WSJ Crossword May 16 2024 Answers (5/16/24) - Try Hard Guides (2024)

FAQs

What is the hardest day for crossword puzzles? ›

The crosswords are designed to increase in difficulty throughout the week, with the easiest on Monday and the most difficult on Saturday. The larger Sunday crossword, which appears in The New York Times Magazine, is an icon in American culture; it is typically intended to be as difficult as a Thursday puzzle.

The Saturday crossword is actually the hardest puzzle of the week. Mondays have the most straightforward clues and Saturday clues are the hardest, or involve the most wordplay. Contrary to popular belief, the Sunday puzzles are midweek difficulty, not the hardest.

Most cryptic crosswords provide the number of letters in the answer, or in the case of phrases, a series of numbers to denote the letters in each word: "cryptic crossword" would be clued with "(7,9)" following the clue. More advanced puzzles may drop this portion of the clue.

Solve shorter answers next.

Shorter answers are a little easier to answer than longer ones. Focus on clues with 3, 4, or 5 letters next. Remember, the more space you fill up in the puzzle, the easier it'll be to identify harder words and clues. Pro Tip: Crossword answers tend to range from 3 to 21 letters.

The daily puzzles are arranged in graded difficulty from Monday (easiest) through Saturday (hardest). The Sunday puzzle, which is larger—typically 21x21, vs 15x15 for the daily—is said to have a difficulty equivalent to about Thursday.

Research has shown a positive correlation between crossword puzzles and daily life functions, especially for people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Experts emphasize that larger clinical trials are needed to unravel the observed associations between crossword puzzles and how our brains function.

The Monday crosswords are the easiest, and the puzzles get harder as the week goes on. Practice on the Mondays before pushing yourself to Tuesday puzzles. The Saturday crossword is the hardest of the week. Contrary to popular belief, Sunday puzzles have the difficulty level of a midweek crossword.

In case you didn't know, the daily New York Times Crossword has a difficulty curve as the week goes on. Monday is the easiest puzzle, and then Tuesday is a little harder, climbing up to Saturday, which is the hardest day of the week.

Monday is the easiest and Saturday is the hardest, with Sunday puzzles being larger and having the difficulty of about a Thursday puzzle. The biggest jump in difficulty is from Tuesday and Wednesday as the words get longer and longer and the clues get trickier. Hope this helps.

By convention (no firm rule on this), clues in square brackets indicate a non-verbal action or a utterance.

What does var mean in crossword puzzles? ›

The use of "Var." indicates the answer is a variant spelling (e.g., EMEER instead of EMIR), while the use of foreign language or a foreign place name within the clue indicates that the answer is also in a foreign language. For example, ETE (été, French for "summer") might be clued as "Summer, in the Sorbonne".

However, many times the blank space can be filled in with two or more words. In easier crosswords, multiple words will be indicated with (2 words) or (2 wds.), but more often than not it will be up to the solver to determine how many words fill in the space. Another hint sometimes used in clues is (hyphenated).

Fill in the blanks first

Every puzzle usually has a small handful of fill-in-the-blanks, so if you're looking to get an early confidence boost, scan the list of clues for fill-in-the-blanks and knock them out early.

Practice daily so you can keep improving your solving skills. It takes a bit of time and practice to catch on to all the little quirks in crossword puzzles, so make puzzling a part of your routine. Take a few minutes in the morning or at night to sit down and work through a crossword puzzle.

Each week, our puzzle editors share brain teasers, puzzles and Gameplay stories they love. Get it sent to your inbox. MONDAY PUZZLE — Mondays have long been known to feature the easiest of the week's crosswords at The New York Times.

Don't be intimidated by crossword puzzles. “ERA” is the most common entry in crosswords, as well as “ARE,” “AREA,” and “ORE.” If a clue is in plural, the word will probably end in “S.” “Cheating” by checking a letter or word is encouraged if you're stuck.