The New York Times crossword

History

Although crosswords became popular in the early 1920s, The New York Times initially considered them frivolous, calling them "a primitive form of mental exercise", and did not run a crossword until February 15, 1942, in its Sunday edition. It was published under a pseudonym Farrar occasionally used, "Anna Gram".

The motivating impulse for the Times to finally run the puzzle (which took over 20 years even though its publisher, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, was a longtime crossword fan) appears to have been the bombing of Pearl Harbor; in a memo dated December 18, 1941, an editor conceded that the puzzle deserved space in the paper, considering what was happening elsewhere in the world and that readers might need something to occupy themselves during blackouts. The puzzle proved popular, and Sulzberger himself authored a Times puzzle before the year was out.

In 1950, the crossword became a daily feature. That first daily puzzle was published without an author line, and as of 2001 the identity of the author of the first weekday Times crossword remained unknown.

There have been four editors of the puzzle. Farrar edited the puzzle from its inception in 1942 until 1969. She created many of the rules that have become standard, such as creating the grid, limiting the number of black squares, creating a minimum word length of three letters, requiring grids to have rotational symmetry and be an odd number of squares by an odd number of squares, and forbidding unchecked squares. The second editor was Will Weng, former head of the Timess metropolitan copy desk. Weng served until 1977, and Eugene T. Maleska, the third editor, until 1993. The current editor is Will Shortz. In addition to editing the Times crosswords, Shortz founded and runs the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament as well as the World Puzzle Championship (where he remains captain of the U.S. team); has published numerous books of crosswords, sudoku, and other puzzles; authors occasional variety puzzles (also known as "second Sunday puzzles") to appear alongside the Sunday Times puzzle; and serves as "Puzzlemaster" on the NPR show Weekend Edition Sunday. There have also been two interim editors of the puzzle: Mel Taub from September 6 to November 20, 1993, after Maleska's death; and Joel Fagliano, from March to December 2024, while Shortz was on medical leave.

The puzzle's popularity grew until it came to be considered the most prestigious of the widely circulated U.S. crosswords. Many celebrities and public figures have publicly proclaimed their liking for the puzzle, including opera singer Beverly Sills, author Norman Mailer, baseball pitcher Mike Mussina, former President Bill Clinton, conductor Leonard Bernstein, TV host Jon Stewart, actress Gillian Jacobs, and music duo the Indigo Girls.

Times puzzles have been collected in hundreds of books by various publishers, most notably Random House and St. Martin's Press, the current publisher of the series. In addition to appearing in the printed newspaper, the puzzles also appear online on the paper's website, where they require a separate subscription to access. In 2007, Majesco Entertainment released The New York Times Crosswords game, a video game adaptation for the Nintendo DS handheld. The game includes over 1,000 Times crosswords from all days of the week. Various other forms of merchandise featuring the puzzle have been created, including dedicated electronic crossword handhelds that just contain Times crosswords, and a variety of Times crossword-themed memorabilia, including cookie jars, baseballs, cufflinks, plates, coasters, and mousepads.

Style and conventions

Will Shortz does not write the Times crossword himself; a wide variety of contributors submit puzzles to him. A full specification sheet listing the paper's requirements for crossword puzzle submission can be found online or by writing to the paper.

The Monday–Thursday, and usually Sunday, puzzles have a theme. This is often some sort of connection between at least three long across answers, such as similar types of puns, added letters, or hidden synonyms. These puzzles often have entries known as "revealers", phrases that (often punnily) relate to the themed entries and may help explain the link. Notable dates such as holidays or anniversaries of famous events are often commemorated with an appropriately themed puzzle, although only two are routinely commemorated annually: Christmas and April Fool's Day.

The Friday and Saturday puzzles, the most difficult, are almost always themeless and "wide open", with fewer black squares and more long words. The maximum word count for a themed weekday puzzle is normally 78 words, while the maximum for a themeless Friday or Saturday puzzle is 72; Sunday puzzles must contain 140 words or fewer. Given the Times's reputation as a paper for a literate, well-read, and somewhat arty audience, puzzles frequently reference works of literature, art, or classical music, as well as modern TV, movies, or other touchstones of popular culture.

The puzzle follows a number of conventions, both for tradition's sake and to aid solvers in completing the crossword:

• Nearly all the Times crossword grids have rotational symmetry: they can be rotated 180 degrees and remain identical. Rarely, puzzles with only vertical or horizontal symmetry can be found; yet rarer are asymmetrical puzzles, usually when an unusual theme requires breaking the symmetry rule. Starting in January 2020, diagonal symmetry began appearing in Friday and Saturday puzzles. This rule has been part of the puzzle since the beginning; when asked why, initial editor Margaret Farrar is said to have responded, "Because it is prettier."
• Any time a clue contains the tag "Abbr." or an abbreviation more significant than "e.g.", the answer will be an abbreviation (e.g., [M.D. org.] for AMA).
• A play on words is called out by either
  • a clue ending in a question mark (e.g., [Fitness center?] for CORE), or
  • a clue followed by a comma and the word "maybe". (e.g., [Fresh answer, maybe] for SASS)
• Occasionally, themed puzzles will require certain squares to be filled in with a symbol, multiple letters, or a word, rather than one letter (so-called "rebus" puzzles). This symbol/letters/word will be repeated in each themed entry. For example, the December 6, 2012, puzzle by Jeff Chen featured a rebus theme based on the chemical pH scale used for acids and bases, which required the letters "pH" to be written together in a single square in several entries (in the middle of entries such as "triumpH" or "sopHocles").
• French answers, and less commonly those in other languages, such as Spanish and Latin, are indicated by:
  • a tag in the clue giving the answer language (e.g., [Winter: Fr.] for HIVER), or
  • the clue itself being in that language (e.g., [Saison] for ETE), or
  • an English prompt with a place where the language is spoken (e.g., [A river in Orleans] for FLEUVE), [A Parisian tower] for TOUR). Foreign words that contain accented letters typically omit the accents in the answer (e.g., [Mother in Montreal] for MERE).
• Clues and answers must always match in part of speech, tense, aspect, number, and degree. A plural clue always indicates a plural answer and a clue in the past tense always has an answer in the past tense. A clue containing a comparative or superlative always has an answer in the same degree (e.g., [Most difficult] for TOUGHEST).
• The answer word(s) will not appear in the clue itself. The number of words in the answer is not given in the clue—so a one-word clue can have a multiple-word answer.
• The theme, if any, will be applied consistently throughout the puzzle; e.g., if one of the theme entries is a particular variety of pun, all the theme entries will be of that type. Theme answers will tend to be the longest answers and often appear in reverse symmetry throughout the puzzle, although not always.
• Unlike in some word games, popular proper nouns, brand names, abbreviations, and even symbols can be used.
• No entries involving profanity, sad or disturbing topics, or overly explicit answers are allowed, though some have sneaked in. The April 3, 2006, puzzle contained the word SCUMBAG (a slang term for a condom), which had previously appeared in a Times article quoting people using the word. Shortz apologized and said the term would not appear again. PENIS also appeared once in a Shortz-edited puzzle in 1995, clued as ["The __ mightier than the sword"].
• Spoken phrases are always indicated by enclosure in quotation marks, e.g., ["Get out of here!"] for LEAVE NOW.
• Verbalizations of certain invoked actions are sometimes clued by square brackets, often including an exclamation point or question mark. e.g., It's cold! for BRR, We finally made it! for PHEW Why? for SHRUG.
• When an extended phrase of the answer can also be used in the clue to mutual meaning, the mutual extension is indicated in parentheses. e.g., [Think (over)] for MULL, [Drive (away)] for PUSH.
• When the answer can use an additional word to fit the clue, the word is preceded by "with" and placed in quotes. e.g., [Understand, with "in"] for SINK.
• Times style is to always capitalize the first letter of a clue, regardless of whether the clue is a complete sentence or whether the first word is a proper noun. On occasion, this is used to deliberately create difficulties for the solver; e.g., in the clue [John, for one], it is ambiguous whether the clue is referring to the proper name John or to the slang term for a bathroom. All proper nouns are capitalized regardless of place in the clue.

Related puzzle grids

''The Mini''

The Times Online also publishes The Mini, a daily crossword edited and frequently constructed by Joel Fagliano, which is 5×5 Sunday through Friday and 7×7 on Saturdays, and is significantly easier than the traditional daily puzzle. The Mini is popular, but has also been criticized, sometimes harshly, for its comparative simplicity—with one review of the game in Slate magazine titled "Utter Disgrace to the NYT Crossword Brand". Other "mini" and larger 11×11 "midi" puzzles are sometimes offered as bonuses.

Super Mega

The "Super Mega" is a 50x50 crossword published in the *Times'''s annual "Puzzle Mania" section. In 2022, the grid was 67x41, making it the largest *Times'' crossword ever.

Variety crosswords

Records and puzzles of note

Fans of the Times crossword have kept track of a number of records and interesting puzzles (primarily from among those published in Shortz's tenure), including those below. (All puzzles published from November 21, 1993, on are available to online subscribers to the Times crossword.)

• Fewest words in a daily 15x15 puzzle: 50 words, on Saturday, June 29, 2013, by Joe Krozel; in a Sunday puzzle: 117 words on November 2, 2025, by Rafael Musa.
• Most words in a daily puzzle: 86 words on Tuesday, December 23, 2008, by Joe Krozel; in a 21x21 Sunday puzzle: 150 words, on June 26, 1994, by Nancy Nicholson Joline and on November 21, 1993, by Peter Gordon (the first Sunday puzzle edited by Will Shortz).
• Fewest black squares (in a daily 15x15 puzzle): 17 blocks, on Friday, July 27, 2012, by Joe Krozel.
• Most prolific author: Manny Nosowsky is the crossword constructor who has been published most frequently in the Times under Shortz, with 241 puzzles (254 including pre-Shortz-era puzzles, published before 1993), although others may have written more puzzles than that under prior editors. The record for most Sunday puzzles is held by Jack Luzzatto, with 119 (including two written under pseudonyms); former editor Eugene T. Maleska wrote 110 himself, including 8 under other names.
• Youngest constructor: Harrison Walden was 13 when he published his first solo Times crossword. He was eight years old when he first published as a co-constructor.
• Oldest constructor: Bernice Gordon was 100 on August 11, 2014, when her final Times crossword was published. (She died in 2015 at the age of 101.) Gordon published over 150 crosswords in the Times since her first puzzle was published by Margaret Farrar in 1952.
• Greatest difference in ages between two constructors of a single puzzle: 83, a puzzle by David Steinberg (age 16) and Bernice Gordon (age 99) with the theme AGE DIFFERENCE.
• 15-letter-word stacks: On December 29, 2012, Joe Krozel stacked five 15-letter entries, something never before or since achieved. Krozel, Martin Ashwood-Smith, George Barany and Erik Agard have stacked four 15-letter entries in a puzzle. Since 2010, Krozel, Ashwood-Smith, Kevin G. Der, and Jason Flinn have stacked two sets of four 15-letter entries in a puzzle.
• Lowest word count for a debut puzzle: 62 words, on Saturday, June 1, 2019, by Ari Richter.

In another notable Times crossword, 27-year-old Bill Gottlieb proposed to his girlfriend, Emily Mindel, via the crossword puzzle of January 7, 1998, written by noted crossword constructor Bob Klahn. The answer to 14-Across, [Microsoft chief, to some] was BILLG, also Gottlieb's name and last initial. 20-Across, [1729 Jonathan Swift pamphlet], was A MODEST PROPOSAL. And 56-Across, [1992 Paula Abdul hit], was WILL YOU MARRY ME. Gottlieb's girlfriend said yes. The puzzle attracted attention in the AP, an article in the Times itself, and elsewhere. Other Times crosswords with a notable wedding element include the June 25, 2010, puzzle by Byron Walden and Robin Schulman, which has rebuses spelling I DO throughout, and the January 8, 2020, puzzle by Joon Pahk and Amanda Yesnowitz, which was used at the latter’s wedding reception.

On May 7, 2007, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, a self-professed long-time fan of the Times crossword, collaborated with noted crossword constructor Cathy Millhauser on an online-only crossword in which Millhauser constructed the grid and Clinton wrote the clues. Shortz described the President's work as "laugh out loud" and noted that he as editor changed very little of Clinton's clues, which featured more wordplay than found in a standard puzzle. Clinton made his print constructing debut on Friday, May 12, 2017, collaborating with Vic Fleming on one of the co-constructed puzzles celebrating the crossword's 75th Anniversary.

The Times crossword of Thursday, April 2, 2009, by Brendan Emmett Quigley, featured theme answers that all ran the gamut of movie ratings—beginning with the kid-friendly "G" and finishing with adults-only "X" (now replaced by the less crossword-friendly "NC-17"). The seven theme entries were GARY GYGAX, GRAND PRIX, GORE-TEX, GAG REFLEX, GUMMO MARX, GASOLINE TAX, and GENERATION X. In addition, the puzzle contained the clues/answers of [Weird Al Yankovic's "__ on Jeopardy"] for I LOST and ["I'll take New York Times crossword for $200, __"] for ALEX. What made the puzzle notable is that the prior night's episode of the US television show Jeopardy! featured video clues of Will Shortz for five of the theme answers (all but GARY GYGAX and GENERATION X) which the contestants attempted to answer during the course of the show.

Controversies

The Times crossword has been criticized for a lack of diversity in its constructors and clues. Major crosswords like those in the Times have historically been created and edited primarily by older white men. Less than 30% of puzzle constructors in the Shortz Era have been women. In the 2010s, only 27% of clued figures were female, and 20% were of minority racial groups.

In January 2019, the Times crossword was criticized for including the racial slur "BEANER" (clued as "Pitch to the head, informally", but also a derogatory slur for Mexicans). Shortz apologized for the distraction this may have caused solvers, saying that he had never heard the slur before.

In 2022, the Times was criticized after many readers claimed that its December 18 crossword grid resembled a Nazi swastika. Some were particularly upset that the puzzle was published on the first night of Hanukkah. In a statement, the Times said the resemblance was unintentional, stemming from the grid's rotational symmetry. The Times was also criticized in 2017 and 2014 for crossword grids that resembled a swastika, which it both times defended as a coincidence.

References

References

1. (October 18, 2006). "New York Times News Service/Syndicate".
2. "''New York Times'' Crosswords for BlackBerry".
3. (March 16, 2009). "Official New York Times Crossword Puzzle Game Released – TouchArcade".
4. "''New York Times'' Crosswords for Kindle Fire".
5. "''New York Times'' Crosswords for Barnes and Noble Nook".
6. Shortz, Will. (April 8, 2001). "ENDPAPER: HOW TO; Solve The New York Times Crossword Puzzle". The New York Times.
7. "The New York Times Crossword Puzzle – Help".
8. "Crossword Puzzle Archive - 1999 - Premium - NYTimes.com".
9. "New York Times Specification Sheet".
10. [https://www.nytimes.com/1924/11/17/archives/topics-of-the-times.html?sq=mental+exercise&scp=1&st=p (Unsigned Editorial) "Topics of the Times"] ''The New York Times'', November 17, 1924. Retrieved on March 13, 2009. {{Subscription required}}
11. [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/16/magazine/bambi-is-a-stag-and-tubas-dont-go-pahpah-the-ins-and-outs-of-across.html Richard F. Shepard "Bambi is a Stag and Tubas Don't Go 'Pah-Pah': The Ins and Outs of Across and Down"] ''The New York Times Magazine'', February 16, 1992. Retrieved on March 13, 2009.
12. Zimmer, Ben. (December 19, 2023). "The Puzzling Story of How Cryptic Crosswords Crossed the Atlantic".
13. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E1DF1F38F937A25752C1A9679C8B63 Will Shortz "150th Anniversary: 1851–2001; The Addiction Begins"] ''The New York Times'', November 14, 2001. Retrieved on 2009-13-13.
14. (March 27, 2020). "How the 20th Century's Toughest Moments Shaped the Crossword Puzzle's History".
15. Stephenson, Hugh. (December 3, 2012). "American grids". The Guardian.
16. [http://crosswordtournament.com/articles/ct0398.htm Author unknown. "A Puzzling Occupation: Will Shortz, Enigmatologist" Biography of Will Shortz from American Crossword Puzzle Tournament homepage, dated March 1998. Retrieved on 2009-03-13.]
17. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080615055752/http://www.indiana.edu/~college/magazine/f2000/work.shtml Leora Baude "Nice Work if You Can Get It"], [[Indiana University]] College of Arts and Sciences, January 19, 2001. Retrieved on March 13, 2009.
18. (14 March 2024). "Editor's Note: Joel Fagliano Edits the Daily Crossword".
19. "NYT Crossword Editors".
20. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E2DA1F3FF93AA35750C0A9659C8B63 Will Shortz "CROSSWORD MEMO; What's in a Name? Five Letters or Less"] ''The New York Times'', March 9, 2003. Retrieved on March 13, 2009.
21. [http://www.crosswordtournament.com/articles/ap012306.htm David Germain "Crossword guru Shortz brings play on words to Sundance"] [[Associated Press]], January 23, 2006. Retrieved on March 13, 2009.
22. (October 13, 2021). "when you recognize someone by their voice 2.0 {{!}} gillian jacobs".
23. "The New York Times Store | Official Apparel, Books and Gifts".
24. "Subscribe to New York Times Games".
25. "Submit Your Crossword Puzzles to The New York Times".
26. "Account of 2008 presentation by Will Shortz".
27. Amlen, Deb. (December 5, 2012). "Theme of this Puzzle". The New York Times.
28. Amlen, Deb. (November 30, 2017). "How to Solve the New York Times Crossword".
29. Hiltner, Stephen. (August 1, 2017). "Will Shortz: A Profile of a Lifelong Puzzle Master". The New York Times.
30. New York Times Crossword Forum, April 4, 2006
31. (April 6, 2006). "The dirty word in 43 Down.".
32. "New York Times crossword for August 27, 1995".
33. Aguilar, Daniela. (2024-01-26). "The NYT games craze: How 'The Mini' and other puzzles have taken college campuses by storm – The Vanderbilt Hustler".
34. Graham, Ruth. (2015-08-17). "The New York Times "Mini" Crossword Is an Utter Disgrace to the NYT Crossword Brand". Slate.
35. (December 18, 2022). "Super Mega 2022: Clues". The New York Times.
36. "Fewest Words in 15x15 grids".
37. (2025-11-01). "Open-Faced".
38. "Most Words in 15x15 grids".
39. "Most Words in 21x21 grids".
40. "July 27, 2012 puzzle with record low black square count (subscription required)".
41. "Fewest Blocks in 15x15 grids".
42. "Most prolific constructors".
43. "New York Times Crossword "Database"".
44. "Teenage Constructors".
45. (2 March 2025). "Say Yes Without Words".
46. Amlen, Deb. (January 14, 2014). "Location, Location, Location". Wordplay: The Crossword Blog of The New York Times.
47. Fox, Margalit. (January 30, 2015). "Bernice Gordon, Crossword Creator for The Times, Dies at 101". The New York Times.
48. Mucha, Peter. "Construction worker Bernice Gordon, 95, has been coming across with downright nifty crossword puzzles for 60 years.".
49. "New York Times, Wednesday, June 26, 2013".
50. (June 25, 2013). "Four Score and Three".
51. Horne, Jim. "Stacks". XWordInfo.
52. Amende, Coral (1996) ''The Crossword Obsession'', [[Berkley Books]]: New York {{ISBN. 978-0756790868
53. "ACPT in the News: Business Unusual: Will Shortz".
54. "Quantum".
55. "January 7, 1998 wedding proposal crossword (subscription required)".
56. [[James Barron (journalist). James Barron]] [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/08/nyregion/public-lives-two-who-solved-the-puzzle-of-love.html "Two Who Solved the Puzzle of Love"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 8, 1998. Retrieved on October 26, 2021.
57. [https://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0737253520070507 "Bill Clinton pens NY Times' crossword puzzle" Reuters 2007-05-07. Retrieved on 2009-03-13.]
58. [https://www.nytimes.com/ref/crosswords/clintonpuz.html Cathy Millhauser (constructor) and Bill Clinton (clues); edited by Will Shortz "Twistin' the Oldies" ''The New York Times'' (web only) 2005-05-07. Retrieved on 2009-03-13. (Bill Clinton's ''Times'' crossword, available via PDF or Java applet.)]
59. "Friday, May 12, 2017 crossword by Bill Clinton and Victor Fleming".
60. "April 2, 2009 puzzle featured on "Jeopardy!" (subscription required)".
61. Last, Natan. (March 18, 2020). "The Hidden Bigotry of Crosswords".
62. "XWord Info". www.xwordinfo.com.
63. "Who's in the Crossword?".
64. Flood, Brian. (January 2, 2019). "New York Times apologizes for including racial slur in crossword puzzle: 'It is simply not acceptable'". Fox News.
65. Welk, Brian. (January 2, 2019). "NY Times Crossword Editor Apologizes for 'Slur' in New Year's Day Puzzle". [[TheWrap]].
66. Kilander, Gustaf. (December 19, 2022). "New York Times responds after readers accuse paper of swastika-shaped crossword puzzle". [[The Independent]].
67. (18 December 2022). "NY Times Sunday crossword puzzles readers with swastika shape on Hanukkah: 'How did this get approved'".
68. (19 December 2022). "The New York Times speaks out on claims its crossword resembles swastika".
69. (December 20, 2022). "'NYT' Response to Prior Crossword Swastika Accusations Resurfaces".