Puzzle Making

Want to discuss or get help with Puzzle Mania’s huge crossword? Here’s where to go.

The Super Mega Crossword in this year’s Puzzle Mania section is 50x50. Call in reinforcements if necessary.

The New York Times welcomes three new additions to the Games editorial team.

A new offering is being beta tested, and a small team of passionate puzzle makers at The Times talk about how an idea becomes a game.

Meet the newest associate puzzle editor at The New York Times.

A chat with one of the New York Times Crossword constructors.

A chat with one of the New York Times Crossword constructors.

A chat with one of the New York Times Crossword constructors.

Puzzle Mania’s Super Mega Crossword may look overwhelming, but you’ve got this. Here are our tips for a successful solve.

The second class of fellows will receive mentorship from one of six puzzle editors.

We will reopen submissions on Aug. 1.

A chat with one of the New York Times Crossword constructors.

A chat with one of the New York Times Crossword constructors.

The winners of the second contest in the 2021 “Puzzle Mania” section.

On your mark … get set … solve!

Rachel Fabi is coming to Wordplay — and it’s all good.

If Malcolm Gladwell is correct, Will Shortz is finally an expert.

Proceeds for the Friday, Feb. 5 Zoom event will benefit The New York Times’s Neediest Cases Fund.

Will Shortz announces the winners of the “Super Mega” Crossword contest. Did you find the hidden message?

One winner of the contest found the answer to the toughest question through some brilliant sleuthing.

‘I guess we’re into crosswords now,’ said one contestant.

How we’ve changed. And how you have, too.

Who will take home the top prize?

Whose year is it?

Crossword constructors volunteer their time to help underrepresented populations get published.

The crossword editor, Will Shortz, announces new rates for crossword constructors.

Now, all in one place: Bring your theme ideas and follow along as New York Times constructors and editors pull back the curtain on puzzle making.

In the final part of this series, the New York Times crossword editors reveal their process for evaluating and editing a puzzle submission.

A loss in the crossword family.

In Part 4 of the series, the constructors Robyn Weintraub and Brad Wilber clue us in.

In Part 3 of the series, Kevin Der and Paolo Pasco pull back the curtain on the work that goes into filling a crossword with fun and interesting entries.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Garry Trudeau and his son, the New York Times crossword constructor Ross Trudeau, team up to play with our heads.

In Part 2 of the Wordplay series, the puzzle makers David Steinberg and Natan Last design a crossword grid around our theme set.

In Part 1 of this Wordplay series, two New York Times constructors, Ben Tausig and Finn Vigeland, demystify the process of developing a theme set.

Crossword constructors, looking to boost contributions by women and people of color, offer their services

A superstar to crossword fans, Ms. Jacobson made more than 1,400 puzzles for New York magazine, filling them with puns and sparkling thematic clues.

On Dec. 18, 1941, less than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a memo sent to The Times’s publisher helped kick-start one of our most beloved features.

Sunday’s special “Puzzle Mania!” section contains an unusually large Spiral puzzle constructed by Will Shortz, our puzzle editor. Here’s how he made it.

All of the celebrity puzzles that were published to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of The New York Times Crossword.

The Emmy Award-winning actor John Lithgow on adding “crossword puzzle constructor” to his list of accomplishments.

The New York Times’s crossword editor discovered his interest in puzzles as a child. Now he counts at least one former president among his fans.

The writer and editor of the Mini crossword, Joel Fagliano, announces the winner of the children’s Mini contest.

The singer Lisa Loeb talks about working with Doug Peterson, the veteran constructor, and the creative similarities between songwriting and puzzle-making.

The Friday puzzle resulted from a collaboration between former President Bill Clinton and Victor Fleming, an Arkansas district court judge.

Chloe Rosenfeld, a high school senior from the Bronx, N.Y., reports on her day learning the ropes from Will Shortz and Joel Fagliano.

Marie Haley talks about how she met Merl Reagle, this year’s MEmoRiaL recipient, and keeping Merl’s name alive.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a New York Times editor made the decision to run a crossword puzzle in the paper to offer relief to its war-weary readers. Seventy-five years later, The New York Times Crossword continues to be a source of comfort for readers. Here's how it got there.

Once considered a print-only, uber-intellectual pursuit, the puzzle has evolved to provide a satisfying diversion that anyone can learn and solve.

Since 1993, The Times has published puzzles created by 36 teenagers. But today’s constructor beats the previous record-holder by six months.

What rhymes with “orange”? Crossword puzzle editor — and self-described “puzzle-head” — Will Shortz answers selected readers’ questions.

Mr. Reagle contributed devilishly inventive puzzles to numerous publications, relishing his roles as a wisecracker, provocateur and tease.

The editor of The New York Times crossword puzzle answered readers' questions about the new documentary film "Wordplay."