The New York Times Ultimate Crossword Omnibus: 1,001 Puzzles from The New York Times

Sept. 28, 2011: I've now been working on this book for four years, and it has entertained me through many boring baseball and football games, and has gotten me through sleepless nights. Well, that's how I've dealt with 1001 crossword puzzles. And I must say that I've worked on 20 or 30 at one time, or just shuffled through the book to find one that I could get a niche in. And then, I'm hooked on that particular puzzle until I solve it.However, I wanted to add that it could have been made better by NOT using Mr. Stoltz's more obtuse and truly difficult puzzles, you know, the ones that have four clues that says, "Start of quote," and finding 44D as "Author of quote." Yes, I can look in the back, and I would "cheat, but I hate doing that. There is also no particular order to the puzzles, some being Monday's easy and then juxtaposed with Friday's toughie.On the plus side, I'm old enough to get some of what younger puzzlers would consider fodder for 1970s Trivial Pursuit.I thought I'd add this epilogue because I still think that it would make an idea gift, and when I finally finish the last one that I can, I think I will buy the book again. There's no reason why you can't do a puzzle twice especially when there is 5, 6, 8, maybe 10 years between the first and second try. Who knows? Maybe one of the marbles you lost in 2007 will roll across the floor and you'll get the key to the more oblique puzzle's solution.ENJOY!****They say that if you keep your mind active, you might stave off Alzheimers. With 1001 crosswords, half of which I couldn't complete, there are days when I'd welcome the disease. (I know, I know. Don't lecture.)I've had the book for over a year. Since I often do the "local" crosswords, it will take some time to get through. Plus the fact that I often do them during baseball games, this could take awhile.Still, I like the selection, and I especially like the fact that the puzzles aren't specifically tied to New York or current politics. It is a really good mix, and not once was I asked about a Celebes Ox.That said - and this is strictly a personal thing - I don't care for puzzles that revolved around a quote that takes the three or four largest lines. I've yet to have a "Eureka!" experience with those.And THAT said, I've bought the Globe's puzzles, Simon and Shuster's (of which I've finished none), and the Post's, and the New York Times is the one I would choose every time. I just bought their latest edition.So if I only get through 500 of them, and spend hours on the other 500, I've had my fun and still get a kick out of finishing any of them. And for every clue for Iggy Pop I miss, I'm assured of getting a Patty Paige or Teresa Brewer.Now just what is the siegeofmalakand?

I LOVE the books that are Monday Puzzles and thought I would try my hand at this one. While it is so many puzzles, there is no way to tell what day of the week it is. I'm definitely not smart enough for Wednesday on, but I think I'm getting better. The only way I know if it would be considered a Monday puzzle, is if I can get 3 answers fairly quickly. Whomp whomp....

Got this for my 89 y/o mom for Christmas who loves crosswords and she loves this book of 1001 puzzles

I have enjoyed every minute of these 500+ pages of crossword puzzles. Love the way it is set up on the pages but what I am hoping for is that he is working on another 500+ pages worth of puzzles. I hate to finish these puzzles because I want more. Love Will's puzzle variety.

This book is huge. One of my favorite crosswords! There was an issue with USPS getting book to me, but when I contacted seller they were so very helpful in getting this issue taken care of as quickly as possible. GREAT BOOK GREAT SELLER!!!

I was buying the NY Times everyday just so I could do the puzzle at lunchtime at the office. In the area I lived, it was $1 a day! Do the math. This collection saved me a bundle.As a habitual crossword puzzler, I switched from habitually buying the paper each morning to habitually zeroxing the next puzzle in this book. I found it much easier to copy the puzzles than to hold this rather bulky tome. And copying allowed me to enlarge them to a full letter size page if I so desired (though it was not necessary -- the puzzles are their normal dimensions and fit two-to-a-page in this collection).Working off a copy also discouraged me from turning the page and starting a different puzzle when I got stuck on the really tough Friday and Saturday puzzles.If you're a habitual puzzler, this book is a god send.Bottom line(s): The price is obviously fantastic. The collection is obviously HUGE! The puzzles are just like the daily paper -- from Monday-easy to Saturday-nearly-impossible. I never ran into a puzzle I remembered doing in the paper.No cons, but some advice... It's not the kind of book you'll want to carry around since it is, of course, large. And if you're not a habitual puzzler, it might end up on a shelf unused since it is a daunting number of puzzles.Also, in case you're a novice puzzler, the NY Times puzzles can get pretty hard. If you're used to clues like, "Wheel OF Fortune's Sajak" for p-a-t, you're in for a challenge. Instead, you'll be getting "foie gras" for p-a-t-e. (Frequent foreign language clues, people you've never heard of, obscure island names, etc.)The good news is that your vocabulary will expand and you'll learn a lot more than you would from the TV guide puzzle. I know I've learned a lot from the NY Times puzzles. Thank you, Will Shortz.And, in case you haven't figured it out, the "Search inside this book" link above will get you the first 12 puzzles! If you like them, there are 989 more to go!

Giving this book away—it’s full of idiotic popular culture trivia and very little high literary or artistic culture or history. I did not know nyt style puzzles. Not for me.!

Good deal for the number of puzzles. Text size is normal (for young eyes). Would be better if the puzzle themes/names were given.

I was disappointed when I first looked through the book as I was expecting puzzles big enough to fit 1 to a page. These had 2 per page but that's OK. They are challenging. I bought a used book that must have been too difficult for the person before me. Only a few (6-8) of the 1000 puzzles had been attempted and there were few letters in any of them. Came on time or maybe early, anyway before I was looking for it. I am content; the book should last me a year!

About 6 years ago I became obsessed with The New York crossword puzzles included in our local newspaper. I would always rip out the puzzle pages and save them for anytime I was bored or trying to kill time. Last year however, I canceled my newspaper subscription as I primarily read about currents events online and couldn't justify paying (and wasting paper) for the newspaper just to get my hands on the puzzles! So my collection of saved puzzles slowly dwindled until I finally ran out. When I stumbled across this book while browsing Amazon, I was ecstatic! For the price and the amount of puzzles included, this will tide me over for at least 2 or 3 years.I really like that this omnibus includes all the different levels of difficulty, as sometimes I'm interested in just breezing through a puzzle and other times I want a challenge! The only downside is, the book is not organized by days of the week. They are all jumbled with no indication of the level of difficulty. Other than that, I think this is the ideal book for crossword fanatics! If you find the omnibus a little unwieldy, you could always just rip or cut out pages as you go and clip them to a clipboard.

The crosswords are challenging as I expected from the title. The book is very thick and the only negative is that I need to support the one page when doing the puzzle as it doesn't sit flat due to the thickness of the book. Might have worked better if it was a coiled book and perhaps split the puzzle book into 2 volumes? Otherwise, I would rated it a 5.

I bought a previous edition a few years ago, and it lasted me for 3 years. During that time I also went through several Simon & Schuster Mega xword puzzle books. On average, I do 2 puzzles at this level every day with my morning coffee. The fact that I bought this new Omnibus ought to tell you that I like them!

This book is massive. I love a crossword book that is filled with a ton of puzzles. This will definitely keep you occupied for months. I am finding some of the puzzles a little bit difficult but after reading some past reviews I guess the difficulty levels are scattered throughout the book and you don’t know which level is what. All in all I enjoy the book.