Welcome to our conversation about word games. Here you'll find a new blog post for each day's crossword plus a bonus post for the Variety puzzle. Along with discussion about the day's challenge, you'll get backstage insights about puzzlemaking and occasional notes from The Times's puzzlemaster, Will Shortz.
Deb Amlen is a humorist and puzzle constructor whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Onion and Bust Magazine. Her books, “It's Not P.M.S., It's You” and “Create Your Life Lists” are available where all fine literature is sold.
Numberplay is a puzzle suite that will be presented in Wordplay every Monday. The puzzles, which are inspired by many sources and are reported by Gary Antonick, are generally mathematical or logical problems, with occasional forays into physics and other branches of science. While written for adults, many of the concepts here are suitable for and can be enjoyed by math students of all ages.
XWord Info is a database of New York Times crosswords going back to 1993. Here are a few samples: