Comments on: The Quick 10: The New York Times Crossword Puzzle

By: Fruppi

Fruppi — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:49:13 +0000

Amy, I get World of Puzzles and I don’t do every one either. In fact there are about 4 different puzzles I do faithfully and then usually skip the rest :).

Jon Stewart proposed to his wife via crossword puzzle too, right? I guess it wasn’t published though, but it was edited by Will Shortz.

I have the NYT crossword game for DS and both my husband and I love it :)

By: puzzlenut

puzzlenut — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:17:28 +0000

Hey Stacy, Amy’s right, it is Bob Klahn, not Bob Khan. When I googled \Bob Khan\ and \crosswords,\ all I found was your article and the Phoenix, Arizona fire chief.

But when I replaced \Khan\ with \Klahn,\ I found a number of pages about the proposal puzzle, and a good bit more. In particular, I found that a book of 72 tough, mostly themeless crosswords by Bob Klahn, \The Wrath of Klahn Crosswords,\ playing on the \The Wrath of Khan\ of \Star Trek II\ fame, will be published within the next few months under Sterling Publishing’s Puzzlewright Press imprint.

I propose … to pick up a copy!

By: Amy Reynaldo

Amy Reynaldo — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 05:37:29 +0000

I do about three to five crosswords a day, including the NYT, and blog about them all. I live for the Saturday puzzles.

I still subscribe to both Games and World of Puzzles, but they’re hit-or-miss. It took me years to realize I could skip all the puzzle types I don’t like. The variety crosswords and cryptics buy my loyalty.

One correction: It’s Bob Klahn who crafted the famous marriage proposal puzzle, which ran in the NYT 1/7/98 (http://www.xwordinfo.com/ShowPuzzle.aspx?date=1/7/1998).

By: seeingeye

seeingeye — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 05:01:25 +0000

I got very good at them in college and went over the top right after I got married. My wife and I would go for breakfast on Sunday morning, and I would work the puzzle upside down from across the table so she could read it!

15 years later, it’s unusual not to finish the Sunday puzzle. My goal is no mistakes, in ink, which I can do about 40-50% of the time.

By: jenbe

jenbe — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:45:55 +0000

My grandfather and his cousin meet for lunch every Thursday. I joined them a few times, and learned they both get the paper and work on the Sunday NYT puzzle and compare their results when they meet. I tried it out when I knew I would be seeing them, and now it’s become habit. Even if I’m not going to make it for lunch, I do it.

By: treedweller

treedweller — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:01:18 +0000

Games magazine is not quite what it was when Will Shortz was editor. Just sayin.

By: giles

giles — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:42:56 +0000

i’ve never found anywhere else online i could say this to an audience who might care, but i can’t stand liz gorski puzzles. they are often on the wrong side of precious and she there are noticeable errors from time to time. (using “Like Vietnamese cuisine” for EASTASIAN. that should be southeast asian…)

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:36:09 +0000

I live for the Friday and Saturday NYT puzzles. If I feel slightly beaten up by the time I finish, I consider it a good one.

As for the blogs, I like Rex Parker’s even though he can get kind of snippy from time to time. I prefer Amy Reynaldo’s comments and analysis.

By: lou

lou — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:06:51 +0000

There are some additional xword puzzles and blogs you might enjoy Stacy: Word Play blog of NYT puzzle by Jim Horne Blogosphere compilation of xword blogs An Englishman Solves American Crosswords blog LA Times Crossword puzzle LA Times Crossword Corner blog They are addicting!

By: taylor

taylor — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:06:06 +0000

I used to do them every Tuesday and Thursday during my college Chemistry class. And I still got a B!