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April 19, 2026 
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In his constructor notes for today’s puzzle, Michael Lieberman wrote about drawing inspiration from Adam Wagner, the puzzle maker of the Wednesday crossword this week. Mr. Wagner, Mr. Lieberman wrote, “Mentioned in his notes that I occasionally (read: constantly) urge him not to squeeze too much theme into one puzzle. I had to follow my own advice to make this one work.” Learn more about how he made this puzzle in the Wordplay column.
Puzzles You May Have Missed
Crossplay Tip
Avoid keeping duplicates of letters: In general, by keeping multiples of the same tile, you may limit your set of possible plays on the next turn, so it is good practice to not hold on to more than one of the same tile. This is especially true if that letter appears frequently in the remaining tiles in the bag. For instance, while there are words with multiple I’s (such as KIWI), or multiple V’s (such as DIVVY), or even both (such as VIVID), keeping two I’s or two V’s often requires specific other letters to allow for high scoring the following turn. In fact, a set of tiles like BIIUVVW has only one word — BI — available as a stand-alone word without the use of any other tiles on the board.
Connections Quandary
Here’s the hardest category from Thursday, April 16. What connects these four things? See the answer in the P.S.
Strands
Last week’s hardest Strands puzzle was THIS IS NOT WORKING, from Thursday, April 16 — 82.93 percent of solvers were able to complete it.
Last week’s easiest Strands puzzle was WHILE NOT IN USE, from Monday, April 13 — 92.51 percent of solvers were able to complete it.
Strands puzzles last week — from April 10 to 16 — were almost equal in difficulty compared with those from the week before.
Wordle Weekly Recap
Hardest word: CAROM, from Friday, April 10.
Average guesses: 4.56, with 14.95 percent of players solving in three or fewer.
Easiest word: PRUDE, from Saturday, April 11.
Average guesses: 3.91, with 32.45 percent of players solving in three or fewer.
The Wordle answers last week — from April 10 to 16 — were much harder than those from the week before.
Spelling Bee Hive
Overall, the Spelling Bee hives last week — from April 10 to 16 — were much harder than those from the week before. Of our subscribers who played last week, 40.67 percent hit Genius at least once.
Last week’s hardest puzzle: Sunday, April 12, had the hardest pangram, with only 23.02 percent of users finding it.
Sunday’s pangram: NONCHALANCE
Letter set: N A C E H L O
Relax With Us
New York is in bloom, so I’ve been spending my weekends lounging in the parks and botanical gardens. To further appreciate the outdoors, I’ve been bringing along my copy of John McPhee’s 1989 book, “The Control of Nature,” in which he reports on humanity’s attempts to tame overwhelming natural forces. So far, my favorite piece describes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ continuing battle with the Mississippi River, which has been gradually changing its course away from New Orleans. This is a problem, as you can imagine, and I find it fascinating that it’s one that has fallen to the U.S. Army (even if the Corps of Engineers comprises mostly civilians). With all our technological might, we’re still subject to the whims of the ancient, awesome power that is the Mississippi. It deepens my respect for the natural setting in which I’m reading “The Control of Nature,” even if the magnolia blossoms aren’t as intimidating in New York.
How are we doing?
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P.S. The answer to the Connections Quandary is that they are all words that come after “training.”
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