17A. Once you’ve solved enough tricky puzzles, you’ll start to recognize the words that constructors love to play on in clues. One of these words is “canine.” It’s either a dog or a tooth, so ...

And if you PULL SOME STRINGS from a list of instruments, at 55A, you end up with [Violin, ___, cello, ___]. I’ll let you ...

By Rian Johnson Rian Johnson is a filmmaker and crossword fiend. He’d like to alert any puzzle constructors reading this to ...

I first got into solving the New York Times Crossword five years ago, during the lockdown phase of the coronavirus pandemic. Puzzle mania was sweeping the nation and, unlike jigsaw puzzles, crosswords ...

Wave off the automatic associations to iPod commercials and shadow puppetry, because the human silhouettes in this puzzle serve a higher purpose: wordplay.

5D. SEE YOU NEVER, the answer for [Rude goodbye to an enemy], is a phrase that has never been in the New York Times Crossword before, aptly enough. I love when a puzzle contains these brightly colored ...

Adam Aaronson’s Tuesday puzzle serenades us. By Natan Last Natan Last is a writer and humanitarian immigration policy expert. He is the author of a book on the cultural history of crossword puzzles.

Since the launch of the Crossword in 1942, The Times has captivated solvers by providing engaging word and logic games. In 2014, we introduced the Mini Crossword — followed by Spelling Bee, Letter ...