1977 Hit For Elo Wsj Crossword (2025)

FAQs

What is the hardest day for the NYT crossword? ›

The crosswords are designed to increase in difficulty throughout the week, with the easiest on Monday and the most difficult on Saturday. The larger Sunday crossword, which appears in The New York Times Magazine, is an icon in American culture; it is typically intended to be a "Thursday-plus" in difficulty.

WSJ Puzzles is the online home for America's most elegant, adventurous and addictive crosswords and other word games.Read more about our puzzles. To reach us, email support@wsj.com.

Margaret Petherbridge Farrar (March 23, 1897 – June 11, 1984) was an American journalist and the first crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times (1942–1968).

The New York Times Crossword increases in difficulty from Monday to Saturday. The Sunday puzzle is approximately on the same difficulty level as the Wednesday or Thursday puzzle, and is larger than other daily puzzles.

Unlike the Times crosswords, Mr. Shenk, who is 57 and lives in New York, said his puzzles won't get markedly harder as the week progresses, though Monday puzzles will be the easiest. The Friday puzzle, he said, will have “a little contest element.” Winners of the contest may get a crossword mug.

1. The New York Times Crossword. Renowned for its sophistication and wordplay, The New York Times Crossword is arguably the gold standard in the world of puzzles. Under the editorship of Will Shortz since 1993, these crosswords are known for their clever themes, challenging clues, and cultural relevance.

Research has shown a positive correlation between crossword puzzles and daily life functions, especially for people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Experts emphasize that larger clinical trials are needed to unravel the observed associations between crossword puzzles and how our brains function.

The paper receives more than 200 puzzle submissions each week, according to Ezersky. New York Times Sunday crossword constructors are paid $1,500 for their first or second puzzles; $2,250 for their third or more; dailies pay $500/$750, following the formula.

How do I know if a NYT crossword has a rebus? ›

According to The New York Times crosswords editor, Will Shortz, “A 'rebus' in a crossword is anything that gets entered in a square that's not a single letter of the alphabet.” That can mean you have to jam more than one letter into a square or use digits.

It was invented by British journalist Arthur Wynne, who emigrated to the United States in the 1890's. His first crossword, or 'Word-Cross' as he called it, did not look like the present ones – it was diamond shaped with no black squares. During the early 1920s other newspapers picked up on the pastime.

Clues should reflect the difficulty of the puzzle. Our difficulty scale increases through the week, with the easiest puzzles on Monday and hardest on Saturday.

Fun Fact: The Saturday crossword is actually the hardest puzzle of the week. Contrary to popular belief, the Sunday puzzles are midweek difficulty, not the hardest. Mondays have the most straightforward clues and Saturday clues are the most vague or involve the most wordplay.

For example – EG (e.g., short for the Latin exempli gratia)

Mondays have the most straightforward clues and Saturday clues are the hardest, or involve the most wordplay. Contrary to popular belief, the Sunday puzzles are midweek difficulty, not the hardest. They're just bigger.

By the time solvers work their way to the Friday puzzles, finding those gimmes becomes harder because the clues are considerably more opaque.

It's not a science. It's an art. If you do the puzzle on a daily basis through the week, the Wednesday may not always be harder than Tuesday, Thursday may not always be harder than Wednesday. But if you do the puzzle long enough, the trend shows that it does get harder as the week goes on.”