Petals and Curly Quotes
How come crossword puzzles were created with boxes and not circles or anything of the sort? — Kyanna, Philadelphia From Christina: Last week I wrote about two kinds of puzzles that don’t use squares: Rows Gardens, which have triangles, and Jelly Rolls, which are a spiral shape. Today I’ll explore a few more types of variety puzzles. One visually appealing puzzle that I enjoy is called a Petal Puzzle. It’s a bit like a crossword, but the words are made in a flower-shaped pattern. Words start at the numbered squares, some going inward to the right, and others to the left. Petal Puzzles were first made with five-letter words in Italy, and Will Shortz was the first to bring this type of puzzle to the U.S., with English words. He also began to make larger Petal Puzzles, using six- and seven-letter words.
Will was also the first to make a Spiral puzzle in English. This kind of puzzle was originally published in Italian as “La Doppia Rotazione,” by a magazine in Florence. Spiral puzzles have words back-to-back in both directions, inward and outward. Another puzzle type, invented by Patrick Berry (about whom I wrote last week), is the Curly Quote. In this grid of hexagons, seven-letter words wrap around the hexagon shapes, either starting or ending in the shaded hexagons. If it doesn’t seem hard enough to make all these words connect in this intricate grid, the shaded letters will also spell a quotation when the puzzle is completed.
If you like solving variety puzzles, you can find them in the Sunday magazine alongside our Sunday crossword.
Solve Friday’s Crossword on Easy Mode!
In today’s Wordplay column, Deb Amlen writes about the fun entries in the puzzle, and offers encouragement for crossword newbies. For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read her column here. Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us on the X platform, on Threads or by email. A Quick Cool-DownHow fast can you solve today’s Mini?
Get a ClueMy favorite clue last week was 51-Across from Saturday, February 15. Think about the different pronunciations of LEAD if you are stuck! 51-Across: Got the lead out?
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 Get a Clue is ERASED.
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