New York Times Acrostic.

Factual Questions
1

From time to time, I’ve tried my hand at the acrostic under the Sunday Crossword. It took messing one up to get the rules (which can be confusing), then it took messing a few up to get the hang of it, but finally this Sunday I finished one for the first time.

So, I figure, I’ll finally figure out why they put the little letters in the numbered squares of the grid.

NOPE.

You transfer your guessed letters to the numbered squares but each numbered square has a tiny little letter in it too.

GQ: what the heck are the letterrs for in the numbered squares?

2

The little letters tell you which CLUE that number appears in. So, the square marked “12 E” is number 12, and that number is in the clue labeled E, below. That way, if you can guess a letter from the phrase that you’re gradually filling in, like if you see the word “TH_T”, and know that the third letter must be an “A”, you can put in that A, then quickly figure out which clue that “A” fits into. That, in turn, helps you figure out the answer to the clue.

3

OHHHHHHH. :smack: :smack: :smack:

I do exactly what that is designed to prevent. That’s going to save me so much time.

And, I’ve always thought, “wow, if those tiny letters are going to make a phrase or something, then there are way too many q’s and x’s.”

Thanks a ton.

Did I forget to say :smack: ?

4

Don’t smack your head too hard or too often, or you’ll have to go back to working the Junior Jumble!!