New York Times Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Learn to Master America's Favorite Puzzle

Crossword Glossary Clue: A hint that the solver must interpret to find the answer. Constructor: The person who devises a theme, designs a crossword grid, fills the grid and writes the clues. Sometimes called a writer, cruciverbalist, compiler or setter. Crossing: The intersection between an Across and a Down entry. A difficult or obscure word ideally is always crossed by more "gettable" entries so that the solver doesn't get stuck on one impossible square. Cross-reference: Sometimes two clues are linked to each other; e.g., 14-Across's clue might read [With 29-Down, iconic young actor], and 29-Down's clue would be [See 14-Across], with the answers being JAMES and DEAN. Crosswordese: The definition of crosswordese is fluid. Traditionally, the word applied to obscure words like PTAH or a little-known tropical tree name. Some people use it to describe the short words and names composed of common letters that pop up far more frequently in crosswords than in daily discourse. Examples include OONA, ORT and ESNE. Crossword puzzle: In this book, crossword puzzle refers to standard American-style puzzles. Cryptic crossword puzzle: Cryptic crosswords make up a small portion of American crosswords, but are the primary crossword type in the United Kingdom. Cryptics involve anagramming, hidden words, reversals, homophones, letter deletions and other forms of wordplay. The New York Times Magazine includes about six cryptic puzzles a year, printed below the regular Sunday crossword. Diagramless crossword puzzle: A diagramless crossword grid is Blank, requiring the solver to deduce the location of all the Black squares. General rules governing symmetry, fill and Cluing apply, though diagramless puzzles typically have many more black squares. The New York Times Magazine includes one of these about nine times a year, printed beneath the regular Sunday crossword. Editor: The person who selects crosswords for publication, edits clues to comply with house style, accuracy and the intended level of difficulty, and polishes the fill as needed. Entry: Any answer that's written in a crossword grid. Fill: The general term for the words and phrases that fill a crossword grid. Entries that are not part of a theme are referred to as fill entries. Fill-in-the-blank: A clue that contains a blank space, for which the answer is the word that occupies that space (e.g., ["Many years ___"] for AGO). Gimme: Any answer a solver knows instantly. An opera buff's Gimmes: may differ from a basketball fan's. Grid: The diagram of black and white squares. Most daily puzzles are 1515 squares; most Sunday puzzles, 2121. Partial: At times, two words that cannot stand alone are used in the grid. The clue for a partial may be a fill-in-the-Blank: (e.g., [Take ___ (suffer loss)] for A HIT) or something like [Break or time follower] for OF DAY. In The New York Times, partials generally do not exceed five letters. Rebus: In New York Times crossword circles, "rebus" can mean not only a crossword square occupied by a little picture (say, a triangle or bell) or symbol (such as @ replacing the letters AT), but also any sequence of letters that fill a single square. Solver: A crossword consumer. Solvers may work alone or with others. Use of reference books and online resources is a matter of personal prReynaldo, Amy is the author of 'New York Times Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Learn to Master America's Favorite Puzzle', published 2007 under ISBN 9780312365547 and ISBN 0312365543.