Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #6 (6) (S&S Mega Crossword Puzzles)

I say the same thing every time I'm asked to review one of these puzzle books. We love them.

Buy always

Three hundred crossword puzzles? What's not to love? After wearing out the offerings of the NYT, I started ordering these. Don't be fooled when you start at the beginning and see a lot of big squares. Those puzzles are most often much harder than the small squared puzzles in the back. I love the full, large pages and that they are perforated to tear out and take along wherever.

I'm now working the Boston Globe Sunday crossword and find it just about right challenge-wise but its structure is stiff, so I'll stick with the S&S Mega when possible. For large puzzles it's the most comfortable I've found and also challenging.

Plenty of puzzles, but far too many arcane clues scattered throughout. I minored in English as an undergrad, and spent many years as a newspaper editor, but would often stumble upon words I have never heard nor read.

Daily fun

The Mega series is my favorite!! The puzzles are challenging without being so difficult that you get frustrated, want to pull your hair out and give up. The themes are varied and sometimes humorous, which I also enjoy.

I like that the book contains puzzles that are somewhat challenging, and not so easy as to make them quick finishes. Some answers are obvious, many are worded cleverly, and it's a wonderful escape for our mundane world.