PUZZLES
By Will Shortz
A crossword puzzle is a battle between the puzzle maker and editor on one side and the solver on the other. But in this battle, unlike most battles, both sides have the same goal—for the solver to win. A perfect puzzle may put up lots of resistance. It may, in fact, seem impossible at first. Ideally, though, in the end the solver should triumph and think, Oh, how clever I am!
The perfect level of difficulty, of course, differs from person to person. This is why, as editor, I vary the difficulty of the weekday Times crossword from easy-medium on Monday up to what the actor and puzzle aficionado Paul Sorvino calls “the bitch mother of all crosswords” on Saturday. (He said this as a compliment.) The goal is to have something for everyone. I advise new solvers to begin on Monday and see how far through the week they can go. The Sunday Times puzzle, while larger than its weekday counterpart, averages only Thursday-plus in difficulty.
Step 1 in solving any crossword is to begin with the answers you’re surest of and build from there. The fill-in-the-blank clues are easy to spot and often the easiest to solve. Focus in the early stages on the three-, four-, and five-letter words, because the English language has relatively few of these, and the same ones tend to repeat a lot in puzzles. This is especially so for vowel-heavy words like ALEE, IOTA, EEL, AGO, OREO, etc. Watch for the celebrity names (UMA, ARTE, ENO, AGEE) and geographical names (ADA, AMES, ELON, ORONO) that crop up with unusual frequency. Once you have a few crossing letters in the longer answers, you’ll be more likely to get them from their clues.
Don’t be afraid to guess. At the same time, don’t be afraid to erase an answer that isn’t working out. For the clue “Butcher’s offering,” I once watched a solver successively guess T-BONE, CHUCK, and STEAK before finally hitting upon the correct answer, SHANK. Don’t assume that because you have a few crossing letters your answer is necessarily correct. And if nothing seems to cross the answer you have filled in, be very wary.
Mental flexibility is a great asset in solving crosswords. Let your mind wander. The clue “Present time” might suggest NOWADAYS, but in a different sense it might lead to the answer YULETIDE. Similarly, “Life sentences” could be OBIT; “Inside shot” is X-RAY; and my all-time favorite clue, “It turns into a different story” (15 letters), results in the phrase SPIRAL STAIRCASE.
The New York Times crossword has not printed hints like “2 wds.” and “3 wds.” since the early 1950’s, so be on your toes for multiword answers. One answer that always seems to trip solvers up is R-A-N-D-R, which was clued as “Leave time?” when it first appeared in a Times puzzle several years ago. Afterward lots of solvers called and wrote me saying that they couldn’t find the word RANDR in their dictionaries, and where did I get it? I had to inform them gently that the answer was three words, R AND R, as in the time when one goes on leave.
A question mark at the end of a clue can mean several things. In the above clue for R AND R, it means “This clue is tricky! Be careful!” It can also indicate that the answer only loosely fits the clue. For example, “Cause for a head-slap?” (BONER). Making a boner may or may not be cause for slapping one’s forehead. When question marks appear at the ends of the clues for all the long answers in a puzzle, usually the marks are signals for related puns.
No matter how tricky or misleading the clues, they will always follow a fairly strict set of rules. Most important, a clue and its answer will always be expressed in the same part of speech and as a rule must be interchangeable in a sentence, with the same meaning each way.
If a crossword answer is not a Standard English word, the clue will usually signal this fact. Thus, a slangy answer will have a slangy clue. The clue for an abbreviated answer will contain the tag “Abbr.” or else a word that is not usually abbreviated (“Entrepreneur’s deg.” = M.B.A.). Similarly, words that are strictly foreign will be signaled either directly (“Boy: Sp.” = NINO) or indirectly (“Son, in Sonora”). By convention, diacritical marks are ignored in American crosswords, so don’t worry about that tilde in “niño.”
True crossword cognoscenti observe the bylines on the crosswords and prepare themselves accordingly. Cathy Millhauser, a frequent Times constructor, is famous for puns. In a puzzle called “M-M-M” she changed N sounds to M’s at the end of familiar phrases, like SAVINGS AND LOAM, AMERICA ON-LIME and AS CRAZY AS A LOOM. Knowing her tendencies helps you nail one or two of the long puns, and you have a big advantage in getting the others.
The constructor’s age is sometimes reflected in a puzzle. The late Frances Hansen, one of The Times’s longest-running crossword contributors, produced elegant grids full of classical knowledge, while Brendan Emmett Quigley, 26, a guitarist for a rock band in Boston, conveys a younger, more pop-cultured sensibility.
If you get stuck on a puzzle, a time-honored technique is to put it aside and return later. Perhaps the brain works subconsciously on problems in the interim. Whatever the case, a fresh look at a tough puzzle almost always brings new answers.
A question I am asked often is this: “Is it cheating to use references?” In reply I always quote Will Weng, one of my predecessors as Times crossword editor: “It’s your puzzle. Solve it any way you want.” And is it cheating to call The Times’s 900 number to get answers? Well, of course! But what nobody knows won’t hurt you.
by Will Shortz
By their nature crossword puzzles tend to have shorter, more vowel-heavy words than the English language does as a whole. Short words are necessary to make the vocabulary in the grid interlock. And though most modern crosswords eschew obscurity, even well-made puzzles, by necessity, may have a few answers that ordinary people have never heard of. Below is a list of almost 600 short, difficult words that often appear in crosswords (words like these are sometimes called “crosswordese”), along with common clues that are used for them. The great majority of words in crosswords are ones you already know. Memorizing this modest list of rare but frequently encountered puzzle words will instantly make you a substantially better solver.
AAR Swiss river (also AARE)
ABBE French cleric
ABELE White poplar
ABIES “__ Irish Rose”
ABRI Hillside shelter
ACER Maple genus
ACIS Galatea’s beloved
ACTA Recorded proceedings
ADA City in Oklahoma
ADAK Alaskan island
ADANO Hersey’s “A Bell for __”
ADAR Jewish month
ADE Fruit drink; humorist George
ADIT Mine entrance
ADZ Shaping tool (also ADZE)
AEDES Mosquito genus
AERIE Eagle’s nest (also AERY)
AESIR Pantheon in Norse mythology
AGA Turkish leader (also AGHA)
AGANA Guam’s capital, old-style
AGAR Culture medium; journalist-writer Herbert
AGEE Writer James
AGIO Currency exchange premium
AGON Literary conflict; Stravinsky ballet
AGORA Ancient Greek marketplace
AGRA Taj Mahal city
AGUE Chills and fever
AINU Japanese aborigine
AIRE River in Yorkshire
AISNE French river
AIT River island
ALAE Winglike part
ALAI Kyrgyzstan’s __ Mountains; jai __
ALAR Winged; banned apple spray
ALB Church vestment
ALEE Toward shelter
ALETA Prince Valiant’s wife
ALGA Tiny pond plant
ALOP Askew
ALOU Baseball family name
ALTAI Asia’s __ Mountains
ALUM Astringent; graduate, for short
ALVA Thomas Edison’s middle name
AMAH Oriental nurse
AMATI Italian violinmaker
AMES Iowa university town; singer Ed
A MOI Belonging to me, in France
AMUR River in northeastern Asia
ANA Literary collection; Santa __
ANAIS Diarist Nin
ANI Black cuckoo
ANIL Indigo-yielding plant
ANILE Old-womanish
ANION Negatively charged particle
ANO Year in Spain
ANOA Celebes ox
ANSA Looped handle
ANTA Theater group
ANYA Author Seton
APIA Samoa’s capital
APIS Sacred bull of ancient Egypt
APOD Footless animal
APSE Church recess
ARA Southern constellation; coach Parseghian
ARAL Asia’s __ Sea
ARAM Composer Khachaturian
ARAN Ireland’s __ Islands
ARECA Betel palm
ARETE Mountain rdge
ARI Shipping magnate Onassis; former White House spokesman Fleischer
ARIL Seed covering
ARON Elvis Presley’s middle name
ARRAS Tapestry
ARTEL Old Soviet peasants’ cooperative
ARUM Calla lily family
ASANA Yoga position
ASE Peer Gynt’s mother; enzyme suffix
ASOR Ancient Hebrew musical instrument
ASSAI Very, in music
ASSAM State in northeastern India
ASTA Nick and Nora Charles’s dog in The Thin Man
ASTI Italian wine region
ATLE Tamarisk salt tree
ATLI Norse king
ATON Egyptian solar diety (also ATEN)
ATRI Italian bell town
ATTU Westernmost of the Aleutian Islands
AUDE French river
AUGER Hole-boring tool
AVAL Grandparental
AWN Grain bristle
AXEL Skater’s jump
AXIL Leaf angle
AXON Nerve-cell process
AYIN Hebrew letter
AYN Author Rand
BAHT Thai money
BEDE “Venerable” monk
BELEM Brazilian city
BEY Governor in the Ottoman Empire
BOLA Gaucho’s weapon
BOLO Philippine knife; __ tie
BRAE Scottish hillside
BREN Clip-fed machine gun
CAEN Normandy city
CANA Where Jesus performed his first miracle
CANEA Former capital of Crete
CARIB West Indies native
CHA Oriental tea
CEBU Philippine island
CERE Cover with wax: Obs.
CERES Goddess of agriculture; largest asteroid
CLIO Muse of history
COHO Great Lakes salmon
COIR Coconut fiber
CONTE French story
COR Heart
COS Type of lettuce; business grps.
CREE Algonquian Indian
CREEL Fisher’s basket
DACE Carplike fish
DADA Art movement
DADO Part of a pedestal
DAG Former U.N. Secretary General __ Hammarskjöld
DAIL Irish parliament
DEE Scottish river; actress Ruby or Sandra
DELE Remove, to a typesetter
DENE Sand hill
DEVA Hindu deity
DEY Former Algerian ruler; actress Susan
DIDO Queen of Carthage; prank
DOGE Old Venetian magistrate
DREI German four
DUMA Russian legislature
DYAD Pair
DYNE Unit of force
EBON Black, in poetry
EBRO Spanish river
ECCE Behold, in old Rome
ECLAT Brilliant display
ECOLE French place of learning
ECRU Beige
ECTO Outer: Prefix
ECU Old French coin
EDA Author LeShan
EDDA Icelandic literary work
EDE Dutch city
EDEMA Swelling
EDER German river
EDH Old English letter (also ETH)
EDIE Singer Adams
EDILE Old Roman magistrate
EDO Former name of Tokyo
EDOM Biblical country
EER Always, in poetry
EERO Architect Saarinen
EFT Young newt
EGER German river
EGIS Protection (also AEGIS)
EIN German article (also EINE)
EIS Frozen water: Ger.
E LA Guido’s note
ELAM Biblical kingdom
ELATER Click beetle
ELATH Israeli port on the Gulf of Aqaba (also ELAT, EILAT)
ELBA Island of Napoleon’s exile
ELBE German river
ELD Antiquity
ELEA Zeno of __
ELEMI Fragrant resin
ELEVE French student
ELI Biblical high priest
ELIA Charles Lamb’s pen name
ELIS Home of the ancient Olympics; Yale students
ELL Building wing; pipe joint
ELOI The Time Machine people
ELON North Carolina university
ELS Overhead trains; golfer Ernie
ELSA Born Free lioness; Lohengrin’s love
ELUL Jewish month
ELVER Young eel
ELY English cathedral town; Tarzan player Ron
EME Scottish uncle
EMIR Mideast leader (also EMEER, AMIR, AMEER)
EMO Comic Philips
EMS German spa; type widths
ENA Bambi’s aunt; Alfonso’s queen
ENERO January: Sp.
ENG Chang’s conjoined twin; H.S. class
ENID City in Oklahoma; Arthurian lady; author Bagnold
ENNA Sicilian city
ENNS Austrian river
ENO Rock musician Brian
ENOL Organic compounds
ENOS Son of Seth
ENS Type widths; nav. officer
ENTO Inner: Prefix
ENYO Ares’ mother
EOS Greek goddess of the dawn
EOSIN Rose-colored dye
EPEE Fencing sword
EPHAH Hebrew measure
EPI Finial ornament; prefix with center
EPODE Lyric poem
EPOS Grand poetry
ERATO Muse of lyric poetry
ERDA Norse earth goddess
ERE Before
ERG Energy unit
ERGOT Plant fungus
ERI Silkworm (also ERIA); “__ Tu” (aria)
ERIS Goddess of discord
ERN Sea eagle (also ERNE)
EROS Greek god of love
ERS Bitter vetch; hesitation sounds
ERSE Scottish Gaelic
ESAU Twin brother of Jacob
ESKER Glacial ridge
ESNE Anglo-Saxon slave
ESS Double curve; feminine suffix
ESSE Existence
ESSENE Dead Sea scrolls writer
ESTE Italian commune; Renaissance family name
ESTER Organic compounds
ESTES __ Park, Colo.; Sen. Kefauver
ESTOP Prevent by law
ETAH Greenland settlement
ET AL And others: Lat.
ETAPE Public warehouse
ETE French summer
ETNA Sicilian volcano
ETO W.W. II zone: Abbr.
ETON English college; type of jacket or collar
ETTA Singer James or Jones
ET TU “__, Brute!”
ETUDE Practice piece in music
ETUI Needle case
EVOE Bacchanalian cry
EWER Pitcher
EXE River in Devon
FALA F.D.R.’s dog
FARO Card game
FRA Monk
GAEA Mother of the Titans
GAM Attractive leg, slangily; school of whales
GAR Needlefish
GARE Railway station: Fr.
GASPE Canadian peninsula
GAT Gangster’s gun
GHEE Liquid butter, in India
GNAR Snarl, growl
GNU African antelope
GOA Former Portuguese colony in India
HARI W.W. I spy Mata __
HEBE Greek goddess of youth
HEL Loki’s daughter
HEMO Blood: Prefix (also HEMA)
HEART Afghanistan city
HESSE German state; Steppenwolf author
HOREB Biblical mountain
IAGO Othello villain
IAMB Verse foot
IBEX Wild goat
IBO Nigerian tribesman
ICI Here: Fr.
IDA Mountain on Crete
IDEO Thought: Prefix
IGLU Eskimo home: Var.
ILA Dockworkers’ org.
ILE __ de France
ILIA Hip bones
ILO Worldwide workers’ grp.
INEE Arrow poison
INGE Dramatist William
INO Daughter of Cadmus, in Greek mythology
IN RE Concerning
IOLA Kansas town
IOLE Hercules’ captive
IONA Scottish isle; New Rochelle college
IONIA Asia Minor district
IPSE __ dixit
IRADE Muslim decree
ISAK Author Dinesen
ISER Czech river
ISERE French river
ISSEI Japanese-American
ISTLE Rope fiber
ITEA Virginia willow
ITER Roman road
ITO Japanese statesman; Simpson judge Lance
IYAR Hebrew month
JETE Ballet jump
KEIL German canal
KEPI Military cap
KOLA Nut with caffeine
KRAAL Enclosure for cattle in South Africa
KRONA Icelandic money
KUDU African antelope
LAC Resin in sealing wax; Fond du __, Wis.
LAE New Guinea port
LAIC Secular
LAR Roman household god
LEA Meadow
LEDA Mother of Castor and Pollux
LEHR Glassmaker’s oven
LEK Albanian money
LEN Author Deighton
LENA Russian river; singer Horne
LENE Smooth sound
LER Celtic god of the sea
LETO Apollo’s mother
LETT Native of Latvia
LEU Romanian money
LEV Bulgarian coin
LEVI Jacob’s son
LEYTE Philippine island
LIANA Tropical climbing plant (also LIANE)
LIRA Turkish money; former Italian currency
LIS French flower
LOBO Timber wolf
LODI Town in New Jersey or California
LOKI Mischief-making Norse god
LST W.W. II craft: Abbr.
LYS French/Belgian river
MAKO Variety of shark
MARL Crumbly soil
MARU Japanese ship name
MEDE Ancient Persian
MENE Part of writing on a wall, in Daniel
MERL Blackbird
MHO Unit of electrical conductance
MIL Wire measure
MISE __ en scene (the staging of a play)
MITER Bishop’s headdress
MOA Extinct flightless bird
MORO Philippine tribesman; 1960’s–70’s Italian P.M. Aldo __
NACRE Mother-of-pearl
NAE Scottish refusal
NAHA Okinawa port
NAIAD Water nymph
NANA Zola novel; child’s caretaker
NARD Aromatic plant that yields an ointment
NEB Bird’s beak
NEBO Biblical mount
NEE Born: Fr.
NEF Ship clock
NENE Hawaiian goose
NESS Headland; Eliot in The Untouchables
NEVA Leningrad’s river
NEVE Glacial snowfield; actress Campbell
NEY Napoleon’s marshal at Waterloo
NEZ __ Percé Indians; pince-__
NIB Pen point
NIDE Brood of pheasants
NIDI Nests of eggs
NIPA East Indian palm
NISAN Hebrew month
NISI Not yet final, at law
NOH Japanese drama
NONES Canonical hour
NORIA Waterwheel
NORN One of the three Norse Fates
OAST Kiln
OBE British award: Abbr.
OBEAH Witchcraft
OBI Japanese sash
OBOL Ancient Greek coin
OCA Edible root in South America
ODA Harem room
ODEA Concert halls
ODER German-Polish border river
ODETS Playwright Clifford
ODIN Supreme Norse deity
OGEE Double curve, in molding
OHM Unit of resistance
OISE River of France
OKA Russian river
OKAPI Relative of the giraffe
OKIE Migratory Dust Bowl worker
OLAND Warner __, Charlie Chan portrayer
OLID Foul-smelling
OLIO Medley
OLLA Earthenware jar
OLOR Swan genus
OMAR Persian poet and mathematician
OMER Ancient Hebrew measure
OMOO Melville novel
OMRI Ahab’s father; actor Katz
ONDE French wave
ONER Unique person or thing
OONA Mrs. Charlie Chaplin
OPA W.W. II ration board agcy.; __-Locka, Fla.
OPAH Colorful moonfish
OPE Unlock: Poetic
OPS Roman goddess of plenty; photo __
ORA Mouths
ORAN Algerian port
ORCA Killer whale
ORD California’s Fort __
ORDO Church calendar
OREL Russian city; pitcher Hershiser
ORIEL Bay window
ORLE Heraldic bearing
ORNE French department
ORO Spanish gold
ORONO Maine university town
ORT Table scrap
OSAR Glacial ridge
OSIER Willow
OSS C.I.A. predecessor
OSSA Greek mountain
OSTIA Port of ancient Rome
OTHO Holy Roman emperor
OTIC Ear-related
OTO Oklahoma tribe (also OTOE)
OUSE English river
OVA Eggs
PACA Spotted brown rodent
PAS Dance step; fathers
PEKOE Black tea
PELEE Martinique volcano
PERI Persian sprite
PES Footlike part
PHON Loudness measure
PHOT Light unit
PIA __ mater (brain cover); actress Zadora
PICA Type measure
PIMA Arizona Indian; strong-fibered cotton
PLIE Ballet bend
POI Hawaiian dish
POILU French soldier in W.W. I
PROA Malay outrigger
PTAH Egyptian deity
PULE Whimper
PULI Hungarian dog
PYE English poet laureate
QADI Muslim magistrate (also CADI)
RAE Arctic explorer John; actress Charlotte
RAGA Indian music
RALE Harsh breathing
RAMA Incarnation of Vishnu
RAMIE Sturdy cloth fiber
RANA Indian prince
RANI Hindu queen (also RANEE)
RAO Indian novelist
RAREE __ show (amusing spectacle)
RATEL Nocturnal animal of Africa and India
RAVI Sitarist Shankar
REBEC Medieval musical instrument
REN Stimpy’s partner in cartoons
RENI Italian painter Guido
REO Antique auto
RES Thing at law; musical notes
RET Soak flax
RETE Network
RHEA Ostrichlike bird
RHEE First president of Korea
RIA Narrow inlet
RIAL Mideast money (also RIYAL)
RIATA Gaucho’s lariat (also REATA)
RIEN Nothing: Fr.
RIGA Latvia’s capital
RIVA Kentucky Derby winner __ Ridge
ROC Fabled bird of The Arabian Nights
ROE Caviar; __ v. Wade
ROO Aussie hopper; Winnie-the-Pooh baby
ROTA Roster
ROTI Roasted: Fr.
ROTO Old newspaper section
RUR Karel Capek drama
RYA Scandinavian rug
SABRA Native Israeli
SAC Algonquian Indian; pouch
SAGO Starchy foodstuff
SAKI H. H. Munro’s pen name
SANA Capital of Yemen (also SANAA)
SARD Semiprecious stone
SARI Hindu dress
SEC Dry, as wine; part of a min.
SEGO Utah’s state flower
SEL Salt: Fr.
SERA Antitoxins; evening in Italy
SERAC Glacial ridge
SERAI Mideast inn
SERE Dry and withered
SERT Spanish muralist José María __
SES French possessive
SETA Bristle
SETI One of two Egyptian pharaohs
SHEM Son of Noah
SIENA City of Tuscany
SIMI California’s __ Valley
SIVA Hindu god (also SHIVA)
SLOE Blackthorn fruit;__gin fizz
SMA Wee, in Scotland
SMEE Captain Hook’s assistant
SMEW Eurasian diving duck
SNA Scottish snow
SNEE Old-fashioned dagger
SOMA Brave New World drug
SORA Marsh bird
SPEE Graf __ (historic German battleship)
SRA Mrs.: Spanish
SRI Hindu honorific
SRO Theater box-office sign
SRTA Spanish miss: Abbr.
STELE Inscribed pillar (also STELA)
STEN British submachine gun
STERE Cubic dry measure
STET “Let it stand,” to a typesetter
STILE Set of steps over a fence or wall
ST. LO Normandy town
STOA Greek portico
STOAT Brown ermine
STOL Aircraft acronym
STRAD Classic violin
SURA Chapter in the Koran
SUSA Capital of ancient Elam
SUVA Fiji’s capital
TABU Forbidden: Var.
TAEL Oriental weight
TARA Gone With the Wind plantation
TARE Weight allowance
TARN Mountain lake
TARO Tropical tuber
TASS Soviet news agency
TASSE French cup
TAT Make lace
TAV Hebrew letter
TEC Gumshoe
TERA Trillion: Prefix
TIA Aunt: Sp.
TIC Spasm; __-tac-toe
TIKI Polynesian carving; “Kon-__”
TIO Spanish uncle
TITI Small South American monkey
TIU Teutonic deity
TOLE Lacquered metalware
TOPEE Pith helmet (also TOPI)
TOR Craggy hill
TORI Geometric doughnuts; actress Spelling
TORTE Rich cake
TRE Italian three
TRET Waste allowance
TYPEE Melville novel
UBER Over: Ger.
UDO Japanese vegetable
UELE River to the Ubangi
UKASE Edict
ULAN __ Bator, Mongolia
ULEE Peter Fonda title role
ULU Eskimo knife
UMBO Projecting stud at the center of a shield
UNA Heroine of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene; Spanish article
UNAU Two-toed sloth
UNCAS The Last of the Mohicans character
UNU Burma’s first prime minister
UPAS Javanese poison tree
URAL Russian river or mountain
URE River in Yorkshire
UREY Chemistry Nobelist Harold
URI Swiss canton; mentalist Geller
URIAH Dickens’s “__ Heep”
UTE Colorado Indian; sport __ (vehicle)
UVEA Iris layer
VOLE Short-tailed rodent
WADI Dry river bed
WEIR Small dam
WEN Cyst
YALU Korean river
YSER Belgian river
ZARF Coffee cup holder
ZED Last letter, in England and Canada