Sunday, 3/8 NYT Diagramless

If you haven't yet taken a crack at Mike Nothnagel's Second Sunday New York Times puzzle, a diagramless crossword, because you're not sure how to get started, let me give you a boost. (After the cut.)

There are two ways to get started on a diagramless. One is to use the hint that tells you the starting square for 1-Across. If you're good at conventional crosswords, though, you can probably muddle through without the hint, and you'll feel that much more accomplished when you finish it.

If you're leery of giving up the starting-square crutch, make things easier on yourself by using graph paper that's bigger than the puzzle's 17x17 grid. Here's a printable PDF of a 20x27 sheet that will work well. Using graph paper will let you start writing answers before you've figured out exactly where the first square is supposed to go. Read the clues for 1-Across and the Down answers that intersect it, and see how many of the words you can fill in. Turn that graph paper sideways and jot your 1-Across answer in the top row, near the middle. That will give you enough leeway to not run off the edge of the grid. You can blacken in the squares before and after 1-Across. So that means two black squares with five white squares between them.

[Classroom furniture], 5 letters? Could be DESKS. Do the crossings support that? 1-Down is [Search for water with a divining rod], or DOWSE. 2-Down is [Franc replacers], or EUROS. Yep, it looks like 1-Across is DESKS. 3-Down is ["Uncle!"] and starting with an S, it could be STOP, STOP IT, STOP THAT, SAVE ME, or something else. 4-Down is Barbie's KEN, and 5-Down, [Wise man] starting with S, looks to be SAGE. When you're confident of a Down answer, remember to follow it with a black square—those black squares will help you figure out the placement of subsequent Across answers.

With those crossings, the answer below DESKS includes OU*EA. [Defeat in a hot dog contest, e.g.] sounds like OUTEAT, so we can fill that in, along with the number 10 in the O square and black squares before and after the word. With the black square above the second T, you know a Down answer starts there; after 10 comes 11, so that's the number that goes there. [Economic stimulus]...hmm, I'm thinking it's TARP, but the clue has no signal for an abbreviation.

The answer between DESKS and OUTEATS is [Island east of Java] at 6-Across. It's either in the top row to the right of DESKS or in the second row to the left of OUTEAT. If you don't know 6-Across, use the clues for 6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-Down to try to fill in the 4-letter 6-Across. I'm thinking BALI, and if [Cruising] is ASEA and [Feudal lord] is LIEGE, 7- and 8-Down provide confirmation of BALI.

13-Across is a starred theme clue, [*"Nope, that's not it either"]. The Down crossings extending from DESKS/OUTEAT give us WR*NG*—so WRONG something, maybe WRONG AGAIN. The O in WRONG makes ["Uncle!"] start with STOP, and that P finishes SOP, or 19-Across [Soak (up). The E at the end of SAGE is thus square 20, and 20-Across is clued [Dual track bet]. EXACTA? That would make 11-Down a TAX something, TAX BREAK or REBATE or CUT. The A in TAX supports WRONG AGAIN, so we can fill that in. The letters we have connected so far run 10 letters wide; WRONG AGAIN is 10, and answers like DESKS and SOP don't extend farther to the left than that W.

After 20-Across is 21-Across, theme entry [*Sonic the Hedgehog game system]. Isn't that the SEGA GENESIS? (The things I learn from crosswords...) There's a corresponding ES at the ends of DOWSE/EUROS. If that's where SEGA GENESIS goes, an I would follow STOP in 3-Down, making STOP IT look good there. If you write in the rest of SEGA GENESIS to the left, the distance from its start to WRONG AGAIN's end is 17 squares—exactly the width of an NYT diagramless grid. So now we know where the grid's edges are. Go ahead and draw an outline for the 17x17 grid within the confines of the graph paper—or copy what you've got to the diagramless's grid now that you know where things go. It looks a little weird to have DESKS just to the right of center, doesn't it? You'd expect a 1-Across to be further left.

The AG in SEGAGENESIS pairs up with the A and G in ASEA/LIEGE, so now that section of fill can be connected to the rest of what we have. 12-Across must be AS IN ([Q ___ queen]), and [Knock-___] must be KNEED. 6-Down is a theme entry, [*1972 T. Rx hit titled "Get It On" in the U.K.]. BANG something...I'm not sure what this is. 9-Down looks to be INDENT, the [Start of many paragraphs].

Head back over to WRONG AGAIN. There are black squares above the GAIN portion, so those white squares get numbers and double as the start of four Down answers. With the help of EXACTA, you can probably forge your way through 14- to 17-Down and use those answers to divine 24- and 29-Across.

It's always a good idea to see what unifies the theme entries. WRONG AGAIN and SEGA GENESIS...hmm...I see GAGA hidden in the former, but only a GAG in the latter. Take a gander at the other starred clues—6-Down, 44-Across, 40-Down, 65-Across—and see if you think they might have a hidden GAG in them. The clue for 73-Across is [Something you might not get...or what the answers to the starred clues each contain?]. That supports the theory that the unifying theme is a hidden word. Is a GAG "something you might not get"?

Has this step-by-step write-up given you a good nudge in the direction of knowing what to do when faced with a diagramless puzzle? I hope so. In lieu of continuing this (time-consuming!) approach, I'll trust that you're off to the races now.

If you've skipped the hint, you don't know if the grid will turn out to be asymmetrical (like the diagramlesses that form a picture with the black square pattern) or have standard crossword symmetry. You've already observed that it doesn't have left/right symmetry, because DESKS isn't in the exact middle and BALI and OUTEAT are different lengths and not centered below DESKS. It doesn't look like a picture of anything, and most diagramlesses do have symmetry rather than a picture. If you're confident that the puzzle has standard rotational 180° symmetry, you can get a jump on the bottom half of the grid by filling in black squares diagonally opposite from the black squares on top. Where DESKS has 7 blacks before it and 5 after, the sole answer in the bottom row will have 5 blacks before it and 7 after. The clue for that answer, 78-Across [Word before fund or me], points towards the 5-letter word TRUST. Fill in the black squares in the row above that, and you'll see that 76- and 77-Across have 6 and 4 letters, respectively. So you can work your way towards the middle of the puzzle from both ends, which can be a huge help if you hit the skids on your way down.

Remember, a square in an Across answer that has a black square above it will contain a number and be the start of a Down answer. You can use the Across and Down numbers to figure out how long certain answers are. For example, 32-Across [Overworked worker's cry] has two letters that are below black squares, because the next Across clue is numbered 35. 33 and 34 appear along with 32 in 32-Across. Looking at the partially filled grid and working through the crossings will help you figure out if 32-Across has just 3 letters or if it's longer (with one or more squares not containing numbers].

Feel free to drag your mouse over the solution grid below to highlight the white text if you're stuck and want to see a chunk of the grid.

Good luck, and have fun!

If you're already adept at solving diagramless puzzles, please don't be shy about sharing other hints and approaches in the comments.

Answer grid:

*******DESKS*****
**BALI*OUTEAT****
**ASIN*WRONGAGAIN
*KNEED*SOP*EXACTA
SEGAGENESIS*CLEAR
TEA*ENO**THOU*SLY
INGA*TGIF*RUT****
NEON***SOYUZ*AVEC
GYNT*LONGAGO*MOVE
SEGS*ARTUR***ITEM
****RCA*PDAS*DINE
APR*EELS**REB*NON
MODUS*BUSTINGAGUT
BRAZEN*DAR*AIMAT*
INSIDEJOKE*TRIG**
****AWAKEN*ELSE**
*****TRUST*******

As for the theme, here's how it plays out (again, click your mouse and drag over the text to highlight the white text):
WRONG AGAIN, SEGA GENESIS, LONG AGO, BUSTING A GUT, BANG A GONG, and VOTING AGE all contain a hidden GAG, which is defined as an INSIDE JOKE in 73-Across. A gag is a joke, not an inside joke—but the jokes/GAGs are all "inside" the phrases in the theme answers.

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What do you do with a diagramless crossword?

A lot of crossword buffs devour regular American-style crosswords, but shy away from diagramless puzzles or cryptic crosswords. Diagramless puzzles are easier to grasp because the clues follow the same general rules as are used in the daily crosswords we enjoy.

So, if you haven't tried a diagramless before, how do you get started? Some tips, after the cut. (There will be spoilers for today's Second Sunday NYT diagramless by Mike Nothnagel.)

A cursory Google search turned up these guidelines, which fall short in a few ways. The eHow suggestions seem to assume that 1-Across begins in the first Across square, and while this may be true of Penny Press or Dell diagramlesses, it usually isn't for the diagramless puzzles that the New York Times, New York Sun, and Games magazine print occasionally. These "elite" diagramlesses generally have themes.

The first thing you need to know to get started is whether the puzzle has traditional crossword symmetry (180° rotational symmetry), left/right symmetry, or neither. (Sometimes the black squares in the finished grid will make a picture—I think the picture still has some sort of symmetry the majority of the time.) Generally, this will be clearly indicated—here, it's in the Across Lite Notepad along with the starting-square hint.

The next step is figuring out where 1-Across and 1-Down begin. Me, I like to use the hint that's usually provided (in print, on a different page; in Across Lite, in the Notepad) that tells me where it is. Call me a cheater if you feel like it—I don't care. The process of divining where 1-Across begins isn't the fun part of solving for me, so I bypass that step.

If you're going to go without the starting-square hint, you're better off using a larger grid and leaving yourself room to draw the grid's borders when you figure out where they belong. If you have a pad of graph paper, you can use that. Or you can print out a page of graph paper (I think it was Lee Glickstein who originally gave me that idea, via the NYT forum a few years ago. Thanks, Lee!)

In the top row of the grid/graph paper, scooch in a few rows to the right and write in the numbers for 1-Across. If the second Across entry is 5-Across (as it is in today's Second Sunday NYT diagramless by Mike Nothnagel), that means 1-Across is four letters long. So put a little 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the top of four squares, and color in a black square after the #4 square.

You won't know if 5-Across starts right after that black square, if it starts further to the right, or if it appears in the row below 1-Across—but you'll know how long it is based on the number of the following Across clue. In Mike's puzzle today, 5-Across is probably five letters long (although there's a teeny chance that it appears below 1-Across and contains five letters with Down crossings that begin in numbered squares plus the four letters that will have no numbers because they are preceded by white squares above and to the left). We will disregard that parenthetical remark and assume (danger!) that 5-Across is in the top row.

10-Across can't also be in the top row because the following Across clue is 11-across. (If 10-Across were in the top row, it would have to be at least three letters long and therefore include the numbers 10, 11, and 12—but 11 begins a new Across answer.) So 10-Across begins the second row—possibly right beneath 1-Across, but possibly starting a little to the left.

Now we check the clues for 1-Across and 1- to 4-Down, trying to fill in some letters. 1-Down, [Decorative pitcher], sounds like crosswords' favorite pitcher, the EWER. Could 1-Across start with an E? [Rim] could be EDGE, so yes. We write in EDGE and EWER, and color in a black square below EWER. 2-Down, [Prehistoric TV pet], must be the Flintstones' DINO; again, fill in a black square below it. 3-Down and 4-Down I'm not sure of; possibly GLOWED and EPOXY? I won't write either in yet.

10-Across is probably that entry beneath 1-Across. What [Woven fabric] contains a WI? TWILL comes to mind, so I'll write that in and put a little #10 in the T square, and blacken the square to its left along with the square to the right of the last L. The L's make GLOWED look promising, and the [Popular glue] starting with EL must be ELMERS; I'll fill in that answer and a black square below it.

So it looks like 5-Across is off to the right somewhere, and 11-Across is somewhere below it. So 12-Across is probably what's under 10-Across. [Prodigy, slangily] with an EN*M in it? Let's say PHENOM. We know 12-Across can't start directly below 10-Across because there's a 12-Down clue (and if 12-Across started right under the #10 square, there'd be no 12-Down). So PHENOM goes in, with a #12 in the P square and black squares before and after. That makes 3-Down start with GLO, so let's go ahead and fill in GLOWED followed by a black square.

10-Down is [Don quickly, as an outfit], starting with TH. My guess is THROW ON, so that goes in the grid. 12-Down, [California college] starting with P—POMONA comes to mind. Eyeballing what that would make beneath, I see a spot ending with MO and a clue for 21-Across, [___, amas, amat]—that must be AMO, so I'm confident about POMONA and will fill in the #21 in the A square of AMO.

I'm not sure about 18-Across, a theme clue. But ORROWE lends itself to BORROWED, and BORROWED TIME could be [It postpones the inevitable]. Filling that in, the D gets the #19 in its square. The TIME portion must be below other white squares and thus unnumbered, rather than below black squares and numbered with a Down clue—there's a 20-Across clue and the beginning of the next row is 21-Across.

Whatever goes in 5-Across, 5- through 9-Down will feed into some or all of those TIME squares. 6-Down is the gimme [Jai ___], ALAI, and that I in TIME looks awfully good for the ending of ALAI. So let's put 5-Across right after that single black square following 1-Across.

Moving back to 18-Down, [Thai coins] starting with BA must be BAHTS, so that gets filled in and followed with a black square.
22-Across, [Suffix with switch], is EROO, ending just before the black square under ALAI.

What about that HOW below AMO? Is it 23- or 24-Across? 23-Across's clue is [Like the stomach]; hmm, that doesn't seem like a HOW answer. 24-Across is the theme clue, [E.M. Forster novel]—HOWARD'S END. Jot a little 25 and 26 in the A and R squares, a 27 in the last square, and a black square after the end. 25-Down, Gillette's ATRA and a black square. 26-Down, I dunno—REEL something?

The TNO** answer must be TNOTE, 29-Across (put 29 in the first square).

All of 19-Down, DOE, is filled in, so follow it with a black square.

Back up to 5-Across, [W. Hemisphere commerce pact], the "W." indicates an abbreviation, and NAFTA comes to mind. For 5-Down, NEWTON is a famous physicist (add #11 in the E square, #13 in the W, and a black square below the word). 11-Across, ELIAS Howe plus a black square. 7-Down, FIRM plus a black square. 8-Down, TAPE and a black square. 13-Across, Star Trek's WARP SPEED, with #14-17 in the PEED squares and black squares above them.

Now we know where the 17x17 grid borders belong. From BAHTS to the end of WARP SPEED is 17 squares wide. Now all the black squares that have been filled in already can be duplicated in their diagonally opposite squares (since this puzzle has traditional rotational crossword symmetry). The first four squares in the last row are black. Then there are five white squares, one black square, four whites, and three more blacks. The second-from-bottom row is four blacks, five whites, one black, five whites, and two blacks. You can copy the rest over yourself.

Now your options for proceeding have expanded greatly. You can work from the Across entry below TNOTE. You can work on 27-Down. You can work on 14- to 17-Down and the shortish Across answers that cross them. And you can move to the bottom of the grid. The answers to the last two Across clues, 74- and 75-Across, go in the bottom row. The two before them, 72- and 73-Across, go in the second-from-bottom row. Above that are 69-Across (whose clue says this answer is a hint to the starred theme clues, which so far include WARP SPEED and BORROWED TIME) and 70-Across.

There will be more black squares going in the general midsection. By working through the clues and deducing where everything meshes together, you can figure those out yourself. When you start writing in those bottom-most Across answers, some likely Down answers may pop into your head as you review the last dozen or so Down clues, which can help you piece together where the clue numbers go in the grid.

This should get you off to a good start, though. I haven't solved any of the puzzle beyond what I've already written about, so I'll be going through the same steps myself!

If you opted for the starting-square at the beginning, you would have known that 1-Across started in the fourth square (following three black squares in the top row). BAHTS would have been filled in along the left edge of the grid, and after filling in PHENOM you'd have known that 13-Across could be no more than nine letters long. As I said before, I like to jump-start things by using the starting-square hint, but others do relish the hunt for where the final grid borders will go. I'd rather print out the grid with the clues on it and not mess around with graph paper and guesswork; your mileage may vary.

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