Looking for Non-NYT Crossword Puzzle Books

July 11, 2017 10:48 AM

I'm asking for my wife since she already used up her two (2) questions this week and we've got a LONG train ride coming up on Friday: what are some good crossword puzzle books, the equivalent of a NYT Thursday or Friday, that are NOT from the New York Times?

Assume that I've done all the NYT crossword puzzle books. Clever crosswords, relaxing crosswords, Will Shortz' favorite crosswords, the days of the weeks ones, I've done some puzzles multiple times in multiple books, I've done them all so please don't suggest that I just find a different NYT crossword puzzle book unless there is something major I'm missing here. I like, but don't require, clever and fun themes. Are there other crossword puzzle books, preferably that will reach DC by Thursday and ideally available through Amazon, that I might enjoy? I'd like them reasonably difficult, like a Times Thursday or Friday, but Wednesday or Saturday-ish would be okay too, or a book with puzzles of a variety of difficulties. I'd rather they be too hard than too easy. Thank you so much for your help!

posted by Bulgaroktonos to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

I have done all the NYT puzzles for a stupid number of years. The only other puzzles I really like are Brendan Emmett Quigley's. I know he has some books.
posted by ferret branca at 10:59 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have found the crossword books from Maura Jacobson of her NY Magazine crosswords to be fun themed and a little more popular culture than the NYTs ones. The difficulty level might not be there, but they are legit crosswords. I ordered them from Amazon so I know they are available there.
posted by AugustWest at 11:04 AM on July 11, 2017

Peter Gordon's Fireball Crosswords books are marketed as THE HARDEST EVER but they're generally Friday/Saturday level, except for a few stunt puzzles (like the vowelless one he does once a year). They're very good.
posted by theodolite at 11:14 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

I buy the MegaCrossword Puzzle Books from Simon & Schuster. It has 300 puzzles in it, with perforated pages so you can discard the finished ones. I'm on book #14. They're available at Barnes & Noble. They're reasonably difficult, some with themes, some without. I find them challenging enough. They have apps free for iphone, ipad, and ipod touch, but I like the paper. If you're traveling, you could tear out a sufficient number of pages to take with you, in lieu of taking the whole book.
posted by MovableBookLady at 11:15 AM on July 11, 2017

I agree with theodolite about the Fireball Crosswords, edited by Peter Gordon. Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble's online and brick & mortars stores carry them. There are 6 books out now: Sizzlingly (all themeless), Blazingly (all themed), Infernally, Hellaciously, Diabolically, and Scorchingly Hard Fireball Crosswords (all others are half themeless, half themed). All are spiral-bound, like the taller-size NYT puzzle books. Difficulty level IMHO ranges from NYT Thursday-Saturday,or maybe more Friday-Saturday. These puzzles are reprints from a subscription service and should not have appeared in any newspaper before.

Peter Gordon was the crossword puzzle editor for the New York Sun. During his tenure, the Sun Friday puzzles rivaled those at the Times for good design and challenge level. I'm afraid I don't remember specific titles, but there are quite a few reprint anthologies edited by Peter Gordon, at all difficulty levels from too easy for you to nice challenging Friday. Maybe search on his name?

Frank Longo also has a couple of crossword books out that have been reprinted by Puzzlewright Press as Absolutely Nasty Crosswords Volumes 3 & 4. They are well-designed daily-size puzzles, of reasonable difficulty.
posted by chen at 11:18 AM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm almost exclusively a NYT-crossworder, but for a time (until I got too busy) really enjoyed puzzles created by Matt Gaffney. He's got a number of books that you can buy through Amazon, as well as free puzzles that you can check out. He's good at coming up with some really clever meta/theme puzzles!
posted by LtRegBarclay at 1:49 PM on July 11, 2017

I always loved Merl Reagle's crosswords, and I have several of his books. You can try three or four of his puzzles using the This Week's Puzzle link at his site (click that one, then there'll be "Previous week" links going back 3-4 weeks) to see if you like them. If you do, there are several crossword books you can order.

(On re-read: I'm sorry my answer is too late for your trip, but I hope it might be useful for you in the future.)
posted by kristi at 10:02 AM on July 14, 2017