Dan’s Puzzle Book Roundup — Odds and Ends
Hello, dear readers. I’m back with some more thoughts on the wonderful world of published crosswords. Since my last post I’ve picked up another 15 or 20 puzzle books, and I hope to review my entire library before I go out of town for the summer. And then I’ll come up with something else to blog about. Soon, I’ll get to the many top constructors who have books of their excellent puzzles; today, several random topics.
First of all, in my debut post I meant to acknowledge the Holiday Shopping Guide put together by Rex and Orange last year. It was a great help when I was starting my ongoing shopping spree.
Speaking of Orange: if anyone reading this does not own her book, what are you waiting for?
How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle: Tips, Tricks and Techniques to Master America’s Favorite Puzzle
By Amy Reynaldo, Introduction by Will Shortz
I confess that by the time I bought this book, I already knew how to conquer the NYT crossword. But I wanted to support my favorite blogstress, even though she apparently doesn’t get royalties. Fortunately, there’s some useful stuff in there even for a Winner of the C Division.
The meat of the book is 68 of Amy’s favorite NYT puzzles, divided into five sections: Easy, Medium, Thursday, Hard, and Sunday. In each section, Amy walks the reader through her solving of a representative puzzle. Interspersed throughout are helpful sidebars, plus lists of the 100 and 300 most common fill words, the “Top Ten Ways Constructors Try To Trick You”, and in the back, “Hints and Tips” for all the puzzles. These Hints are more like liner notes, with useful asides like a rundown of all the famous ARIs, common hip-hop slang, and state mottos that get referenced most often. Without that, I’d never remember that North Carolina = ESSE, Massachusetts = ENSE, and Idaho = ESTO. Just kidding, I still never remember.
The book is a gold mine for anyone looking to improve their speed or just their skills with the NYT crossword. Get it!
The New York Sun Crosswords #15: 72 Puzzles from the Daily Paper (New York Sun Crosswords)
Edited by Peter Gordon
I accidentally left this compilation out of my first post — because unlike the others, it’s finished and on a different bookshelf. The New York Sun crosswords are simply awesome. I often enjoy them more than the Times, maybe because Gordon has freer rein than Shortz to break crossword convention. The Sun publishes some insanely creative themes/gimmicks, uses more colloquial (and saltier) fill, and often expands the grid to 15×16 when the theme answers require it. Gordon is also notorious for creative (some say convoluted) cluing, preferring to dig up a trivia tidbit instead of re-using a clue. I’ve learned so much about OREOs from him!
If you’re not familiar with the Sun puzzle, it’s considered to be slightly harder than the Times on a daily basis. The paper only publishes from Monday through Friday, so there are no Sunday-sized puzzles. Themeless entries generally run once a week, either on Thursday (”Themeless Thursday”) or Friday (”Weekend Warrior”). Book-wise, the numbered compilations comprise the entire archive since the Sun puzzle began in 2002, running the puzzles in order, 72 per book, with the day of the week indicated by asterisks (one star for Monday, five for Friday). There are also Sun collections based on the days they appeared, with names like Easy Monday Crosswords and Killer Thursday Crosswords. All those puzzles also appear in the numbered volumes (and vice versa), so go for those if you only want easier (or harder) puzzles.
Peter Gordon is also the Big Cheese at Sterling Publishing’s Games and Puzzles department, and in that position he’s revolutionized the world of puzzle books. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I’ll take a moment here to talk about why Sterling’s style is head and shoulders above their competitors at St. Martin’s (which publishes the NYT compilations) and Random House (which handles most of the rest).
- Spiral binding. So much easier to fold over!
- Quality paper. Thicker than everyone else’s, smooth and eraser-friendly!
- Scrambled answer keys. Most books have the back-of-the-book answer grids in order, so when you’re checking one puzzle, you might see some answers from the next one if you’re not careful. No more! Each Sterling puzzle has a note at the bottom saying ANSWER, PAGE 88, so you can find it – and the answers on that page are from different places in the book. So if you accidentally spot a word in an upcoming puzzle, you’ll have forgotten it by the time you get there.
- Pretty fonts. Pretty!
In summation, Peter Gordon rules. Word to the wise: Sterling is owned by Barnes & Noble, so you can find most of their lovely books at your local B&N if you don’t want to click through to Amazon and send a few pennies to Ryan and Brian. On the other hand, the Borders I usually visit, at Manhattan’s Time Warner Center, doesn’t have any Sterling books.
The New York Times Super Saturday Crosswords: The Hardest Crossword of the Week
Edited by Will Shortz
Remember how in my last post, I said I wouldn’t be buying any more NY Times compilations because they’re all online? I lied. The other day I ran across this little volume, which contains 75 Saturday crosswords from 1993-1995 — meaning they’re not in the online archive, which starts in late 1996. (Always check the copyright page if you’re wondering whether the puzzles have been previously published, and when.) Since I can always use practice on those fiendish Saturdays, I couldn’t help myself. Another $6.95 down the drain. See you next time!
