The New York Times crossword

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. 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, baseball pitcher Mike Mussina, former President Bill Clinton, and music duo the Indigo Girls. 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. • 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). • 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. • 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 and Midi The Times Online also publishes two other crosswords: the Mini, frequently constructed by Joel Fagliano, which is 5×5 Sunday through Friday and 7×7 on Saturdays; and the Midi, which is "between 9×9 and 11×11 every day, with 9×9 being the default size". 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.) 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. • 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. A few crosswords have achieved recognition beyond the community of crossword solvers. Perhaps the most famous is the November 5, 1996, puzzle by Jeremiah Farrell, published on the day of the U.S. presidential election, which has been featured in the movie Wordplay and the book The Crossword Obsession by Coral Amende, as well as discussed by Peter Jennings on ABC News, featured on CNN, and elsewhere. The two leading candidates that year were Bill Clinton and Bob Dole; in Farrell's puzzle, one of the long clue/answer combinations read [Title for 39-Across next year] MISTER PRESIDENT. The remarkable feature of the puzzle is that 39-Across could be answered either CLINTON or BOB DOLE, and all the Down clues and answers that crossed it would work either way (e.g., [Black Halloween animal] could be either BAT or CAT depending on which answer you filled in at 39-Across; similarly [French 101 word] could equal LUI or OUI, etc.). 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. 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. 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. On April 19, 2026, the Times published a crossword that was unsolvable, the first in its history. The crossword in question initially included a missing 5-across clue before it was corrected in the digital edition. == 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. ==See also==