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MONDAY PUZZLE — No, there’s nothing wrong with your eyes. We all saw it, too: The crossword looks a little odd today, doesn’t it?
Here’s why: Most grids in the American-style crossword tradition — a phrase I like to say with a tip of my bowler hat and a spin of my cane — are square, to facilitate their rotational symmetry. But this puzzle, constructed by David Liben-Nowell, is a rectangle. (When I opened it, my first thought was that it looked as if it had been through a pasta press. I don’t own a pasta press, but I’m certain this is the correct analogy.)
Aside from its unusual height, though, this is standard fare for a Monday puzzle. It’s simply stretched to mimic the shape of its theme — which happens to celebrate one of my favorite foods. Want to know what it is? Read all about it in a note from one of our puzzle editors below.
Source: The New York Times
