at Penny Press, a crossword magazine company, before moving onto Games magazine, where he served as puzzle editor between 1989 and 1993. He became the New York Times crossword puzzle editor in 1993, following Eugene Thomas.
Shortz is the 4th crossword editor in the newspaper’s history. He has had a lifelong obsession with puzzles and owns over 20,000 puzzle books.
Who Writes The New York Times Crossword?
The puzzles are written by a variety of different contributors. A specification sheet is available on the New York Times website for anyone interested in submitting a puzzle.
Who Is The Editor Of The New York Times Crossword?
All New York Times Crosswords are edited by Will Shortz, one of the world’s most experienced crossword editors. Born in 1952, Will was raised in Indiana and obtained a college degree in enigmatology (the study of puzzles) in 1974.
He began his career at Penny Press, a crossword magazine company, before moving onto Games magazine, where he served as puzzle editor between 1989 and 1993. He became the New York Times crossword puzzle editor in 1993, following Eugene Thomas.
Shortz is the 4th crossword editor in the newspaper’s history. He has had a lifelong obsession with puzzles and owns over 20,000 puzzle books.