Puzzle-Mania

Today's puzzle, in case you need help.....

Just in case you don't believe that people are getting dumber, grok this: Every week on page three of the Sunday New York Times, there is a column called "Wordplay: Tips for Today's Crossword." The explanation for this is that, "A Times Games columnist helps readers solve the day's crossword."

I started doing the Sunday crossword in the Times magazine section when I was about 12 or 13, with my mother. I never stopped, and today I do it with my husband as we have for our entire marriage, going on 40 years. Not once have we needed help to complete it. But never mind getting help --  the column I mentioned gives the answers, right there in print! Not all of them, but many. 

Now you tell me what that says about the level of intelligence of the typical New York Times reader, not to mention their editors.