Customer Reviews

The New York Times Little Black (and White) Book of Crosswords

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I got this book for Christmas, I was not only amazed, but stunned. The quality is unsurpassed. The paper quality is such, that if you do the 200 puzzles in pencil (yes I know, a sin to "real" crossword solvers"), you will be able to erase all traces of answers, and do them over and over again.

The hardcover and spiral binding is top quality. I know I will never have problems taking this book with me. It is just the right size for my "bag of holding", I mean purse, or would fit nicely in a briefcase for lunch time sovling at work.

The 200 puzzles are neatly arranged from One to Six Top Hats, based on the Mon - Sat New York Times difficulty. There are enough of each type that I can lope through them easily or if I want a harder challenge I can have that as well.

I can't reccomend this book enough! Thank you Will Shortz for putting together such an amazing book!

This is a great choice for those (like me) who are new to the Times crosswords. There are puzzles of every level, Monday-Saturday, and unlike some other Times puzzle books they are organized and labeled by difficulty so you know where you are in the week.

The smaller size is very comfortable, with the puzzle itself always on a right-hand page and clues on the left. That might make it a little tricky for left-handers to get around the spiral binding, but for the rest of us it's very comfortable. I really like the paper quality on this one, too. It's a heavier weight, slightly glossy, true white paper that feels nice to write on.

All said, it's a great way to get started on Times crosswords!

Ever since watching the fun documentary "Word Play", I've been a huge crossword puzzle devotee. I've purchased several NYT crossword puzzle books and hungrily completed them, enjoying the word play and the perplexing clues. I was so thrilled to discover the new edition "Little Black and White Book". While there are many things that I really like about this edition, it does have some drawbacks.

First, the format of this book is quite nice. It's smaller than most books, which makes carrying around in your coak pocket very doable. The puzzles are organized in order of difficulty, so if you feel like an easier puzzle or a harder puzzle, it's at your fingertips.

What I don't like is the paper that the puzzles are printed on. Now, I'm an ink solver, but I use an erasable pen. Using one of those pens on this shiny paper creates such a huge mess. The ink doesn't erase well at all, but it smears all over the page. The previous reviewer mentions solving these with pencils, so maybe that's the answer.

Overall, any crossword edition by Will Shortz is a winner in my book. I just wished the paper was of a different quality.

This travel-sized collection features 200 New York Times daily crossword puzzles originally printed in 2003. The puzzles are clustered from Monday to Saturday in increasing order of difficulty as shown by from one to six top hats on the page. There are 50 puzzles from each of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. There are 30 Thursdays and 10 each of Friday and Saturday.

Clues appear on the left side and 4" x 4" puzzle grids appear on the right side. Answers are provided on the last 50 pages. The book is spiral bound with sturdy cardboard front and back covers. Unfortunately the puzzles herein overlap with about 75% of the 2007 page-a-day calendar content instead of mixing puzzles from several years.

The predominance of easier early week puzzles make this a great gift for a casual or new crossword fan. This will be a fixture in my suitcase for some time and I hope that St. Martin's Griffin will print a second 'Little Black (and White)' collection.

This is a quality, well-crafted book. It's too heavy to keep in your bag, but great for your desk. The range of difficulties is great if some days you want a challenge but other days you just want to feel smart. My only complaint is that the paper is such high quality-- thick and glossy-- that it doesn't take ink or pencil the way it could. Overall that really isn't a big deal, and the number and variety of puzzles is great for the price!

The thickness of this book is greater than I expected, but I'm not complaining, just not throwing it into my bag to carry on a daily basis. The cover is very rigid but smooth to the touch which is exceptional. The paper quality is very smooth and extremely white, the text easy on the eyes. I've used pencil, pen and erasable pen with no problems at all. If I press hard, however, some of the imprinted ink may transfer to the page underneath. It doesn't bother me because I like the heavier paper and full page format. The puzzles are separated into Monday through Saturday categories and unlike other books, the spiral binding allows for moving from one section to another without messing up the spine. It's easy to do these in a reclining position as well. Answers are placed four on a page so the book is not much thicker, since there are 200 assorted puzzles. I have yet to find errors in the puzzles, but then I've only done about a dozen of the Monday through Wednesday difficulties thus far. I love the paper, puzzles and format. I have experienced enough, "Oh yeah, I get it," reactions to keep me challenged. I absolutely would recommend this "little" black and white book of crosswords and am eager to do one right now!

Wonderful format--spiral bound, nice paper, print not too small. Excellent variety of easy-to-difficult puzzles of varying craftiness. Our family of three has toted it on trips to do them in the car, while waiting for our meals, etc., and it's great for easier middle-of-the-night puzzles to help one drowse off. Highly recommended for puzzlers of all levels.

This is one of my favorite crossword collections. I love the hardback nature of the book, as well as the spiral-bound pages. Unlike some others, I adore the smooth paper; it's perfect for solving with my 0.7 mechanical pencil. I've even worked some puzzles out with a pen and had no difficulties with the paper. The only drawback I see to this book is that there are several errors in the solution section. In fact, there is one puzzle that appears to have a solution to a completely different puzzle, which is very frustrating when you want to go back and check your answers. Still, it's only a minor quibble and I would definitely recommend this book to any crossword lover. In fact, I enjoyed this collection so much that I just purchased the similarly-designed Luxe collection of crosswords.

This little books is very handy for travel, is easily carried, and the forms are large enough to read on trains or buses or planes as well as at home. The stiff covers make it easy to write without a table. The puzzles are standard NYTimes, mostly good, occasionally weird, but hey, that's puzzling.

It is arranged with little symbols of Hats to indicate the degree of difficulty - one hat easiest, 5 hats difficult. I've been working crossword for years and feel fairly confident, but the easy ones are so easy they are boring and the difficult ones are nearly impossible with definitions and answers not really matching up in normal person's mind - also boring in that you have to look up nearly half the answers. The answers are sometimes too clever or too far out. The middle section is just ok.