Customer Reviews

The New York Times Crossword Answer Book (NY Times)

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

 

 

This is exactly what you'd expect. You've got a couple of letters and need an answer, they're all here. Granted, that's a bit to look through, but desperate times and all that. I found this book particularly good for crossword construction, if you're into that sort of thing.

Like most crossword aficionados I started doing crosswords when I was just a little kid. I'd sit at the table working at them and my "dictionary" was an aunt who was also very fond of them. Later on when I was a `tweener I picked up the Dell Crossword Dictionary. At the time that had most of the answers I needed. When crossword puzzles got more sophisticated and Will Shortz came on the scene, particularly as crossword puzzle editor for the New York Times, things were never quite the same. The "answers" couldn't be plucked out of any ordinary dictionary no matter how hard you tried ... until now (sorry Dell).

I occasionally work in a bookstore and when I spotted this book my first impression was that I didn't need it. I don't, but it's one of those books that are such a draw you just have to take a peek. I couldn't resist, but when I opened up the book it was one of those "what the heck is this?" moments. It looked like page after page of the Torah code. Yes, there is almost every answer you could ever find in a crossword reference book, but is referenced in a manner I never would have dreamed up.

According to the authors, the book "is arranged first by word length, then alphabetically by the position of two given letters. So once you have two letters of an answer filled in, you can quickly find a list of words and phrases that have those two letters in those two positions." Of course you will not find lengthy, multiple word sequences, but you will find many contemporary ones (three to seven letters). Just to give you an idea as to how this works I've included a very short section below so you can see the way this reference works.

O***D*

OCTADS
OLINDA
ONEIDA
ONSIDE
OREADS
OREIDA
OROIDE
OVERDO
OVIEDO
OVOIDS

I was pleasantly surprised when I tried a few from actual New York Times puzzles from their Crossword Puzzle Omnibus and quickly found the "answer." It did help to have a good idea of what I was looking for, especially in sections where there were large blocks of words. Included are "phrases, proper names, and abbreviations" used in actual puzzles. The method is easy to figure out and loads of fun to play with. I couldn't resist buying it and certainly don't regret it as this really is a book with all the answers, the ones that just don't seem to come to mind. It is especially handy on the notoriously tricky Sunday puzzles.

There wasn't a description about the book, other than it was an answer book. All it has is possible letters to fit your puzzle. I thought it would be like a dictionary, and would give words to answer the puzzle clues. I don't like it at all!!

All the solutions are there. What is the organization to quickly find the appropriate known letter positions? The book lacks any explanation as to how to look stuff up.