Supported by
Mini to Maestro, Part 1: Crosswords for Beginners
Get started solving the Mini, Monday and Tuesday puzzles.
This is Part 1 of a three-part series on learning to solve crossword puzzles. Be sure to check out Part 2 and Part 3.
Here’s a not-so-well-kept secret for you: Everyone can solve the New York Times Crossword.
If you’re already rolling your eyes, take it from us: Jackie Frere, community engagement manager, and Isaac Aronow, associate editor of Gameplay. Jackie was someone who had tried the Monday crossword once, failed, got embarrassed and gave up completely. Isaac has been solving for a while but fell out of practice at the start of the pandemic. We challenged ourselves to see if we could start fresh and complete a Saturday New York Times Crossword in the matter of weeks. Spoiler alert: We did.
In case you didn’t know, the daily New York Times Crossword has a difficulty curve as the week goes on. Monday is the easiest puzzle, and then Tuesday is a little harder, climbing up to Saturday, which is the hardest day of the week. Sunday puzzles are sometimes asserted to be the most difficult puzzle of the week, but much of that difficulty comes from the larger size of Sunday puzzles, rather than the clues, the answers or the themes.
The Mini doesn’t have a difficulty curve like the daily crossword, so how tricky it is depends more on the individual puzzle you do, rather than the day of the week it runs on. Minis rarely include advanced solving elements like a rebus (more on those later) but will often include intermediate solving elements that are common in midweek puzzles. If you’re comfortable solving minis, we suggest that you’ll be comfortable solving daily crosswords up to Wednesday.
It takes time, practice and a little help from the Games team, but you too can solve a Monday puzzle and, eventually, a Saturday crossword. Let us show you how.
Jackie likes to fill in answers she knows and work her way around a grid. Remember that everyone approaches crossword puzzles differently.
Your first crossword puzzle can be daunting, but let’s go through it together. Have some fun! Jackie went through all of the Across clues quickly and filled in what she knew off the top of her head.
Advertisement