Or, if you're looking for several puzzles to complete at once from NYT, you can buy a book of The New York Times crossword puzzles on sites like Amazon, too. If you want fresh, daily crosswords ongoing and are willing to pay, a Games subscription is $6 dollars a month and is a separate subscription from the rest of The New York Times. But unfortunately, the Times requires a subscription in order to play its daily crossword (not to be confused with Wordle). The gold standard, of course, is The New York Times. And, this customizable difficulty has created an access point by which new, young players can ease themselves into this fun, maddening hobby. Most online puzzles come with tools that check your work automatically or manually, depending on your preference. It's neater, for one-no more crossouts or smudged erasing when you've made a mistake, and readers no longer have to wait a whole day to check their answers. The shift to new media over the past 30 years has only broadened the crossword puzzle's appeal.