A Crossword Trip Through the 1970s
This series of fifty original crosswords is built entirely around a single decade: the 1970s. Every clue and answer draws from the music and history that defined those ten years — the disco boom and Motown's later hits, the rise of punk rock, Watergate and the resignation it forced, the Bicentennial celebrations of 1976, the tail end of the Apollo program and the launch of the space shuttle era, along with the television shows, fads, and slang that filled living rooms and headlines at the time. Puzzles are rated either "easy" or "moderate," so newcomers to crosswords and longtime solvers alike will find something to sink their teeth into.
Unlike our daily cryptogram, which hides a single quote behind a substitution cipher, a crossword asks you to fill in an entire grid of interlocking words from short clues. Every letter you place is shared between an "across" answer and a "down" answer, so a correct guess in one direction often unlocks several answers running the other way — that cross-checking is what gives the format its name and its satisfaction.
How the Daily Rotation Works
A new crossword is served automatically every day at 4:00 AM Eastern Time, matching the same rotation schedule as our daily cryptogram. Behind the scenes we simply cycle through the fixed series of fifty puzzles in order, one per day, based on the calendar date — there is nothing to schedule and nothing that can silently fail to update. Once the series reaches puzzle fifty, the rotation loops back around to puzzle one and the cycle begins again, so the crossword is always fresh and always available, day after day, without ever running out.
How to Solve a Crossword
If crosswords are new to you, a few habits will get you solving faster:
- Start with what you know. Scan every clue once and fill in any answer you're certain of before returning to the harder ones — a few confirmed letters can make a stubborn clue obvious.
- Use the crossing letters. Because every square belongs to both an across and a down answer, a letter you're unsure about in one direction is often locked in by the word crossing it.
- Watch the clue count. The number of letter boxes in an answer is a strong hint — short three- or four-letter answers are frequently common words, abbreviations, or names.
- Lean on the theme. Since every answer in this series relates back to 1970s music and history, unfamiliar clues about bands, chart hits, or headline events of that decade are a good place to focus your guessing.
- Use Check and Reveal sparingly. Checking your grid will flag any incorrect letters without giving them away, so you can keep trying before reaching for a full reveal.