first crossword editor for new york times

#First crossword editor for new york times archive#
#First crossword editor for new york times Offline#

The Across Lite team even developed a new format at the request of NYT in back 2015, but strangely, the NYT has never used it. There are various newer formats floating around, but with the entrenchment of the puz format none has emerged as a clear winner.

#First crossword editor for new york times archive#

Not only are puz files used to distribute daily crosswords, the NYT maintains an archive of all its crosswords in puz format going back to 1993, even before online puzzles were introduced. Despite being aged and proprietary, an entire community of solvers, developers and checkers has sprung up around the availability of puz files, making them a de-facto standard. puz files, a format which hasn’t been upgraded in twenty years. Naturally the NYT joined the party as well, offering the crossword puzzles online and via smart phone apps.Ĭentral to this issue are Across Lite.

#First crossword editor for new york times Offline#

Modems aside, this basic method has continued until now, and a variety of programs and apps have sprung up over the years that allow not only offline play, but with tailored feature sets, such as support for the visually impaired, puzzle fanatics, puzzle creators, team playing, etc.

The NYT online crossword puzzles first appeared in 1996 - puzzle files could be downloaded by modem and solved offline using the program Across Lite. In 1993, Will Shortz was chosen as the fourth Crossword Puzzle Editor, a position he still holds today. The NYT first published its now-famous crossword puzzle back in 1942, appearing every Sunday, and in 1950 it became a daily feature. But the ramifications extend much deeper than just one application. Mason announced the end of support for the crossword-solving program Across Lite, abruptly terminating a relationship between the two organizations spanning 25 years.

In a short article published in early August, Ms. Over at the New York Times (NYT) crossword puzzle desk, newly-appointed Games Editorial Director Everdeen Mason has caused a bit of a ruckus and hubbub (both six letter words with U as the 2nd and 5th letter) among digital puzzle solvers.