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58-432: Its first issue was published on September 6, 1896, and contained the first photographs ever printed in the newspaper. In the early decades, it was a section of the broadsheet paper and not an insert as it is today. The creation of a "serious" Sunday magazine was part of a massive overhaul of the newspaper instigated that year by its new owner, Adolph Ochs , who also banned fiction , comic strips , and gossip columns from

116-463: A 1712 tax was imposed on newspapers based on their page counts. However, larger formats had long been signs of status in printed objects and still are in many places. Outside of Britain the broadsheet developed for other reasons unrelated to the British tax structure including style and authority. With the early mechanization of the 19th century came an increased production of printed materials including

174-461: A derogatory slur for Mexicans). Shortz apologized for the distraction this may have caused solvers, claiming that he had never heard the slur before. In 2022, the Times was criticized after many readers claimed that its December 18 crossword grid resembled a Nazi swastika . Some were particularly upset that the puzzle was published on the first night of Hanukkah . In a statement, the Times said

232-422: A highly contentious part of the magazine. In 2004, The New York Times Magazine began publishing an entire supplement devoted to style. Titled T , the supplement is edited by Deborah Needleman and appears 14 times a year. In 2009, it launched a Qatari Edition as a standalone magazine. In 2006, the magazine introduced two other supplements: PLAY , a sports magazine published every other month, and KEY ,

290-481: A number of conventions, both for tradition's sake and to aid solvers in completing the crossword: In addition to the primary crossword, the Times publishes a second Sunday puzzle each week, of varying types, something that the first crossword editor, Margaret Farrar, saw as a part of the paper's Sunday puzzle offering from the start; she wrote in a memo when the Times was considering whether or not to start running crosswords that "The smaller puzzle, which would occupy

348-574: A real estate magazine published twice a year. In September 2010, as part of a greater effort to reinvigorate the magazine, Times editor Bill Keller hired former staff member and then-editor of Bloomberg Businessweek , Hugo Lindgren , as the editor of The New York Times Magazine . As part of a series of new staff hires upon assuming his new role, Lindgren first hired then–executive editor of O, The Oprah Magazine Lauren Kern to be his deputy editor and then hired then-editor of TNR.com, The New Republic magazine's website, Greg Veis , to edit

406-423: A rotating basis (including diagramless crossword puzzles and anacrostics ). In January 2012, humorist John Hodgman , who hosts his comedy court show podcast Judge John Hodgman , began writing a regular column "Judge John Hodgman Rules" (formerly "Ask Judge John Hodgman") for "The One-Page Magazine". In 2014, Jake Silverstein , who had been editor-in-chief at Texas Monthly , replaced Lindgren as editor of

464-475: A second word puzzle on Sundays, the Times publishes a KenKen numbers puzzle (a variant of the popular sudoku logic puzzles) each day of the week. Other games from The New York Times are available online or on the NYT Games app, such as the word search variant Spelling Bee , Wordle , and Connections . The Times also offers a monthly bonus crossword with a theme relating to the month. Fans of

522-426: A themed weekday puzzle is normally 78 words, while the maximum for a themeless Friday or Saturday puzzle is 72; Sunday puzzles must contain 140 words or fewer. Given the Times 's reputation as a paper for a literate, well-read, and somewhat arty audience, puzzles frequently reference works of literature, art, or classical music, as well as modern TV, movies, or other touchstones of popular culture. The puzzle follows

580-462: A traditional tabloid) on 12 September 2005. In June 2017, the Guardian announced it would again change the format to tabloid size – the first tabloid edition was published on 15 January 2018. The main motivation cited for this shift was that commuters prefer papers that they can hold easily on public transport and that other readers also might find the smaller formats more convenient. In

638-592: Is Will Shortz . In addition to editing the Times crosswords, Shortz founded and runs the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament as well as the World Puzzle Championship (where he remains captain of the U.S. team); has published numerous books of crosswords, sudoku , and other puzzles; authors occasional variety puzzles (also known as "second Sunday puzzles") to appear alongside the Sunday Times puzzle; and serves as "Puzzlemaster" on

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696-534: Is 5×5 Sunday through Friday and 7×7 on Saturdays, and is significantly easier than the traditional daily puzzle. The Mini is popular, but has also been criticized, sometimes harshly, for its comparative simplicity—with one review of the game in Slate magazine titled "Utter Disgrace to the NYT Crossword Brand". Other "mini" and larger 11×11 "midi" puzzles are sometimes offered as bonuses. As well as

754-492: Is a daily American-style crossword puzzle published in The New York Times , syndicated to more than 300 other newspapers and journals, and released online on the newspaper's website and mobile apps as part of The New York Times Games . The puzzle is created by various freelance constructors and has been edited by Will Shortz since 1993. The crosswords are designed to increase in difficulty throughout

812-508: Is called its web. The now-common 11-inch-wide front page broadsheet newspapers in the United States use a 44-inch web newsprint roll. With profit margins narrowing for newspapers in the wake of competition from broadcast, cable television, and the internet, newspapers are looking to standardize the size of the newsprint roll. The Wall Street Journal with its 12-inch-wide front page was printed on 48-inch web newsprint. Early adopters in

870-498: Is generally more challenging than its counterparts featured on the other days of the week. Usually, a second puzzle is included with the crossword puzzle. The variety of the second puzzle varies each week. These have included acrostic puzzles, diagramless crossword puzzles, and other puzzles varying from the traditional crossword puzzle. The puzzles are edited by Will Shortz, the host of the on-air puzzle segment of NPR 's Weekend Edition Sunday , introduced as "the puzzlemaster". In

928-612: Is most obvious on the front page since tabloids tend to have a single story dominated by a headline, and broadsheets allow two or more stories to be displayed of which the most important sit at the top of the page " above the fold ." A few newspapers, though, such as the German Bild-Zeitung and others throughout Central Europe are tabloids in terms of content but use the physical broadsheet format. In 2003, The Independent started concurrent production of both broadsheet and tabloid (" compact ") editions, carrying exactly

986-503: The NPR show Weekend Edition Sunday . There have also been two interim editors of the puzzle: Mel Taub from September 6 to November 20, 1993, after Maleska's death; and Joel Fagliano , since March 2024, while Shortz has been on medical leave. The puzzle's popularity grew until it came to be considered the most prestigious of the widely circulated U.S. crosswords. Many celebrities and public figures have publicly proclaimed their liking for

1044-569: The Times crossword have kept track of a number of records and interesting puzzles (primarily from among those published in Shortz's tenure), including those below. (All puzzles published from November 21, 1993, on are available to online subscribers to the Times crossword.) A few crosswords have achieved recognition beyond the community of crossword solvers. Perhaps the most famous is the November 5, 1996, puzzle by Jeremiah Farrell , published on

1102-414: The Times during his tenure as crossword editor). Of these types, the acrostic has the longest and most interesting history, beginning on May 9, 1943, authored by Elizabeth S. Kingsley, who is credited with inventing the puzzle type, and continued to write the Times acrostic until December 28, 1952. From then until August 13, 1967, it was written by Kingsley's former assistant, Doris Nash Wortman; then it

1160-460: The Times have historically been created and edited primarily by older white men. Less than 30% of puzzle constructors in the Shortz Era have been women. In the 2010s, only 27% of clued figures were female, and 20% were of minority racial groups. In January 2019, the Times crossword was criticized for including the racial slur " BEANER " (clued as "Pitch to the head, informally", but also

1218-423: The "front of the book" section of the magazine. In December 2010, Lindgren hired Joel Lovell, formerly story editor at GQ magazine, as deputy editor. In 2011, Kaminer replaced Cohen as the author of the column, and in 2012 Chuck Klosterman replaced Kaminer. Klosterman left in early 2015 to be replaced by a trio of authors, Kenji Yoshino , Amy Bloom , and Jack Shafer , who used a conversational format; Shafer

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1276-458: The January 8, 2020, puzzle by Joon Pahk and Amanda Yesnowitz, which was used at the latter’s wedding reception. On May 7, 2007, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, a self-professed long-time fan of the Times crossword, collaborated with noted crossword constructor Cathy Millhauser on an online-only crossword in which Millhauser constructed the grid and Clinton wrote the clues. Shortz described

1334-531: The President's work as "laugh out loud" and noted that he as editor changed very little of Clinton's clues, which featured more wordplay than found in a standard puzzle. Clinton made his print constructing debut on Friday, May 12, 2017, collaborating with Vic Fleming on one of the co-constructed puzzles celebrating the crossword's 75th Anniversary. The Times crossword of Thursday, April 2, 2009, by Brendan Emmett Quigley , featured theme answers that all ran

1392-461: The September 18, 2005, issue of the magazine, an editors' note announced the addition of The Funny Pages , a literary section of the magazine intended to "engage our readers in some ways we haven't yet tried—and to acknowledge that it takes many different types of writing to tell the story of our time". Although The Funny Pages is no longer published in the magazine, it was made up of three parts:

1450-659: The Strip (a multipart graphic novel that spanned weeks), the Sunday Serial (a genre fiction serial novel that also spanned weeks), and True-Life Tales (a humorous personal essay , by a different author each week). On July 8, 2007, the magazine stopped printing True-Life Tales. The section has been criticized for being unfunny, sometimes nonsensical, and excessively highbrow ; in a 2006 poll conducted by Gawker.com asking, "Do you now find—or have you ever found— The Funny Pages funny?", 92% of 1824 voters answered "No". Of

1508-404: The Sunday Times from the 1920s through the 1950s, encouraged the idea of the magazine as a forum for ideas. During his tenure, writers such as Leo Tolstoy , Thomas Mann , Gertrude Stein , and Tennessee Williams contributed pieces to the magazine. When, in 1970, The New York Times introduced its first op-ed page, the magazine shifted away from publishing as many editorial pieces. In 1979,

1566-457: The Sunday magazine. U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey selects and introduces poems weekly, including from poets Tomas Tranströmer , Carlos Pintado , and Gregory Pardlo . The magazine features the Sunday version of the crossword puzzle along with other puzzles. The puzzles have been very popular features since their introduction. The Sunday crossword puzzle has more clues and squares and

1624-598: The United States, The Wall Street Journal made headlines when it announced its overseas version would convert to a tabloid on 17 October 2005. Strong debate occurred in the US on whether or not the rest of the national papers will or even should follow the trend of the European papers and The Wall Street Journal . The Wall Street Journal overseas edition switched back to a broadsheet format in 2015. The New York Times crossword puzzle The New York Times crossword

1682-471: The advantage of being easier to handle, particularly among commuters. In some countries, especially Australia , Canada , the UK, and the US, broadsheet newspapers are commonly perceived to be more intellectual in content than their tabloid counterparts. They tend to use their greater size to publish stories exploring topics in-depth and carry less sensationalist and celebrity -oriented material. The distinction

1740-409: The blending of broadsides and newspapers, creating the modern broadsheet newspaper . Modern printing facilities most efficiently print broadsheet sections in multiples of eight pages (with four front pages and four back pages). The broadsheet is then cut in half during the process. Thus, the newsprint rolls used are defined by the width necessary to print four front pages. The width of a newsprint roll

1798-503: The broadside, as well as the competing penny dreadful . Newspapers all over Europe were then starting to print their issues on broadsheets. However, in the United Kingdom, the main competition for the broadside was the gradual reduction of the newspaper tax, beginning in the 1830s until its eventual dismissal in 1855. With the increased production of newspapers and literacy, the demand for visual reporting and journalists led to

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1856-460: The current publisher of the series. In addition to appearing in the printed newspaper, the puzzles also appear online on the paper's website, where they require a separate subscription to access. In 2007, Majesco Entertainment released The New York Times Crosswords game, a video game adaptation for the Nintendo DS handheld. The game includes over 1,000 Times crosswords from all days of

1914-509: The day of the U.S. presidential election , which has been featured in the movie Wordplay and the book The Crossword Obsession by Coral Amende, as well as discussed by Peter Jennings on ABC News, featured on CNN, and elsewhere. The two leading candidates that year were Bill Clinton and Bob Dole ; in Farrell's puzzle, one of the long clue/answer combinations read [Title for 39-Across next year] MISTER PRESIDENT. The remarkable feature of

1972-442: The downsizing of broadsheets used a 50-inch web ( 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch front pages). However, the 48-inch web is now rapidly becoming the definitive standard in the U.S. The New York Times held out on the downsizing until July 2006, saying it would stick to its 54-inch web ( 13 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch front page). However, the paper adopted the narrower format beginning Monday, 6 August 2007. The smaller newspapers also have

2030-427: The early 1920s, The New York Times initially considered them frivolous, calling them "a primitive form of mental exercise", and did not run a crossword until February 15, 1942, in its Sunday edition. It was published under a pseudonym Farrar occasionally used, "Anna Gram". The motivating impulse for the Times to finally run the puzzle (which took over 20 years even though its publisher, Arthur Hays Sulzberger ,

2088-515: The famous paradox of Schrödinger's cat , which was both alive and dead at the same time. The first Schrödinger puzzle in the Times , by Ralph G. Beaman, appeared eight years earlier, and as of October 2024, 19 Times puzzles have used a similar trick. In another notable Times crossword, 27-year-old Bill Gottlieb proposed to his girlfriend, Emily Mindel, via the crossword puzzle of January 7, 1998, written by noted crossword constructor Bob Klahn. The answer to 14-Across, [Microsoft chief, to some]

2146-525: The front page "half of a broadsheet" size, rather than the full, unfolded broadsheet spread. Some quote actual page size and others quote the "printed area" size. The two versions of the broadsheet are: The broadsheet, broadside , was used as a format for musical and popular prints in the 17th century. Eventually, people began using the broadsheet as a source for political activism by reprinting speeches. Broadsheet newspapers developed in Britain after

2204-478: The gamut of movie ratings —beginning with the kid-friendly "G" and finishing with adults-only "X" (now replaced by the less crossword-friendly " NC-17 "). The seven theme entries were GARY GYGAX , GRAND PRIX , GORE-TEX , GAG REFLEX , GUMMO MARX , GASOLINE TAX, and GENERATION X . In addition, the puzzle contained the clues/answers of [ Weird Al Yankovic 's "__ on Jeopardy"] for I LOST and ["I'll take New York Times crossword for $ 200, __"] for ALEX . What made

2262-429: The grid, limiting the number of black squares, creating a minimum word length of three letters, requiring grids to have rotational symmetry and be an odd number of squares by an odd number of squares, and forbidding unchecked squares. The second editor was Will Weng , former head of the Times ' s metropolitan copy desk. Weng served until 1977, and Eugene T. Maleska , the third editor, until 1993. The current editor

2320-652: The lower part of the page, could provide variety each Sunday. It could be topical, humorous, have rhymed definitions or story definitions or quiz definitions. The combination of these two would offer meat and dessert, and catch the fancy of all types of puzzlers." Currently, every other week is an acrostic puzzle authored by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, with a rotating selection of other puzzles, including diagramless crosswords, Puns and Anagrams, cryptics (a.k.a. "British-style crosswords"), Split Decisions, Spiral Crosswords, word games, and more rarely, other types (some authored by Shortz himself—the only puzzles he has created for

2378-406: The magazine began publishing Pulitzer Prize –winning journalist William Safire 's " On Language ", a column discussing issues of English grammar, use and etymology . Safire's column steadily gained popularity and by 1990 was generating "more mail than anything else" in the magazine. In 1999, the magazine debuted "The Ethicist", an advice column written by humorist Randy Cohen that quickly became

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2436-412: The paper's requirements for crossword puzzle submission can be found online or by writing to the paper. The Monday–Thursday, and usually Sunday, puzzles have a theme. This is often some sort of connection between at least three long across answers, such as similar types of puns, added letters, or hidden synonyms. These puzzles often have entries known as "revealers", phrases that (often punnily) relate to

2494-602: The paper, and is generally credited with saving The New York Times from financial ruin. In 1897, the magazine published a 16-page spread of photographs documenting Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee , a "costly feat" that resulted in a wildly popular issue and helped boost the magazine to success. In its early years, The New York Times Magazine began a tradition of publishing the writing of well-known contributors, from W. E. B. Du Bois and Albert Einstein to numerous sitting and future U.S. Presidents . Editor Lester Markel , an "intense and autocratic " journalist who oversaw

2552-456: The puzzle is that 39-Across could be answered either CLINTON or BOB DOLE, and all the Down clues and answers that crossed it would work either way (e.g., [Black Halloween animal] could be either BAT or CAT depending on which answer you filled in at 39-Across; similarly [French 101 word] could equal LUI or OUI, etc.). Constructors have dubbed this type of puzzle a Schrödinger or quantum puzzle after

2610-399: The puzzle notable is that the prior night's episode of the US television show Jeopardy! featured video clues of Will Shortz for five of the theme answers (all but GARY GYGAX and GENERATION X) which the contestants attempted to answer during the course of the show. The Times crossword has been criticized for a lack of diversity in its constructors and clues. Major crosswords like those in

2668-459: The puzzle, including opera singer Beverly Sills , author Norman Mailer , baseball pitcher Mike Mussina , former President Bill Clinton , conductor Leonard Bernstein , TV host Jon Stewart , actress Gillian Jacobs , and music duo the Indigo Girls . Times puzzles have been collected in hundreds of books by various publishers, most notably Random House and St. Martin's Press ,

2726-476: The same content. The Times did likewise, but with less apparent success, with readers vocally opposing the change. The Independent ceased to be available in broadsheet format in May 2004, and The Times followed suit from November 2004; The Scotsman is also now published only in tabloid format. The Guardian switched to the "Berliner" or "midi" format found in some other European countries (slightly larger than

2784-598: The serial novels, At Risk , Limitations , The Overlook , Gentlemen of the Road , and The Lemur have since been published in book form with added material. Broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of 22.5 inches (57 cm). Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid – compact formats. Many broadsheets measure roughly 28 by 22 + 3 ⁄ 4  in (711 by 578 mm) per full broadsheet spread, twice

2842-466: The size of a standard tabloid. Australian and New Zealand broadsheets always have a paper size of A1 per spread (841 by 594 mm or 33.1 by 23.4 in). South African broadsheet newspapers have a double-page spread sheet size of 820 by 578 mm (32.3 by 22.8 in) (single-page live print area of 380 x 545 mm). Others measure 22 in (560 mm) vertically. In the United States ,

2900-440: The themed entries and may help explain the link. Notable dates such as holidays or anniversaries of famous events are often commemorated with an appropriately themed puzzle, although only two are routinely commemorated annually: Christmas and April Fool's Day . The Friday and Saturday puzzles, the most difficult, are almost always themeless and "wide open", with fewer black squares and more long words. The maximum word count for

2958-410: The traditional dimensions for the front page half of a broadsheet are 12 in (305 mm) wide by 22.75 in (578 mm) long. However, in efforts to save newsprint costs, many U.S. newspapers have downsized to 11 in (279 mm) wide by 21 in (533 mm) long for a folded page. Many rate cards and specification cards refer to the "broadsheet size" with dimensions representing

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3016-621: The week, with the easiest on Monday and the most difficult on Saturday. The larger Sunday crossword, which appears in The New York Times Magazine , is an icon in American culture ; it is typically intended to be a "Wednesday or Thursday" in difficulty. The standard daily crossword is 15 by 15 squares, while the Sunday crossword measures 21 by 21 squares. Many of the puzzle's rules were created by its first editor, Margaret Farrar . Although crosswords became popular in

3074-456: The week. Various other forms of merchandise featuring the puzzle have been created, including dedicated electronic crossword handhelds that just contain Times crosswords, and a variety of Times crossword-themed memorabilia, including cookie jars, baseballs, cufflinks, plates, coasters, and mousepads. Will Shortz does not write the Times crossword himself; a wide variety of contributors submit puzzles to him. A full specification sheet listing

3132-628: Was BILLG, also Gottlieb's name and last initial. 20-Across, [1729 Jonathan Swift pamphlet], was A MODEST PROPOSAL. And 56-Across, [1992 Paula Abdul hit], was WILL YOU MARRY ME. Gottlieb's girlfriend said yes. The puzzle attracted attention in the AP, an article in the Times itself, and elsewhere. Other Times crosswords with a notable wedding element include the June 25, 2010, puzzle by Byron Walden and Robin Schulman, which has rebuses spelling I DO throughout, and

3190-406: Was a longtime crossword fan) appears to have been the bombing of Pearl Harbor ; in a memo dated December 18, 1941, an editor conceded that the puzzle deserved space in the paper, considering what was happening elsewhere in the world and that readers might need something to occupy themselves during blackouts. The puzzle proved popular, and Sulzberger himself authored a Times puzzle before the year

3248-404: Was out. In 1950, the crossword became a daily feature. That first daily puzzle was published without an author line, and as of 2001 the identity of the author of the first weekday Times crossword remained unknown. There have been four editors of the puzzle. Farrar edited the puzzle from its inception in 1942 until 1969. She created many of the rules that have become standard, such as creating

3306-420: Was replaced three months later by Kwame Anthony Appiah , who assumed sole authorship of the column in September 2015. "Consumed", Rob Walker 's regular column on consumer culture, debuted in 2004. The Sunday Magazine also features a puzzle page , edited by Will Shortz , that features a crossword puzzle with a larger grid than those featured in the Times during the week, along with other types of puzzles on

3364-441: Was taken over by Thomas H. Middleton for a period of over 30 years, until August 15, 1999, when the pair of Cox and Rathvon became just the fourth author of the puzzle in its history. The name of the puzzle also changed over the years, from "Double-Crostic" to "Kingsley Double-Crostic," "Acrostic Puzzle," and finally (since 1991) just "Acrostic." The Times Online also publishes The Mini , a daily crossword by Joel Fagliano , which

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