77 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is what it is and it is great., January 5, 2005
This review is from: The New York Times Ultimate Crossword Omnibus: 1,001 Puzzles from The New York Times (Paperback)
I was buying the NY Times everyday just so I could do the puzzle at lunchtime at the office. In the area I lived, it was $1 a day! Do the math. This collection saved me a bundle.
As a habitual crossword puzzler, I switched from habitually buying the paper each morning to habitually zeroxing the next puzzle in this book. I found it much easier to copy the puzzles than to hold this rather bulky tome. And copying allowed me to enlarge them to a full letter size page if I so desired (though it was not necessary -- the puzzles are their normal dimensions and fit two-to-a-page in this collection).
Working off a copy also discouraged me from turning the page and starting a different puzzle when I got stuck on the really tough Friday and Saturday puzzles.
If you're a habitual puzzler, this book is a god send.
Bottom line(s): The price is obviously fantastic. The collection is obviously HUGE! The puzzles are just like the daily paper -- from Monday-easy to Saturday-nearly-impossible. I never ran into a puzzle I remembered doing in the paper.
No cons, but some advice... It's not the kind of book you'll want to carry around since it is, of course, large. And if you're not a habitual puzzler, it might end up on a shelf unused since it is a daunting number of puzzles.
Also, in case you're a novice puzzler, the NY Times puzzles can get pretty hard. If you're used to clues like, "Wheel OF Fortune's Sajak" for p-a-t, you're in for a challenge. Instead, you'll be getting "foie gras" for p-a-t-e. (Frequent foreign language clues, people you've never heard of, obscure island names, etc.)
The good news is that your vocabulary will expand and you'll learn a lot more than you would from the TV guide puzzle. I know I've learned a lot from the NY Times puzzles. Thank you, Will Shortz.
And, in case you haven't figured it out, the "Search inside this book" link above will get you the first 12 puzzles! If you like them, there are 989 more to go!
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Many hours of entertainment in an inexpensive volume, September 19, 2005
This review is from: The New York Times Ultimate Crossword Omnibus: 1,001 Puzzles from The New York Times (Paperback)
If you have tried and liked the crossword puzzles in the New York Times, but do not subscribe to the newspaper, this book is for you. It is certainly more cost effective than subscribing just for the puzzles. There is also a crossword only online subscription option, incidentally, but this book probably packs more bang for the buck. If you have not previously solved New York Times puzzles, it's worth trying a few before you buy the book.
A few things to be aware of: The daily puzzles in the paper increase in difficulty from Monday to Friday. As far as I can tell, the ones in the book are not arranged in any particular order. Also this is a compilation of puzzles that appeared over the past decade. In so far as a few questions deal with ongoing events, they are now harder than back when the events were in the news. Non-New Yorkers may be stumped by allusions to local personalities.
On the whole the book should provide many hours of entertainment.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
NY Times Puzzle Book, June 10, 2007
This review is from: The New York Times Ultimate Crossword Omnibus: 1,001 Puzzles from The New York Times (Paperback)
I love crossword puzzles! This book is too awkward to use though for two reasons. One is that it's heavy and hard to hold open anywhere except at a table (my favorite spot is the recliner or lawn chair!). The second reason is that the puzzle is on the wrong part of the page. It should be near the binding or even in the middle with the clues surrounding it. Again, it wouldn't be as bad at the table, but that's not where I do them.
The puzzles are great though!!
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