Anyone else do it? I've been doing it for 10+ years and have gotten pretty good. I usually only do the more difficult Friday and Saturday puzzles now - sometimes the Thursday themed puzzles, but not often.

STF wrote:Anyone else do it? I've been doing it for 10+ years and have gotten pretty good. I usually only do the more difficult Friday and Saturday puzzles now - sometimes the Thursday themed puzzles, but not often.

I had a Times subscription from '01 to '06. I got really good at Monday through Wednesday, but after that I was pretty much helpless. I love crossword puzzles. They made working in retail that much more bearable.

I can finish Monday through Wednesday, occasionally Thursday. Friday though Sunday gets a bit hairy.

The Sunday puzzle is too long - interesting themes sometimes, but too many mundane clues just to fill up the space. No offense to others who've replied, but Mon.-Wed. puzzle clues are usually just plain old synonyms - not very interesting.

I can usually finish the Friday and Saturday puzzles, but somtimes it takes hours or even the entire weekend. When I get stuck I put it aside, but subconsciously my mind works on it. There have been times where I've turned in for the night, been dozing off, and suddenly the answers to some clues will come to me.

Yeah, I'm a nerd about the NYT crossword. Somtimes I feel like it's one of the few things I look forward to or enjoy. I've been on a business trip and sharing a rental car for the past two weeks. Last week I couldn't find a place to buy the Times and it just about haunted me.

I think that's my 500th post.

I can usually get Mon-Wed puzles - to the point that I don't find it a huge accomplishment anymore. I like doing the Sunday one - it usually takes me a couple of sittings to to it. It used to be a Sunday ritual for me, but I'm finding less and less time to do it lately. I need to finish a few projects and get back into the habit.

At some point in my life, I used to be pretty good at crossword puzzles, but now that I'm older I'm pretty lame at it.

That said, everyone should still see Wordplay. Fascinating watch.

same for me: i nail mon-wed... some thursdays i get lucky but fri-sat and some sundays i am f'ed. when i worked in coffee shops we would always fight over who got the crossword. i would actually feel angry if someone picked up my folded paper and started working on it. i'm like, go to the word search where you belong.
i am addicted to the nytimes crossword books too.
wordplay is a really fun movie.

kenoki wrote:i'm like, go to the word search where you belong.

Hah. Seriously, who does those? It's the "Where's Waldo" of word puzzles.

You people must be very good at this game by my standards.

Do you use reference materials?

That's cheating. What would be the point?

I love the NYT crossword, but apparently delivering it to our door with any regularity is just too much for their crack staff, so we had to cancel our sub.

STF, if you think you're a nerd about the NYT crossword, you should watch this little documentary:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492506/