How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle: Tips, Tricks and Techniques to Master America's Favorite Puzzle

by The New York Times, Amy Reynaldo, Will Shortz (Introduction)

The New York Times is the gold standard of crossword puzzles. Drawing from the top puzzle constructors in the nation, the Times puzzles are considered the cleverest, most engaging and at times, trickiest puzzles of all. This guide will help puzzlers of all skill levels improve and enjoy the New York Times crossword. Along with helpful discussions and hints, every puzzle in How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle is annotated with solving tips and insight from veteran constructors and solver to help you master the nation's #1 puzzle!
This volume
*60 Times puzzles from easy Monday to devilish Saturday and giant Sunday, each with helpful tips and clues
*Lists of most common crossword words, clues, and ways constructors try to trick you*Step-by-step solving instructions provide readers with instruction on how to tackle puzzles of every difficulty level*How to construct a A chapter offers a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into making a great crossword
*Introduction from puzzle great Will Shortz, crossword editor for The New York Times

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2007

About the author

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. Founded in 1851, the newspaper has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. Its website receives 30 million unique visitors per month.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is mainly composed of the author's thoughts as she walks you through solving puzzles. Each chapter starts with the unsolved puzzle, and then the text of her thoughts interspersed with the increasingly filled in grids of the puzzle as she completes it. In many ways, it's very much like the crossword blogs you can find on the Internet, where the blogger ruminates on how they solved today's puzzle. For me, though, it's a little like looking over the shoulder of someone on the subway solving a puzzle, not a particularly satisfying experience.

The book also contains 63 NYT puzzles, many of which you may have already seen if you've bought NYT crossword collections. Each has a few paragraph section containing hints, comments on the theme, and maybe a little about the constructor. Again, this is similar to what crossword bloggers publish.

Personally, I don't "get" crossword blogs. But if you do, this could be the book for you.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nearly seven years--that's got to be some kind of record for time taken to read a 185-page book written in my native tongue.

Many pages of this book were New York Times crossword puzzles, so this was never going to be a light read. I did get a lot out of it, and feel like I'm a much better crossword solver than I was, well, seven years ago. The book has lots of tips and techniques that are helpful, and the author provides a step-by-step account of how she solved some example puzzles. Best of all, there are lots of practice puzzles, with hints and solutions at the end. I would recommend this book to just about anyone who wants to be a better crossword solver--it would help just about anyone who isn't a competitive solver already.

[kvon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some tips and wordlists that may help you with the NYT, some insight into how a really good solver works, and lots of practice puzzles.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm down to 23 minutes, on average...

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really not much reading, but I'm enjoying the 60+ practice puzzles and I've learned a bit about how NYT puzzles are constructed.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to wait a bit to get this at the library; would have been more useful earlier in my crosswording.