My 20-year-old niece Emma texted me one day to tell me that she was addicted to the Times game, Connections; she and her friends played Mini and Strands every day. “People who make games need to make more fun games,” she declared.
I don’t mind her using me as her personal on-demand suggestion box for The New York Times. She is my personal on-demand focus group for Gen Z. She’s used to me asking her about Snapchat etiquette, or which athleisure brands are cool, or whether her generation is really cool. Measured by feet.
I’ve read reports of how young people get caught up in puzzles, but this is the first time my Gen Z representative has volunteered to report live. I was hooked; I’m a gamer, but I never thought this was an activity Emma and I would play together.
I loved Connections, too, but my deepest and most enduring puzzle romance was The Times’ crossword puzzle. I play an average of several puzzles a day, a simultaneously conscious and unconscious pastime that keeps half my brain busy while the other half unravels experiences and emotions for which there is no language or yet language.
I started doing crossword puzzles in my early twenties. From the puzzle, I learned the difference between ETNA and ELBA, ARAL and URAL, as well as the names of golfers, pitchers and generals. Before I saw the Slender Man movie, I could give you dozens of clever ways to describe ASTA. Crossword puzzles filled gaps in my cultural and historical education and gave me an edge in pub trivia. Solving crossword puzzles was like exercising, the more I did it, the better I got at it, but while I gained a certain understanding of the mysteries of the puzzles, I never felt like I was getting any wiser about the world in which I lived.
Over the past few years, as puzzles have evolved from slightly esoteric entertainment to more outlandish personal endeavors, the experience has changed, so that doing a crossword puzzle today is no longer a quiet test of mid-20th-century detail. It’s about having intense conversations with people. modern culture. The reasons are manifold: The technology used to create crossword puzzles has improved, online spaces where people communicate about making and solving puzzles have proliferated, and there are industry-wide efforts to increase the diversity of builders. result? “Builders today are more inclined to express themselves in their work,” Today’s Times article about the Gen Z era crossword puzzle explain.
Today, The Times’ puzzles often include modern slang, Internet slang, references to memes and movies not shot on celluloid. Recent grids include Bitcoin ATMs and self-driving cars. “Arrived with much fanfare” is the most recent clue that answers the “hot” answer. Another clue raises the question of legality: Is this a thing?
To me, this results in a more exciting puzzle, but I’ve spent enough time on online crossword puzzle forums to know that the reaction from every long-time puzzler might not be as enthusiastic. I asked the editorial director of The New York Times Gaming, Everdeen Masonif she hears someone unhappy with the way the crossword puzzle has evolved.
Everdeen told me that The Times’ puzzle-solving community definitely feels ownership of the crossword puzzle. She understands, “There can be a sense of loss when something you thought was right for you turns out to be right for someone else.” I’ve been thinking about this quote and want to see how human I am reflected in the things I love. things. When I started making puzzles, I had no doubts about whether they would be right for me. It wasn’t until I started seeing clues and answers that were more relevant to my daily life that I realized how much of a tourist I was.
Of course, you don’t need to see yourself in the puzzle to enjoy it or complete it. “A well-structured puzzle is solvable, even with some niche entries,” Everdeen said. These niche entries are what make new puzzles so interesting to me. I don’t just invoke esoteric words from my dictionary of weird puzzles. I am participating in an activity related to my daily life.
That doesn’t mean I don’t long for those days, when I felt like I’d mastered the crosswords that made up each puzzle, and solving a crossword puzzle felt a little dutiful, like reciting a poem from memory. I’m less sure about problem solving these days, but I’m also more often happy, which seems like a respectable trade-off.
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cultural week
Film and Television
cultural calendar
🎼 “The Tortured Poets Ministry” (Friday): It may feel like you’re still digesting.”Cowboy Carter,” but now it’s time for another major album: “The Tortured Poets Department,” which Taylor Swift announced when she won a Grammy earlier this year for “Midnights.” Swift , poets, even grammar police Having expressed their feelings, if you think that’s the end of the conversation, haven’t you learned anything from Beyoncé?
Grilled Lemon Pudding
If you do Grilled Lemon Pudding Make your heart as excited as theirs? Luckily for us, this recipe, adapted by David Tanis from JR Ryall’s cookbook Ballymaloe Desserts, is a simple, quick treat. Just 10 minutes of prep time, plus 40 minutes of baking time, results in a citrusy dessert with two distinct layers: a puffed, spongy top covered in a soft custard center. Feather-light and delicious, this is the perfect choice at the end of a big meal when you’re in the mood for something sweet but don’t want to be full. For lemonheads who like sourness, using buttermilk instead of whole milk adds sourness in the best possible way.
real estate
hunt: A couple wanted a home on Chicago’s North Side that had the right balance of square footage and access to a café. Which one did they choose? play our games.
What you get for $420,000: A 1940 Colonial Revival-style house in Charles Town, West Virginia; an 1858 Greek Revival-style house in Holly Springs, Mississippi; or One bedroom apartment in Washington.
Dress appropriately: comedians Hassan Minhaj and Rami Yusuf were among hundreds of Muslims who gathered in New York Celebrating Eid al-Fitr.
fashion Week: Nigerian fashion designers are ready for their industry take center stage.
Staples and well-kept secrets: Times readers share their favorite New York City restaurants. See the list here.
Advice from wire cutters
Where to buy plants online
If you don’t have a large brick-and-mortar store near you, buying indoor plants online can be useful. But not all plant suppliers are the same. Wirecutter tested the most popular services, and found two products that we feel offer the easiest shopping experience and offer the healthiest plants. If you buy online, we recommend checking your new plant for pests, isolating it from other plants for about a week, and then transplanting it into an ideal growing medium. Voila: fresh plants to celebrate the season—or maybe someone in front of Mother’s Day? — Rose Lohr
Game of the week
Golf Masters: Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer in the world right now, “and probably not by a long shot,” The Athletic’s Brody Miller writes.Schaeffler has one strange swing — his feet slide like they’re on skates — but it seems to put the ball exactly where he wants it. He started today at six under par, tied for the lead Along with Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa. Today at 3pm ET and tomorrow at 2pm ET on CBS.
