February 14, 2020But can crossword puzzles really affect a news organization’s bottom line? There’s evidence to suggest the answer is
yes. Publishers have found that the number of active days a reader has on their site is a telling metric for determining whether or not they’ll continue a subscription. Encouraging readers to develop a crossword habit may help. At The Wall Street Journal, for example, a team looking to increase subscribers’ active days found that playing a puzzle had a more dramatic impact on reader retention than other actions the team had been promoting to new subscribers, such as subscribing to an email newsletter or downloading the Journal’s app.
Where Edelweiss Grows
David Harris makes his New York Times Crossword debut in a collaboration with Evan Kalish.
Edelweiss flowers grow on rocky terrain in the Tyrolean Alps near Hinterbichl, Austria. It is a rare plant that has a deep tradition in local folk and national alpine cultures.Credit.Sean Gallup, via Getty Images
WEDNESDAY PUZZLE A game within a game! How meta. I love it.
David Harris has been a member of the indie crossword and solving community for a long time, and today he makes his New York Times Crossword debut with a collaborator, Evan Kalish.
There is a visual element in this puzzle that took me a little time to figure out, but once I did I thought it was a very nice representation of their theme. And the other part of the theme is good, too. What other part? You’ll have to read on to find out.
The
New Yorker published its first issue in 1925, amid what the writer Adrienne Raphel has described as a nationwide “crossword craze.” But more than seventy years passed before the magazine introduced a crossword puzzle a British-style cryptic crossword, which was gone before the twenty-first century arrived.
Two decades later, the Puzzles & Games Dept. was born online. On the fewoccasions when these newcrosswords ran in print, the response was warm. “It is a special treat to be able to use a pen,” Barbara, from Colorado, wrote in to tell us; “I really enjoy the hard copy version,” Lauryl, from Massachusetts, enthused. Frostier were the letters when the puzzle didn’t return: “Why is there no crossword puzzle in the print magazine?? I’m very disappointed,” wrote Carla, from (where else?) New York.
Pop Up a Lot
Erik Agard opens our solving weekend.
Wilmer Flores, left, of the New York Mets caught a pop-up in front of Jay Bruce during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park in Atlanta in 2017.Credit.Scott Cunningham, via Getty Images
Feb. 4, 2021
FRIDAY PUZZLE February is Black History Month, and the puzzles for Monday through Saturday this week were made by Black constructors. In this article, the editorial director for New York Times Games, Everdeen Mason, discusses the week’s puzzles in the context of Black History Month.
You know it’s an Erik Agard puzzle when the clues challenge your knowledge base. That’s a good thing and totally appropriate for a Friday puzzle. One of the ways I know I’ve had a good time with a puzzle is when I learn something new from it.