MoxBee Carol

Sam, I'm wishing you, Deb, and Caitlyn a happy, healthy, and contented year. I started doing the New York Times Crossword early in 2023, after getting hooked on the Spelling Bee. I read all of the helpful columns about how to play the NYT crossword, and always read Wordplay, even the times when I've solved the puzzle first. I understood rebuses right away, though it took me awhile at times to figure out how the particular ones worked. Besides the dailies, I've worked the archives, too. So far, I've completed 1,042 crosswords with a 99.4% solve rate. Although the timer runs, that hasn't been my personal measure of success. That would be how often I have to look something up. The fewer times I have to consult iMDB, Google, or Wordplay, I know I'm getting better. The hardest thing for a long time was themes. I had the hardest time grasping just what a theme was, and how they worked. I would complete a puzzle and still not know the theme. I'm getting a lot better at identifying themes, often early in the puzzle. And I've found that sometimes I have all of the theme entries done, and the blank spaces in the grid are simple, short words. All of this is to say "Thank you" to all of you for your Wordplay columns, and to the Games crew, especially Deb Amlen, for the wonderful, helpful columns on how to negotiate the Times Crossword. I'm still working my way through the "Ten ____s You Should Know" columns as I find them. I think I'm addicted.