The Art of New York Times GamesAs our Games portfolio grows and we add new games, we also have added new places for solvers to discuss the games. The Wordplay blog, where solvers can discuss the crossword, started in 2008. The column is written by Sam Corbin, Sean McGowan and Caitlin Lovinger, with each of them taking on different days of the week. For many years, solvers of the game Spelling Bee would gather in the comments section of the Wordplay column to dissect the Spelling Bee puzzle of the day. Eventually, the editorial team decided to give “the hive,” as they called themselves, their own place to chat about Spelling Bee. The daily post on the Spelling Bee Forum consists of a photo of a bee (a new photo every day!) and some hints to the day’s puzzle. The Spelling Bee Forum became very popular, and we’ve since added forums for a few of our other games, like Wordle, Strands and Connections. Our art director, Kathy Lee, has used these forums as a way to highlight art from different artists. The Connections Companion has art every day by Callum Heath, who will pick different words from that day’s Connections board and combine them to make quirky images. Besides black and white, the art all uses only the four colors associated with Connections: yellow, green, blue and purple. The art in the Strands Sidekick is by Celine Ka Wing Lau, and is also based on the theme of the puzzle (without spoilers, as much as possible). Because it would be hard to illustrate Wordle without spoilers, the Wordle Review is just a place to spotlight different artists. Each artist contributes four illustrations that are used for a week at a time. You may have noticed the art at the top of the Easy Mode newsletter as well — every week I pick three clues from the day’s puzzle for the Easy Mode illustrator Mathieu Labrecque to use for inspiration. He will pick whichever one of the three he is most drawn to and create the animated illustration you see in the newsletter. Each of our illustrations or photos is a way to add a little color and playfulness to our forums and columns. We hope our readers enjoy the extra touch!
Solve Friday’s Crossword on Easy Mode!
For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read the Wordplay column. Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us by email. Easy vs. HardIn today’s daily Friday puzzle, 1-Across has the clue [Important figure on staff?]. This is a classic bit of wordplay, but still a fun one! For Easy Mode, I went with [Bass or treble symbol on sheet music].
How are we doing? Thanks for playing! Subscribe to New York Times Games. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up to receive it regularly here. P.S. The answer to Easy vs. Hard is CLEF.
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