What do the circles mean in the New York Times crossword?
The letters that will appear in the circles when the Answers are written in spell out words related to the puzzle’s theme. the letters in squares that contain circles spell out words related to the theme either when read consecutively or when rearranged to form theme-related words.
What does Rebus mean in NYT Crossword?
What is a Rebus? A rebus can be a letter, number or symbol that represents a word, but in many crosswords, the rebus will be a word or group of letters that need to be written inside a single square.
What are the gray squares in NYT Crossword?
Those extra letters, the overflow, occupy a gray box at the beginning or end of the spaces allocated for their entry. Two important constraints: An entry is never more than one letter too long, and each gray box is used only once.
What does VAR mean in NYT Crossword?
The use of “Var.” indicates the answer is a variant spelling (e.g., EMEER instead of EMIR), while the use of foreign language or a foreign place name within the clue indicates that the answer is also in a foreign language.
What is the hardest NYT crossword?
Saturday crossword
The Saturday crossword is actually the hardest puzzle of the week. Mondays have the most straightforward clues and Saturday clues are the hardest, or involve the most wordplay. Contrary to popular belief, the Sunday puzzles are midweek difficulty, not the hardest.
How do you do rebus?
Step 1: Click on the square in which you want to enter the rebus. Tap the “More” key on the bottom left-hand side of the screen. Step 2: Tap the “Rebus” key. This will open up a larger square in which you can type multiple letters.
What does familiarly mean in crosswords?
7. Shortened words: An answer that’s a shortened form of a word will be signaled in the clue. For example: “May race, for short” for INDY. “Briefly” or “familiarly” are similarly used as tags. This rule can sometimes be ignored in more difficult puzzles.