These are mostly challenging crosswords, all from the New York Times. There are a few Monday and Tuesday puzzles, but most are from Thursday-Saturday, the tough part of the week. And they are clever. It really makes you wonder (and admire) the kind of minds that can come up with such diabolical puzzles.

And now with almost half a year of New York Times crossword experience under my belt, I can say that all these puzzles are scrupulously fair. Will Shortz wouldn't have it any other way.

21 of 21 found the following review helpful:

A book of 75 gifts.  Oct 29, 2003
By Tinmanic
Each crossword puzzle in this book is a treat. For the most part, they're not typical crosswords -- most of them contain a gimmick or some other characteristic that makes it unusual. As a bonus, Will Shortz introduces each puzzle with a few sentences explaining what's so great about it, so you almost feel like he's right there with you as you're working your way through the book. It must be difficult enough to create a crossword good enough to be published in the New York Times, so to go the extra step and construct a crossword extraordinary enough to be included in this book -- well, that's just an amazing feat.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

A Challenging Diversion  Aug 06, 2005
By Tina Hendricks "Recovering English Major"
From easy to hard, these puzzles should keep you entertained. Some are funny, all are clever. Will Shortz's comments provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the world of puzzle making.

8 of 9 found the following review helpful:

A Bit Elementary, My Dear Will  Mar 09, 2005
By A. Braun
These puzzles are lots of fun, but they aren't especially challenging. However, that's not to discourage anyone from buying the book. I loved doing it, and I came back to buy a copy for someone else. But, if you're really hard-core--Saturday's puzzle in ink, that sort of thing--you might want to look elsewhere.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

Best Collection of Crossword Puzzles I've Seen  Jun 13, 2008
By Erik Wennstrom
If you prefer cleverness and novelty in your crossword puzzles, this is the perfect book. The puzzles are of varying difficulties (Monday through Saturday), but the dates and days of the week are given for each puzzle, so you know roughly how much of a challenge you're in for with each puzzle (watch out for the sneaky April 1st crosswords). Will Shortz's brief non-spoiler commentary before each puzzle is interesting, but I wish there was follow-up commentary after each puzzle, going into just a little more depth.

The only serious downside to the book is the fact that it is not spiral bound. But the puzzles inside are just way too good for that to make much of a difference.

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