And ever since, to commemorate that puzzly milestone, top constructors and Times favorites have been pairing up with celebrity fans and puzzle enthusiasts to co-construct puzzles for the Times!
This year, you might’ve encountered some of these collaborations, like news pundit Rachel Maddow’s March 2nd puzzle with constructor Joe DiPietro, or “How I Met Your Mother” star Josh Radner’s meditation-themed puzzler from January 31st with constructor Jeff Chen.
Over the last year, names as diverse as John Lithgow, Elayne Boosler, Joy Behar, Lisa Loeb, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bill Clinton have contributed their puzzly efforts to this marvelous project.
And yesterday, another famous wordsmith and master of punnery made his New York Times debut.
Yes, the immortal “Weird Al” Yankovic teamed up with Puzzle Your Kids mastermind and friend of the blog Eric Berlin for a cheese-themed Wednesday outing that delighted fans and solvers alike.
Al has certainly been keeping busy lately, launching his Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour — his words, not mine; I loved the show I attended! — and working with Lin-Manuel Miranda to create The Hamilton Polka, an ambitious and hilarious take on the wildly successful musical.
The puzzle was Eric’s 40th Times puzzle, and Al’s first. Not only did the puzzle feature those signature cinematic cheese puns — like A FEW GOUDA MEN and THE PELICAN BRIE — but there was plenty of nerd culture featured in the fill and cluing.
Tom Lehrer and John Cleese were both name-dropped, as well as Legolas, Wile E. Coyote, WALL-E, Mr. Clean, and Bones from the original Star Trek.
Eric offered some insight into the puzzle’s creation while discussing the puzzle with Wordplay’s Deb Amlen:
My very first attempt at the grid included one of my favorites from his list, QUESOBLANCA. I was under the misapprehension that queso is not just the Spanish word for cheese but also a specific kind of cheese. Whoops, not quite. (This was entirely on me, I should note — Al, not knowing during his brainstorming that the end result would be restricted to specific cheeses, had several cheese-adjacent puns in his list, including FONDUE THE RIGHT THING and CHEESY RIDER.)
And appropriately enough, Al had a bit of fun promoting the puzzle on his Instagram, claiming, “If you’re REALLY good, you don’t NEED the clues!”
For the record, I needed the clues.
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The 41st annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was this weekend, and puzzlers descended on the Stamford Marriott Hotel once again to put their puzzly skills to the test in what is lovingly known as “the Nerd Olympics.”
The tournament takes place over two days, with six puzzles to solve on Saturday, followed by one on Sunday. Then the top three finishers in the A, B, and C brackets solve the championship puzzle on whiteboards in front of the audience.
On Friday and Saturday night, there are often puzzle events, demonstrations, and panels by top puzzlers and figures in the puzzle world as well.
I made the journey down to Stamford myself Saturday morning, arriving with plenty of time to spare to prep our spot in the puzzle marketplace and say hello to friends and puzzly acquaintances. This year, I was joined at the Penny Dell Puzzles booth once again by my friend and partner-in-promotion Stacey Scarso.
The Penny Dell crew had a terrific setup as always, with a metric buttload of magazines to give away, including copies of The Crosswords Club and several flavors of Tournament Variety, Master’s Variety, and Dell Sunday Crosswords. They were also running a kickass promotion offering half-price on a year’s subscription to Crosswords Club, which is a great deal.
Plus we had a terrific sample puzzle for the Daily POP Crosswords app, constructed by the marvelous Angela Halsted! You can click this link for the answer grid AND a bonus offer for anyone who missed our ACPT tournament puzzle!
PLUS we held a contest to win a bundle of PDP puzzle swag, including a mug, a tote bag, an umbrella, and a bunch of puzzle magazines! All you had to do was solve a marvelous crossword variant puzzle cooked up by the folks at Penny Dell. (Though I did have a hand in writing some of the clues.)
And, yes, in their downtime between tournament puzzles, many competitors DO solve other puzzles.
At 9 AM, the tournament was two hours away, but the marketplace was up and running. There were puzzle magazines galore from the Village Bookstore (as well as a table of Merl Reagle’s puzzle books), a booth loaded with Nathan Curtis’s various puzzly projects, and ACPT-themed jewelry, key chains, teddy bears, magnets, and other items from All of the Things.
As competitors readied themselves for the day’s solving, I had plenty of time to see friends of the blog like Crosswords Club editor Patti Varol, crossword gentleman Doug Peterson, constructor Joanne Sullivan, and Penny Press variety editor Keith Yarbrough!
Perhaps the best part of attending the tournament is getting to chat with so many members of the puzzle community in one place. There were first-time attendees and enthusiastic rookies; apparently, contestants ranged in age from 17 to 92(!), and there was a 90-year-old rookie competing this year!
There were long-time puzzle fans who have been competing at ACPT for years, if not decades, many of whom were decked out in puzzle shirts, puzzle scarves, and other grid-heavy accoutrements.
One of the attendees even offered to buy the Crossword Puzzle Junkie shirt off my back! I assured him that that would work for him and literally no one else in attendance.
But I digress.
Many of the top constructors in the business were there, names like David Steinberg, Evan Birnholz, Joon Pahk, Peter Gordon, and more, along with former champions and first-rate competitors like Dan Feyer, Tyler Hinman, Howard Barkin, Ellen Ripstein, and Stella Zawistowski.
Getting to connect faces and personalities with names I know from tournaments like the Indie 500 is a real treat, and so many of the people in the puzzle world are genuinely nice, funny individuals. Not only that, but I also got to meet several fellow trivia fiends from the Learned League community!
The two hours before showtime passed quickly, and soon, the marketplace emptied and the ballroom filled as competitors took their seats for Puzzle 1.
Attendance jumped again this year, which meant not only was the main ballroom absolutely jam-packed with competitors, but an overflow room was needed to accommodate the nearly 700 solvers in Stamford!
When Puzzle 1 arrived, most competitors found Tracy Gray’s puzzle to be quick and fair. One solver in particular, constructor Erik Agard, delivered an absolutely blistering time, solving the puzzle in under 2 minutes! (A feat not seen since Dan Feyer did so in 2015.) It immediately rocketed Erik to the top of the leaderboard in impressive fashion.
Puzzle 2, constructed by prolific puzzler Zhouqin Burnikel, surprised some solvers with its difficulty. Then again, Puzzle 2 has been on the tougher side for at least the last few years, but I think many solvers forget that, given how legendarily difficult Puzzle 5 is every year. It’s easy to forget other puzzles can offer quite a challenge along the way.
Puzzle 3 was constructed by Mike Shenk, and served as a well-received palate-cleanser before the lunch break. Solvers scattered to the four winds in order to grab a bite to eat before returning by 2:30 for Puzzle 4.
[Even empty, all the dividers make the room feel packed…]
And what a Puzzle 4 it was. Constructed by Damon Gulczynski, this puzzle had a visual element that tripped up several top competitors. (An unclear blurb “explanation” didn’t help matters, and several competitors told me they would’ve been better off with no blurb at all.)
The judges were forced to actually explain the puzzle before competitors began Puzzle 5. It was a disappointing way for the second half of the tournament day to kick off.
Not only that, but one solver was mistakenly given Puzzle 5 to solve INSTEAD of Puzzle 4. He managed to solve it in the shorter time allotted, but couldn’t fairly solve Puzzle 4 afterward because of the explanation. I haven’t been able to follow up and find out what exactly happened to his score.
Finally, after the unexpected drama of Puzzle 4, it was time for Puzzle 5. This year, constructor Joel Fagliano did the honors, and according to competitors, it was as challenging as expected, really putting the craftiness and keen wits of the solvers to the test. (Apparently, computer solving program Dr. Fill failed to complete puzzle 5, one of its few slip-ups in an otherwise impressive year for the program.)
After the diabolical Puzzle 5, competitors closed out the day with Puzzle 6, constructed by Lynn Lempel, and declared it both fun and fair. The competitors dispersed to rest their brains (or solve more puzzles). We packed up the Penny/Dell table and headed for home.
And although I wasn’t present for Sunday’s tournament finale, I continued to get updates from friends and fellow puzzlers.
Puzzle 7, constructed by Patrick Berry, was what you might expect from a constructor of his caliber: elegant fill, very little crosswordese, and great fun.
Erik Agard remained at the top of the leaderboard, having kept a great solving pace after his outstanding performance on Puzzle 1 — a nice redemption for him after a heartbreaker last year, when an error dropped him out of finals contention after a strong performance overall.
So the final three would be Erik, Dan Feyer (7-time champ), and David Plotkin (a familiar name in the top ten).
Thankfully, this year, there was no repeat of last year’s flub where the B-level finalists got the A-level clues or anything like that. And there were no distinct time advantages among the top solvers.
It was simply a match-up of some of the fastest, sharpest puzzlers. (Including 2 rookies in the C-level final!)
Erik Agard would complete the puzzle first, solving it in under 5 minutes. By comparison, huge swathes of Dan and David’s grids were still empty at this point. It was a stunning showing for a very well-liked member of the puzzle community!
Dan Feyer would wrap the puzzle up in 9 minutes, with David Plotkin following at around 13.
As he had done all tournament, Erik solved with incredible speed and precision, claiming his first tournament victory!
And it was a strong showing for many other familiar names! Doug Peterson placed 14th (up from 18th last year!), David Steinberg placed 23rd (up from 28th!), and Patti Varol placed 74th (up from 103 last year!) out of a field of almost 700 participants. (And even with one eye tied behind his back, Keith Yarbrough managed an impressive performance as well!)
[I wonder how many competitors this tweet applies to…]
It’s always great fun to spend time with fellow puzzlers and wordplay enthusiasts, immersing myself in the puzzle community and enjoying all the charm and camaraderie that comes with it.
We’ll see you next year!
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Puzzlers from all over are sharpening their pencils and their wits as they gear up for what is affectionately known as the Nerd Olympics, and we here at PuzzleNation wish all of the competitors the best of luck!
Here’s hoping Puzzle #5 isn’t as diabolical as it has been in previous years!
There is a topnotch lineup of constructors to challenge this year’s competitors. Not only do we have Patrick Berry and Mike Shenk — perennial contributors to the tournament — as well as the prolific Zhouqin Burnikel and other ACPT stalwarts like Lynn Lempel, Sam Ezersky, Joel Fagliano, and Damon Gulczynski. Only Tracy Gray is a newcomer to crafting tournament puzzles. I can’t wait to see what they’ve concocted for this year’s tournament!
Good luck to everyone competing! And hey, if you need a pencil sharpener — or you’d like some terrific puzzly freebies and contests — we’ll be hanging out with our pals at the Penny Dell Puzzles table again this year! Be sure to stop by!
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Oh yes, it’s that time again! It’s time to unleash our puzzly and punny imaginations and engage in a bit of sparkling wordplay!
You may be familiar with the board game Schmovie, hashtag games on Twitter, or @midnight’s Hashtag Wars segment on Comedy Central.
For years now, we’ve been collaborating on puzzle-themed hashtag games with our pals at Penny Dell Puzzles, and this month’s hook was #PennyDellPuzzleSlogans, mashing up Penny Dell puzzles with advertising slogans, jingles, catchphrases, and more!
Examples include: Here and There’s the Beef, The Quicker Picker Upper, and A Diamond Rings is Forever.
So, without further ado, check out what the puzzlers at PuzzleNation and Penny Dell Puzzles came up with!
Snap! CRACKERS! Pop! (Rice Krispies)
Every Little Puzzler Helps (Tesco)
Betcha can’t eat just One and Only / Betcha Can’t Eat Add One (Lays)
Can you Here and There me now? (Verizon)
One for all and all four one. (Three Musketeers)
There’s no Right of Way to eat a Reese’s. (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups)
Double Up your pleasure, Double Trouble your fun / Double Trouble Your Pleasure, Double Trouble Your Fun / Double your Delight. Double your fun. (Wrigley’s Doublemint gum)
Good to the Last Drop-Ins (Folgers)
Reach Out and Touch Sum Triangles (AT&T)
Say It With Flower Power (FTD)
The Happiest Places, Please On Earth (Disneyland)
What’s In and Around Your Wallet? / What’s Left in your wallet? (Capital One)
Don’t Leave Home Runs Without It / Easy Crossword Express: don’t leave home without it! (American Express)
Tastes Great, Less Fill-In (Miller Lite)
Calgon, Give and Take Me Away! (Calgon)
Time to Make the Connection (Dunkin Donuts)
You sank my Battleships! (Battleship)
Silly Dillies! (Bud Light)
License Plates to grill (Chili’s)
Get the Door. It’s Domino Theory / Get the Door. It’s Missing Dominoes (Dominos Pizza)
All the News That’s Four-Fit to Print (New York Times)
Because you’re wordsworth it. (L’Oreal)
Have it your Which Way Words. (Burger King)
He’s the most interesting puzzler in the world. (Dos Equis)
Once you daily pop crosswords, you can’t stoplines. (Pringles)
Take-a-break me off a piece by piece of that KitKat bar. (KitKat)
Give me a Brick by Brick. Give me a Brick by Brick. Break me off a Piece by Piece of that Kit Kat Bar. (KitKat)
Two at a Time for me. None for you. (Twix)
Good to the last Drop-Ins. (Maxwell House)
Me Want Honeycomb! (Honeycomb)
The toughest four Letter Perfect word on wheels. (Jeep)
Head for the Borderline. / Make a run for the Borderline. (Taco Bell)
Bubbles wobble but they don’t Spelldown. (Weebles)
Only you can prevent Fancy Fives. (Smokey the Bear/US Forest Service)
What happens in V-Words, stays in V-Words. (Las Vegas Tourism Board)
Like a good neighbor, Mystery State is there. (State Farm)
It takes a licking, but keeps on Tick-Tock Word Seeking. (Timex)
Quotefall into the Gap (The Gap)
We sell no End of the Line before it’s Two at a Time. (Paul Masson Wine)
You can’t win if you don’t Word Play. (Powerball)
I’ve Quotefallen and I can’t get up! (MedicAlert)
ABCs is for apple, J is for jacks, cinnamon toasty Crackerjacks (Apple Jacks cereal)
I can’t believe I AtoZ the whole thing! / I can’t believe I ate the Bowlgame thing! (Alka-seltzer)
You’ve got Ringers around the collar! (Whisk)
Who’s Calling? I just called to say I love you (Ma Bell)
Syllability rabbit, Trix are for kids (Trix)
Clap on! Clap off! Clap on clap off…the clapboard! (The Clapper)
I’m a Puzzler, you’re a Puzzler, he’s a Puzzler, she’s a Puzzler, wouldn’t you like to be a Puzzler too? (Dr. Pepper)
There were also a few submissions that deserve its their section, as several of our intrepid puzzlers went above and beyond.
When I bite into a Penny Press Patchwords, I get the PuzzleNation . . . (York Peppermint Patties)
If you have Fill-Ins Fill-Ins Fill-Ins, in the bipad bipad bipad, then you will like it like it like it on your iPad iPad iPad. (Libby’s)
My crossword has a first name, it’s P-E-N-N-Y. My crossword has a second name it’s P-R-E-S-S. I love to solve them every day. And if you ask me why say, Cuz Penny Press has a way with W-O-R-D-S! (Oscar Mayer)
Hold the Pick-ture This, hold the Lett-er Boxes, special orders don’t upset us, all we ask is that you let us have it your Word Ways (Burger King)
Have you come up with any Penny Dell Puzzle Slogan entries of your own? Let us know! We’d love to see them!
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If you solve enough crossword puzzles, you’re bound to encounter some repeated clues. After all, there are words that lend themselves easily to crossword construction, and if a word appears often, then certain clues for that word are practically guaranteed to recur.
For instance, let’s talk dogs. “Popular dog’s name” as a clue for FIDO? Is FIDO a popular dog name anymore? Was it ever?
What about that other crossword-friendly pup’s name, ASTA? I’ve seen “Asta’s bite” as a clue for NIP, but can we verify that? Did Asta ever bite someone on Nick and Nora’s watch?
And speaking of animals, what about the clue “Playful mammal” for SEAL? Isn’t that a bit presumptuous? I mean, sure, a given seal might appear playful to some, but all seals as a general rule? Seems a bit much.
Did the house from Home Again have an ELL? Or the one from This Old House? Because if not, “Home Again add-on” and “This Old House addition” are technically incorrect.
What about that famed “Bakery employee” you see from time to time in grids? Bakery personnel, I implore you. Please answer… is there really such a thing as an ICER?
[Image courtesy of Getty Images.]
Why are ARKS clued as “Clumsy vessels”? How clumsy could a boat be? Did it keep tipping over? IS THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE UNICORNS?!
Is the NILE really a “Cleopatra backdrop”? Can someone verify that the Nile was a setpiece or location for the film?
And for you fans of poetic contractions in crosswords, here’s a question: Did Byron ever really use “E’ER” in one of his pieces? Did Yeats? Did other odists?
What do you think, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers? Are there any common crossword clues that raise questions for you? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you!
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When it comes to crosswords, every solver and constructor has their own ideas about what’s appropriate and what’s inappropriate.
And I don’t just mean the age-old debate of pen vs. pencil. Whether we’re talking about answer words, abbreviations, cluing styles, gimmicks like shared letters in one box, or even the number of black squares in a grid, the sheer variation and customization possible is bound to lead to differing opinions.
A recent New York Times Tuesday Mini puzzle was the source of some consternation for solvers when it turned out that the first three boxes across were intended to be filled with numbers, not letters.
The clue? “Easy as ____,” which many solvers mistook, understandably, for PIE. When you factor in that many Times puzzle solvers value their solving speeds as well as their solving experience, the extra seconds (or minutes) “wasted” on a clue that feels misleading can be frustrating.
Some of those solvers took their concerns (and complaints) to Twitter, prompting a response from the official Wordplay Twitter account, which offered up the Easter egg that “123” referred to not only the answer to 1 Across, but also the date the puzzle appeared, 1/23.
That is a nice little bonus, but it wasn’t referenced at all in the clue, so it did little to appease those who were upset with what they consider a breach in crossword etiquette.
[Image courtesy of Shutterstock.]
Although I absolutely sympathize with being unexpectedly flummoxed by a clue — it happens to me all the time as a solver — I must admit that this sort of thing doesn’t bother me. I don’t mind when multiple letters share a grid square, or if there’s a number there instead of a letter.
In fact, Alex Eaton-Salners employed the same thing in his “Read the Fine Print” Fireball Crosswords puzzle, and it made my favorite puzzles of 2017 list.
Clearly something like this is going to bother some solvers more than others. What do you think, fellow puzzlers? Does using numbers instead of letters in crosswords bother you or violate your idea of what a good crossword should be?
What about having multiple letters inside one grid square? Do you think that’s a cheat — a way to get around constructing something that actually fits the space — or a clever conceit allowing for more grid and theme flexibility? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject!
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In February of 2017, The New York Times celebrated a landmark in the history of puzzles: the 75th anniversary of the NYT crossword.
PuzzCulture 