I’m addicted to The New York Times online games. Right now Connections is my favorite, but Strands is close behind. I also play Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and the Mini Crossword. It’s especially fun because many of my friends play, too. Judy posts her Wordle and Connections struggles on Facebook and we discuss how we did, and my friend Dan and I are in a friendly fight to see who can solve the Mini Crossword in under 30 seconds. I’m also in charge of CNET’s daily New York Times puzzle-answer page, so I post the answers for those five games every day.
March is over now, and as an NYT puzzles obsessive, I decided to share my biggest stumpers of the month. Some puzzles are easy, but others… well, let’s just say they can be a bit of a struggle. Obviously, spoilers ahead for previous NYT puzzles.
Wordle
March 31: BOOTY
Double letters, and a Y?
March 30: QUOTA
I never, ever, ever think to guess a Q.
March 28: VERSE
I also never, ever, ever think to guess a V.
March 5: SCRUM
I’m not a rugby fan and don’t have an MBA, so this never occurred to me.
March 2: DEITY
“I before E” — except in this word.
Connections
March 29: Words in a famous palindrome
I knew this one, but not everyone did.
March 26: Units of volume plus a letter
Oh, purple category, you kill me.
March 24: Things with layers
This just did not occur to me as a category.
March 22: Words abbreviated with T plus letter
I never once saw the connection.
Strands
March 21: Ode to the aubergine
I hate eggplant, and this puzzle was a real stumper for me.
March 20: Wading bird
Bird-watchers, this one was for you.
March 19: à/a la ____
Plancha? I just never heard of that.
March 17: Spoonerisms
This might be the hardest puzzle of any variety this month. A Spoonerism is a two-word phrase where the initial sound of each word is switched, like “bedding wells” for “wedding bells.”
March 5: Historic ships
I thought I knew a lot of famous ships, but maybe not.
Connections: Sports Edition
March 28: NBA players whose talents were stolen in Space Jam
Not too many categories are dependent on your knowledge of a 1995 animated film, but here we are.
March 26: Men’s basketball coaches in Sweet 16
I love participating in the March Madness brackets, but that doesn’t mean I know the coaches’ names.
March 22: First names of Premier League managers
I’m an Anglophile, but I do not know the names of their soccer team managers.
March 21: NCAA women’s basketball stars
I should know these, but I don’t.
March 1: Team names, minus a B
Credit to whichever inspired puzzles editor thought of this one.
Mini Crossword
March 29: 1-Across is not TOOLBAR
I was stuck on “toolbar” for 1-Across, and I was close, but…
March 28: “At eat”? What?
I still don’t think “at eat” is the right answer for “patronized, as a restaurant.”
March 21: “Wahoo”?
Wahoo? Really? Not yahoo? OK, sure, fine.
March 16: “My man?” Really?
I’m sorry, but 7-A could’ve been a million words.
March 7: 1-Across looks like a mistake
I get that x’s and o’s are hugs and kisses, but this never occurred to me.
Add comment