Stan Newman's Daily Crossword Tips Jan 22 – 28, 2023
Solving crosswords every day is a fun and healthy habit that will build and strengthen your problem-solving skills. Whether you're new to crosswords, or a seasoned solver, everyone can use a helpful hint now and then. Come back every week to see the digest of daily tips that will help you achieve the satisfaction of solving a crossword a day.
Sunday, January 22nd, 2023
WATER LOG: For which you’ll stay dry, by Gary M. Larson
Difficulty level: Medium
Some of the trickier clues: 60 Across, 77 Across, 66 Down, 92 Down
Today's Tip: Mr. Larson is a retired stand-up comic, and is not the “Far Side” cartoonist. 41 Across began her CBS career in 1971 as a producer, and has been a “60 Minutes” reporter since 1991.
Play more Sunday crosswords from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Monday, January 23rd, 2023
THINK SMALL by Sally R. Stein
Difficulty level: Easy
Easy clues suggested for you to begin with: 15 Across, 50 Across, 6 Down, 12 Down
Today's Tip: “Sally R. Stein” has long been a pseudonym for your humble crossword editor, which I’ve used for the easiest Monday and Tuesday puzzles of the week. “Sally R. Stein” being an anagram of “it’s really S.N.”
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Tuesday, January 24th, 2023
EGGY by Billie Truitt
Difficulty level: Easy
Easy clues suggested for you to begin with: 1 Across, 49 Across, 25 Down, 63 Down
Today's Tip: The “eggs” in this puzzle are all in the clues.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Wednesday, January 25th, 2023
ALL THE HITS by Steve Faiella
Difficulty level: Easy-Medium
Easy clues suggested for you to begin with: 1 Across, 17 Across, 39 Down, 59 Down
Today's Tip: The “hits” that you’ll find in the answers aren’t songs or movies.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Thursday, January 26th, 2023
FEATHERED FRIEND by S.N.
Difficulty level: Medium-Hard
Easiest clues suggested for you to begin with: 16 Across, 43 Across, 25 Down, 32 Down
Tricky clues to watch out for: 10 Across, 67 Across, 28 Down, 55 Down
Today's Tip: I hope you’ll enjoy knowing (and be surprised by) the height of the “friend” in question.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Friday, January 27th, 2023
FACIAL FINISHES by Chris Gross
Difficulty level: Hard
Easiest clues suggested for you to begin with: 30 Across, 35 Across, 36 Down, 61 Down
Tricky clues to watch out for: 18 Across, 32 Across, 4 Down, 7 Down (especially)
Today's Tip: The title describes pretty well where you’ll find the relevant part of the four theme answers, and what they are.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Saturday, January 28th, 2023
SATURDAY STUMPER by Steve Mossberg
Difficulty level: Very Hard
Most straightforward clues: 31 Across, 43 Across, 2 Down, 60 Down
Trickiest clues to watch out for: 25 Across, 46 Across, 10 Down, 52 Down
Today's Tip: The themeless Saturday Stumpers are deliberately designed to be the most challenging daily crosswords available anywhere, and are widely acknowledged by champion-level puzzle fans to be just that. The most important tip to always keep in mind: expect trickery everywhere, and consider the multiple meanings (and/or parts of speech) that any clue word might have. If you have trouble getting started, you’ll find it highly enlightening to use the app’s “Reveal puzzle” feature, then compare each clue with its corresponding answer. This is how many have developed the skills to fully solve Saturdays.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
How did it go?
Did you find this week’s digest of daily tips helpful? Did you find a clue that really stumped you? Join your fellow crossword fans in the comments. Just scroll down to the bottom of this page to the comments to engage with other puzzle solvers just like you.
About this week’s puzzle authors:
Stan Newman
Since 1988, Stan Newman has been the Crossword Editor for the Long Island, New York newspaper Newsday, where he is widely acknowledged as America’s preeminent expert in customizing crosswords by level of difficulty. During his career, he has also been Founding Editor for the popular “Crosswords with Friends” app, Managing Director of Puzzles and Games for Random House, and has authored or edited over 200 books - including crossword puzzle books, word game books, and crossword reference books.
Stan has written many thousands of his own crosswords over the years, including the first crosswords ever to appear in the Wall Street Journal, People and Newsweek magazines.
As a puzzle solver, he has held since 1996 the world's record for the fastest completion of a New York Times crossword: 2 minutes, 14 seconds.
Gary M. Larson
Gary M. Larson is a retired comedian who lives in Edmonds, Washington with his wife, Amy. He spends his days creating crossword puzzles, riding his E-bike, hanging out at the beach, and entertaining local residents with giant bubbles.
Billie Truitt
Billie Truitt has been constructing puzzles for Stan since 2008, specializing in the easier Tuesday puzzles, expanding into Fridays and Sundays in recent years. She lives with her husband and son in Windsor, Connecticut.
Steve Faiella
Steve Faiella has been a lifelong crossword solver. When he retired in 2019, after a 40-year career in Information Technology for one of the world's largest financial institutions, he decided to try his hand at constructing the puzzles that he's enjoyed since his teen years. Steve's first Newsday puzzle was published in March of 2020, and Stan has been amazing in mentoring Steve in his newfound craft. Steve hopes to continue making puzzles for years to come. He lives in Western Connecticut with his husband, Mike Walker, and his very demanding basset hound Rudy.
Chris Gross
Chris Gross is a retired Sales and Marketing Manager who worked in the Packaging Industry for over 35 years. Originally from Pennsylvania, he is a wine geek (he completed and passed a Sommelier exam), a coffee & craft beer aficionado, a foodie who loves to cook; a crossword puzzle blogger/solver/constructor (his first puzzle published in 2019); and lover of most sports. Chris lives in Arizona with his partner, Margaret; together they have four adult children and four grandchildren.
Steve Mossberg
Steve Mossberg is a music teacher living with his family in the Boston area. As a dad and cryptic crossword buff, he likes a good pun and a tricky clue. Steve enjoys making all sorts of tough crosswords, but finds it particularly entertaining to construct Saturday Stumpers after many years of solving them with a timer. His first Newsday puzzle was published in 2020.