crossword puzzle

16 Stories

Seeing a Gap in Crossword Puzzles, She Filled the Void

Juliana Pache puts out a daily puzzle that includes Black-themed questions and answers

(Newser) - It started a couple of years ago when Juliana Pache was doing a crossword puzzle and got stuck. She was unfamiliar with the reference that the clue made. It made her think about what a crossword puzzle would look like if the clues and answers included more of some subjects...

Crossword Puzzle Guru Will Shortz Has a Stroke

'New York Times' puzzle editor and NPR figure is recovering

(Newser) - The nation's grandmaster of crossword puzzles delivered some unwelcome news to fans over the weekend: He's had a stroke. Will Shortz, the longtime crossword puzzle editor at the New York Times and a fixture of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, made a recorded statement on the NPR show...

NYT Takes Heat for Crossword Puzzle With Disturbing Shape
NYT Takes Heat for
Crossword Puzzle's Shape
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 24, 2022 4:00 PM CST

NYT Takes Heat for Crossword Puzzle's Shape

Many people said Sunday's game resembled a swastika, and right before first night of Hanukkah

(Newser) - When Caitlin Lovinger analyzed Sunday's crossword puzzle for the New York Times, the 23rd for the newspaper by data analytics consulting manager Ryan McCarty, she gushed over its puns and jokes, as well as its shape. "I love the geometry in this puzzle—so many stair steps!"...

It's a 2-Word Conundrum for Puzzle Makers
These Are Tricky Times
to Be a Puzzle Maker
longform
Feb 5, 2022 7:45 AM CST

These Are Tricky Times to Be a Puzzle Maker

Kotaku digs into the 'surprisingly messy culture wars' in the world of crosswords

(Newser) - In today's polarized world, it can be hard enough to host a civil dinner with extended family. Now try creating a crossword puzzle for the masses. Kotaku digs into what it calls the "surprisingly messy culture wars" within the puzzle community. A big focus is on the New ...

To Keep Your Brain 10 Years Younger, Do a Crossword

Daily puzzling is linked to better memory and reasoning

(Newser) - Use it or lose it, right? Researchers may not be ready to claim that word puzzles can help stave off age-related neurological diseases like Alzheimer's, but a major new study shows that there does appear to be a link between word puzzle play and improved cognition. Analyzing data from...

90-Year-Old Who Ruined Crossword Art Wants Copyright

Hannelore K. claims copyright to new version

(Newser) - A 90-year-old German woman says she didn't damage an $89,000 piece of art in the form of a crossword puzzle when she scribbled in a few answers —she actually increased its value. A lawyer for the retired dentist, identified only as Hannelore K., says she simply completed...

Is the World's Most Prolific Crossword Maker a Plagiarist?

'Scandal is unfolding,' says FiveThirtyEight in look at Timothy Parker's work

(Newser) - USA Today called him "most prolific puzzle maker in the world" in its 2003 announcement that it would begin carrying Timothy Parker's puzzles in its pages. A People profile from that same year said Parker was already a "multimillionaire" thanks to his puzzles. Now, an extensive...

Geeky Guy Sneaks Marriage Proposal Into Paper's Crossword

'Smart arse' Matthew Dick popped the question in most 'geeky' way possible

(Newser) - A British lawyer with a penchant for puzzles decided to pop the question to his girlfriend in what she calls an incredibly "geeky way": in the local paper's crossword. Per the BBC , Matthew Dick contacted the British Times' puzzle editor via Twitter and arranged for yesterday's crossword...

Crossword Puzzle or Coded Threat? Venezuela Ponders

Writer accused of suggesting assassination of Hugo Chavez's brother

(Newser) - It makes American politics look sane: Venezuela's intelligence service grilled a crossword puzzle maker this week because some think he called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez's brother in code. As Reuters explains, answers to one newspaper puzzle included the words "adan" (the first name of the...

Last NotW Crossword Takes Parting Shot at Former Editor

Rebekah Brooks a 'disaster'? Staff seems to think so

(Newser) - The final edition of News of the World contains a secret message to News International CEO and former NotW editor Rebekah Brooks—and it’s not a nice message. Staff members found a way around orders from News International to “ensure there were no libels or any hidden mocking...

Jon Stewart Rally Gets NYT Shout-Out, Via Crossword

Guess we know whose side the Times is on

(Newser) - The Rally to Restore Sanity can count among its supporters Oprah Winfrey , Larry King , and now Will Shortz. The New York Times crossword editor threw in eight clues relating to Jon Stewart (an avid crossword fan), Stephen Colbert, and their joint rally in yesterday’s puzzle, Reuters reports. Just another...

Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle
 Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle 
Nov 25, 2009 11:44 AM CST

Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle

Mental puzzles can help you shed a few pounds, says brain trainer

(Newser) - Hunkering down with a Sudoku puzzle could help you shed some pounds. Tim Forrester, the man behind brain training website cannyminds.com, says mental exercise doubles as real exercise, with the body burning 90 calories for every hour spent working on crossword puzzles or brain teasers. A passive brain requires...

15-Letter Phrase for Memory Boost? Crossword Puzzle

Activity may fend off the start of memory loss

(Newser) - Doing crossword puzzles may delay the slide into forgetfulness associated with dementia, a study shows. Researchers monitored the frequency with which a group of elderly subjects engaged in reading, writing, group discussions, playing music, playing cards, and doing crossword puzzles, and found that those who developed dementia took part in...

50 Ways to Improve Your 2009
 50 Ways to Improve Your 2009 
Jan 1, 2009 5:50 PM CST

50 Ways to Improve Your 2009

Resolutions for your health, wealth and playful self

(Newser) - Just in case your pledge to exercise more didn’t satiate your need for self-improvement resolutions, US News and World Report offers 50 more ways to improve your life in 2009. Here are a few:
  • Pack up for Vermont: When it comes to healthy habits and community, the Green Mountain
...

Even Times Crossword Puzzle Favors Obama
Even Times Crossword Puzzle Favors Obama
ANALYSIS
Sep 25, 2008 11:04 AM CDT

Even Times Crossword Puzzle Favors Obama

Dem's vowel-heavy name better as clue than McCain, paper says

(Newser) - John McCain’s campaign chief looks to have been on to something when he accused the New York Times of being “in the tank” for Barack Obama; why else, David Levinson Wilk asks on Politico, would the paper’s crossword puzzle so thoroughly exclude John McCain? OBAMA has been...

Puzzle Lover Pops Question in Crossword

He drops to one knee when she reads clue, 'Will you marry me?'

(Newser) - One lovable "dork" was in luck yesterday when she ended a crossword on the clue, "Will you marry me?" Her boyfriend fell to one knee and popped the question right then and there. He'd had a long night, wondering if his conjugal crossword would be published in the...

16 Stories