“____ Lisa (famous painting)” for MONA “Costa ____” for RICA “ ____ and the Giant Peach” for JAMES “Do re mi fa __” for SOL
“Primate” for APE “Pig’s home” for STY “Oak or elm, for example” for TREE “Chocolate and cream cookie” for OREO
Past tense clues tend to end with -ED, like “Performed on stage” for ACTED. Present tense clues usually end in S, like “Goes for a walk in nature” for HIKES. Clues with an -ING verb tend to end the same way, such as “Leaving” for GOING. Many plural clues end in the letter S, like “Things Santa leaves” for GIFTS.
Abbreviations in the clue or “abbr. ” mean the answer is abbreviated, like “Stat. for a pitcher” for ERA. Question marks always mean the clue has wordplay or is trying to mislead you. “Flower?” could mean “something that flows” and be a clue for RIVER. The term “in” followed by a city usually means a foreign word, like “Boy, in Barcelona” for NINO. Words in brackets mean the answer is a sound, like “[Hey over here!]” for PSST.
EPEE (“Fencing sword”) AIOLI (“Garlic spread”) AGRA (“Taj Mahal location”) BEE, CEE, or DEE (“Common letter grade”) Puzzles may also use compass directions, like ESE, ENE, NNE, or SSE.
Magazines like People have easy crosswords with more clues based on pop culture. Most print publications, like The New York Times and The New Yorker, publish the easiest puzzles on Mondays and they get progressively harder throughout the week.
