Part of the reason sudoku have become so popular is that you don't really need to know anything to solve one. Crosswords, more the domain of the liberal elite than of Joe Six-pack, test more than a puzzler's logic circuits. They demand arcane knowledge of opera, European geography, and monograms of the rich and famous. The New York Times Crosswords puts more than a thousand of these challenges in one game cart. True to the Gray Lady's tradition, the puzzles are organized by the day of the week, with Monday grids being pushovers, and Sundays offering the most resistance.
Traditionalists may balk a little at the game's presentation: It's gussied up with a kind of coffeehouse kitsch that creates a twee NPR vibe. And clue lists can't be perused en masse. Rather, each hint displays individually as you wander the checkered field. There are several alternatives for jumping between blanks and entering words. The stylus is used to point to squares, drag the grid, and even hand-write letters. Myriad buttons allow for scrolling, flip-flopping between "down" and "across," and begging for clues.