Online Crosswords

• New York Times - This now costs $19.95 per year to access the crosswords, but it is definitely worth it. The New York Times has the best crosswords anywhere. The puzzles increase in difficulty as the week goes on. Monday puzzles are accessible to beginners, and the Saturday puzzles challenge experts. Uses the Across Lite software. You can download all of their crosswords going back to October of 1996, and you can access the solutions by entering the code they give you. You have to wait for the solution of the current puzzle, though, just like everyone else. There's a bonus puzzle on Sundays and a monthly bonus puzzle, both only available online.
• The Boston Globe - A decent puzzle. It uses a Java applet for solving. It comes with settings for "Master" (no help available) and "Regular" (you can access letter hints), and it has a timer, which you can pause if you need to step away from the computer. One thing I don't like about this solver is that, in order to switch between across and down, you must press the space bar; most other solvers let you just right-click to do that. Minor annoyance only, though. The solution is available, plus it tells you (by multi-colored flashing) when you have successfully completed the puzzle. You can access the past 14 puzzles.
• Los Angeles Times - Uses its own downloadable player, or you can get the puzzles in PDF format to print out and solve with pen/pencil. I much prefer the new Across Lite that the New York Times uses to this solver. You can access the past 7 puzzles. Free registration required.
• Houston Chronicle - Uses a Java applet version of the Across Lite solver. You can also download the past 15 crosswords to solve using Across Lite on your own computer.
• Naples Daily News - Uses a Java applet version of the Across Lite solver. No Sunday puzzle available.
• USA Today - Uses a Java applet version of the Across Lite solver.
• Literate Software Systems - Makers of Across Lite.
• How to make crossword puzzles - A nice primer on crossword puzzle construction from Crossdown, a program for creating and solving crosswords. I tried to make a crossword once using these directions, but I didn't have much success. I think I would need a searchable dictionary in order to do this. I may eventually get around to trying this out again.