Stan Newman's Daily Crossword Tips February 26 - March 04, 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, February 26, 2023
THEY’RE ON THE MOVE: With two letters the same, by Mark McClain
Difficulty level: Medium
Some of the trickier clues: 38 Across, 51 Across, 13 Down, 88 Down
Today's Tip: 30 Across had been an Amazon-region staple for centuries before its promotion in the U.S. as a health food beginning in the 1990s.
Play more Sunday crosswords from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Monday, February 27, 2023
UNREAL by Doug Peterson
Difficulty level: Easy
Easy clues suggested for you to begin with: 15 Across, 30 Across, 12 Down, 62 Down
Today's Tip: UNREAL as in “fake.”
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
END OF FEBRUARY by Sally R. Stein
Difficulty level: Easy-Medium
Easy clues suggested for you to begin with: 16 Across, 23 Across, 7 Down, 8 Down
Today's Tip: This theme would have also worked last month.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Wednesday, March 01, 2023
VIRTUAL REALITY by Guilherme Gilioli
Difficulty level: Easy-Medium
Easy clues suggested for you to begin with: 14 Across, 48 Across, 28 Down, 47 Down
Today's Tip: Not at all a high-tech theme.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Thursday, March 02, 2023
DOUBLE CROSS by Fred Piscop
Difficulty level: Medium-Hard
Easiest clues suggested for you to begin with: 41 Across, 6 Down, 49 Down, 51 Down
Tricky clues to watch out for: 28 Across, 62 Across, 9 Down, 34 Down
Today's Tip: 48 Across will be unfamiliar to most, but you should recognize its two words.
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Friday, March 03, 2023
PARROTED DIFFERENTLY by Billie Truitt
Difficulty level: Hard
Easiest clues suggested for you to begin with: 19 Across, 37 Across, 3 Down,
Tricky clues to watch out for: 15 Across, 43 Across, 6 Down, 10 Down (especially)
Today's Tip: It’s pretty unusual to have four such words expressed “differently.”
Play more crosswords at this same level from editor Stan Newman’s archives.
Saturday, March 04, 2023
SATURDAY STUMPER by S.N.
Difficulty level: Very Hard
Most straightforward clues: 22 Across, 54 Across, 9 Down, 12 Down
Trickiest clues to watch out for: 20 Across, 50 Across, 45 Down, 56 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 the 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.
Mark McClain
Mark McClain lives with his longtime partner Diana Christopulos in the small city of Salem, Virginia, near the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway. He was born in Alva, Oklahoma, and spent time in Oklahoma City and the Dallas area during his years working in financial management for several large corporations. He has two adult daughters and one granddaughter.
He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and marketing and an MBA in finance and accounting. He's a veteran of the U.S. Army and in retirement has spent many hours volunteering at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center and several other community volunteer jobs.
He has been making crossword puzzles since 2014 for Stan as well as several other publishers. His crosswords may have a classic feel, as he listens to classical music while working on them. In his spare time he enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles
Doug Peterson
Doug Peterson is an avid puzzle solver and constructor who grew up in Montana and now makes his home in Southern California. He learned the ropes at an early age, solving Dell puzzle magazines with his grandmother during long summers spent at her home in Missoula.
He currently works for a labor union in Duarte, California, and spends most evenings working on crossword themes, grids, and clues. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and organizing his ever-growing comic book collection. And he loves to include comic book references in his puzzles.
He’s been making puzzles for Stan since 2003 and loves to challenge solvers with evocative clues and answers.
Guilherme Gilioli
Guilherme Gilioli is a Brazilian full-time crossword constructor, creating puzzles for newspapers, magazines, books and apps in 3 languages (Portuguese, English and Spanish). He started creating his own puzzles in 2017 and publishing them online on his own website. In 2021 he dropped his regular job at a hardware store to dedicate himself only to puzzle-making.
His hobbies are collecting and solving Rubik's Cubes, reading, taking strolls and playing with his cat Tigrinho (“Tiger”).
Fred Piscop
Fred Piscop of Bellmore, New York, has been constructing crosswords since the late 1980s. His first Newsday crossword appeared in 1992, and 2016 saw the publication of Fred's 1000th Newsday crossword.
Fred is the former editor of the Washington Post Sunday crossword and the USA Today crossword. He is also the creator of the popular Split Decisions® puzzle, which appears in the New York Times, GAMES World of Puzzles, and on Fred's website, www.split-decisions.us.
When Fred is not busy creating puzzles, he enjoys solving the Guardian cryptic crossword, playing keyboards at jam sessions, biking, running, playing senior softball, and sampling excellent microbrews.
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.