The Grid: A Balancing Act
People sometimes ask me about trivia in the New York Times crossword, and what the Games team considers fair to make an appearance in the grid or the clues. Everyone has different ideas of what is common knowledge, and we all have different wheelhouses. As someone who doesn’t follow any sports except baseball and the World Cup, virtually any clue about basketball or football players seems impossible to me. Some of the sports nuts on my team feel differently, though, and might balk at a clue about an alternative rock band I think everyone should know about. Ideally, there are many kinds of trivia in a puzzle, so that people have a chance to get the answers through the crossings. A puzzle shouldn’t be overly heavy in one area of knowledge, whether it’s sports, video games, actors or geography. We have different standards for trivia depending on where it appears in the grid. If the theme of a puzzle is built around something from pop culture, we’d really expect it to be known by a vast majority of people. But, if a bit of trivia appears somewhere in the grid, we don’t mind using names that are a little on the obscure side, as long as the crossings feel fair. You wouldn’t want the names of two lesser-known indie singers crossing each other, or two N.B.A. players intersecting. When the editors gather to review puzzles, we sometimes discuss whether something is well-known. There are seven editors, and we have different backgrounds and identities, so we’ve often heard of names and places the others have not. Occasionally we’ll come across a proper noun in a grid that not a single editor has heard of, and in these cases we’ll do some research and see how common it really is. If the crossings all feel fair, we often allow it. In clues, we’re much more likely to allow trivia that is new to us all. We see the crossword as an opportunity to learn, and constructors and editors like to include trivia that is interesting and new. We’re not expecting the solver to know everything in the puzzle, but would love to share interesting facts and bits of trivia with them. Isn’t that what puzzles are all about?
Solve Friday’s Crossword on Easy Mode!
For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read the Wordplay column. Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us by email. Today at 1 p.m. Eastern time, Ian Livengood, who edits Pips and the Midi, will be popping into the Wordplay comment section for our monthly forum Q&A series. Submissions are open until the Q&A’s start time. Easy vs. HardIn today’s daily Friday puzzle, 44-Across is clued as [Where to be above all the drama?]. In this case, the clue is taken quite literally. For Easy Mode, I went with [Private seating area at the Met] to paint the picture more clearly.
How are we doing? Thanks for playing! Subscribe to New York Times Games. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up to receive it regularly here. P.S. The answer to Easy vs. Hard is OPERA BOX.
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