Did you know that you can actually submit your crosswords to be published? If you’re feeling confident, you can submit your finished, formatted puzzle to places like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or Simon & Schuster. American seamstress said to have made the first American flag at the request of George Washington (1752-1836) Repeat these steps, taking breaks occasionally to look at the crossword quiz answers in a new way. Do this until you’re done. Keep considering the theme, look out for anagrams, and consider consulting a synonym and antonym finder to find new words that are similar to the clues. Remember to think outside of the box when trying to fill in those boxes!

Question marks often imply wordplay or puns. Usually, crossword clues are written with no punctuation at all, so if you see a question mark, it implies that the answer won’t be as straightforward as you’d think. Think of puns, wordplay, homonyms, and less-obvious answers. Will Shortz, the famed crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times, begins his career. The next few decades are sometimes referred to by crossword fans as “the Shortz era.” The book Two Across by Jeff Bartsch tells the story of a romance in which two brainy people communicate their love via clever crosswords. LA Times Crossword: Solution-finding is just as hard with this paper, originally founded in 1881. People frequently ask, “What are the answers to today’s LA Times crossword?” Washington Post Crossword: Their daily crosswords are free and fun to play. They also have a “Monthly Meta Crossword” that’s themed.If you’re a teacher or a parent trying to learn how to create a crossword puzzle as an educational tool, it’s quite easy! A puzzle by Jeremiah Farrell published in The New York Times on the day of the U.S. presidential election is a Shrodinger puzzle; 39 Across, “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper (!),” can be either BILL CLINTON ELECTED or BOB DOLE ELECTED, and the rest of the puzzle works either way. Somewhat ironically, The New York Times complains that crosswords are a “sinful waste” in which solvers “get nothing out of it except a primitive form of mental exercise, and success or failure in any given attempt is equally irrelevant to mental development.” ( The New York Times will later become famous for its top-notch crosswords.) On Dec. 21, 1913, in a Sunday edition of The New York World, the first-ever “word-cross” puzzle appeared. The first-ever cruciverbalist, or person skilled in the creation or solving of crossword puzzles, was a journalist named Arthur Wynne from Liverpool, who’d immigrated to the states. A few weeks after the first word puzzle of its kind appeared, a typesetting error changed the name “word-cross” to “cross-word,” and it’s been called a crossword puzzle since.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Crossword: The dictionary has a ton of word games, and this is just one of them. Deletions involve deleting one or two letters to get a different answer. For instance, “mend” minus a letter could be “end” or “men.” For the love of your sanity, use a pencil. If you’re using physical paper instead of an online crossword app, use a pencil and eraser. Mistakes, misinterpretations, and confusion are likely to arise, even if you’re a seasoned pro. Start with an easier puzzle, then work your way up. If you’re looking up Monday and Tuesday NYT crosswords’ cheats, don’t discourage yourself by trying a Thursday grid. Easy puzzles are a great place to start, with crosswords later in the week getting progressively harder. Don’t expect to be a wiz at a difficult crossword right off the bat!Look for anagrams, where you simply need to rearrange letters to find the answer. For instance, “cash trims” would be “Christmas.” Cryptic crosswords are like normal crosswords, but the clues tend to involve wordplay and also have very convoluted, intentionally confusing hints. If you’re doing a cryptic crossword, know that the definition is typically hiding in plain sight, and don’t lose heart! The Universal Crossword is a daily crossword puzzle that is syndicated to newspapers and online publications around the world. The puzzle is created by a team of experienced crossword constructors, who are known for their skill and creativity in the field of crossword puzzles. Image via Universal Crossword USA Today Crossword: Besides free crosswords, USA Today also offers other games, like sudoku and mahjong. The New York Times finally begins their crossword puzzle legacy. The Farrar era, with Margaret Farrar as the crossword puzzle editor, lasts from 1942 to 1968.