"Cross" word contest puzzles and solutions
Patrick Berry's six-day challenge from October 17 to 22, 2011
Will Shortz likes to run a special puzzle week each fall. In 2011, Patrick Berry created a six-day set where we had to solve a final meta-challenge on the last day. This notepad ran each day:
Notepad: "CROSS" WORD CONTEST — All the puzzles this week, from Monday to Saturday, have been created by one person, Patrick Berry. Have your solutions handy, because the Saturday puzzle conceals a meta-challenge involving the solution grids of all six. When you have the answer to the meta-challenge, mail it to: crossword@nytimes.com. Twenty-five correct solvers, chosen at random, whose entries are received by 6:00 p.m. E.T. Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, will receive copies of "Will Shortz Picks His Favorite Puzzles: 101 of the Top Crosswords From The New York Times" (puzzle list.) Only one entry per person, please. The answer and winners' names will appear on Friday, Oct. 28, at Wordplay.
The puzzles
| Monday: Across Lite, PDF | Tuesday: Across Lite, PDF |
| Wednesday: Across Lite, PDF | Thursday: Across Lite, PDF |
| Friday: XWord Info solver, PDF | Saturday: Across Lite, PDF |
The unusual fifth (Friday) puzzle was only offered at the NYT as a PDF. In fact, the only electronic version ever made available is right here on XWord Info.
The answers — click each grid to see the full solution
Wordplay interviewed Will Shortz and Patrick Berry about the puzzles and the contest.
The prize — a special collection of NYT crosswords
You can see the list of puzzles here but the real value of the book is reading Will's personal commentary on each one, and for that, you need to buy the book.