Match wits with one of the country’s most popular crossword creators. Since his first puzzle was published in the New York Times when he was nineteen years old, the author has been challenging newspaper readers from New York to San Diego and Miami to Spokane. Offering the elegance and sophistication of the toughest daily crosswords yet remaining accessible to newcomers, these 72 puzzles will test your knowledge of history, pop culture, science, literature, sports, and more, as well as your ability to figure out clever themes. If you enjoy solving conundrums such as “What the Russians did in 1999” (10 letters), and “Jean-Claude Van Damme sits on the fence” (14 letters), these really clever crosswords are for you! Answers: PUTINPUTIN, BELGIANWAFFLES

Thirty million loyal TV Guide� readers know where to find the best TV crosswords ever created. Puzzles with television themes from the most widely read weekly magazine in the world make this collection a television lover’s dream book. It’s spiral bound, oversize, and filled with hundreds of crosswords that will challenge anyone’s television IQ. There are classic favorites from the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s; take a walk down memory lane, and answer “___ Masters in Rin Tin Tin” (just 3 letters). Try the best contemporary crosswords from TV Guide� Crosswords Magazine. All that, plus brain teasers and fun trivia quizzes offer hours of fun.

The New York Times is the gold standard of crossword puzzles. Drawing from the top puzzle constructors in the nation, the Times puzzles are considered the cleverest, most engaging and at times, trickiest puzzles of all. This guide will help puzzlers of all skill levels improve and enjoy the New York Times crossword. Along with helpful discussions and hints, every puzzle in How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle is annotated with solving tips and insight from veteran constructors and solver to help you master the nation's #1 puzzle! This volume includes: *60 Times puzzles from easy Monday to devilish Saturday and giant Sunday, each with helpful tips and clues *Lists of most common crossword words, clues, and ways constructors try to trick you*Step-by-step solving instructions provide readers with instruction on how to tackle puzzles of every difficulty level*How to construct a puzzle: A chapter offers a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into making a great crossword *Introduction from puzzle great Will Shortz, crossword editor for The New York Times

Twenty-five charmingly illustrated puzzles, each with pictures of 4 different subjects — toy, animal, storybook characters. Helpful hints show where to write in correct letters. Numbered pictures correspond to numbers on first square of word to be spelled. Some squares filled in. Solutions.

The New York Times Classic Crossword Puzzles is the perfect gift for any crossword lover! This deluxe collection is a sturdy hardcover volume with high-quality paper and removable cover band. From the top names in crosswords, The New York Times Classic Crossword Puzzles features 100 easy-to-hard brainteasers edited by NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzlemaster and Times puzzle editor Will Shortz. This unique book includes a cloth ribbon marker and removable cover band, leaving a discreet and sophisticated hardcover book with charming crossword grid pattern, so you can solve puzzles in style wherever you go.

Six murders. One hundred pages. Millions of possible combinations... but only one is correct. Can you solve Torquemada's murder mystery? 'If James Joyce and Agatha Christie had a literary love child, this would be it.' The Daily Telegraph In 1934, the Observer's cryptic crossword compiler, Edward Powys Mathers (aka Torquemada), released a novel that was simultaneously a murder mystery and the most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle ever written. The pages have been printed in an entirely haphazard order, but it is possible - through logic and intelligent reading - to sort the pages into the only correct order, revealing six murder victims and their respective murderers. Only three puzzlers have ever solved the mystery of Cain's Jawbone: do you have what it takes to join their ranks? Please note: this puzzle is extremely difficult and not for the faint-hearted. 'A unique hybrid of word puzzle and whodunnit.' Literary Review

Solvers who want something fresh, fun, and filled with contemporary themes need look no further! Constructed by puzzle wizard Ben Tausig for his crossword feature published in alternative weeklies such as the Village Voice and the Chicago Reader, these puzzles are perfect for those who know their Ashlee Simpson from their Marge Simpson and want to test their up-to-the-minute knowledge of pop culture. As a special extra, the answers to every puzzle include amusing sidelights and explanations of some of the more difficult answers.

'Beautifully researched account, full of humour and personal insight' David Crystal, author of Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar 'A witty, wise, and wonderfully weird journey that will change the way you think . . . This book is a delight' Bianca Bosker, author of Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste 'Delightfully engrossing, charmingly and enthusiastically well-written history of the crossword puzzle' Benjamin Dreyer, author of Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style 'Full of treasures, surprises and fun . . . richly bringing to life the quirky, obsessive, fascinating characters in the crossword world' Mary Pilon, author of The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game 'A gold mine of revelations. If there is a pantheon of cruciverbalist scholars, Adrienne Raphel has established herself squarely within it' Mary Norris, author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen Equal parts ingenious and fun, Thinking Inside the Box is a love letter to the infinite joys and playful possibilities of language, a treat for die-hard cruciverbalists and first-time crossword solvers alike. The crossword is a feature of the modern world, inspiring daily devotion and obsession from millions. It was invented in 1913, almost by accident, when an editor at the New York World was casting around for something to fill some empty column space for that year's Christmas edition. Almost overnight, crosswords became a phenomenal commercial success, and have been an essential ingredient of any newspaper worth its salt since then. Indeed, paradoxically, the popularity of crosswords has never been greater, even as the world of media and newspapers, the crossword's natural habitat, has undergone a dramatic digital transformation. But why, exactly, are the satisfactions of a crossword so sweet that over the decades they have become a fixture of breakfast tables, bedside tables and commutes, and even given rise to competitive crossword tournaments? Blending first-person reporting from the world of crosswords with a delightful telling of the crossword's rich literary history, Adrienne Raphel dives into the secrets of this classic pastime. At the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, she rubs shoulders with elite solvers from all over the world, doing her level best to hold her own; aboard a crossword-themed cruise she picks the brains of the enthusiasts whose idea of a good time is a week on the high seas with nothing to do but crosswords; and, visiting the home and office of Will Shortz, New York Times crossword puzzle editor and US National Public Radio's official Puzzlemaster, she goes behind the scenes to see for herself how the world's gold standard of puzzles is made.

Following on the success of the first volume, Ho'opilipili 'Olelo II provides Hawaiian language learners of all levels with an entertaining new array of puzzles. Crossword puzzles, change-a-letter puzzles, matching word puzzles, and word search puzzles—each designed to increase vocabulary and word usage—will give the crossword enthusiast a richer understanding of this living language. New thematic sections feature words that describe life in traditional Hawai'i, including the art and science of canoe building (ho'owa'a) and voyaging (huaka'i). The book also includes the popular "how to" section from the first volume (complete with blank puzzle forms), which shows readers how to create their own crossword puzzles.