{"id":2291,"date":"2026-02-22T07:07:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/?p=2291"},"modified":"2026-02-22T07:07:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:07:59","slug":"nyt-crossword-analysis-feb-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/nyt-crossword-analysis-feb-22\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT Crossword Analysis (Feb 22, 2026): A Novel Approach!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For me, the Sunday version of the NYT Crossword is like a roller coaster, full of excitement and tense moments. The grid is at its largest size, and the theme clues are spread widely across the puzzle. However, today\u2019s puzzle is something else entirely. It contains some witty clues and a central theme that poses a clever wordplay between classic literature and stories in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interconnection between these clues creates one of the most interesting (and fun!) grids of recent weeks. Join me in this NYT Crossword analysis Feb 22 to review the “books” in the grid and link them to the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NYT Crossword Analysis Feb 22: Theme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the grid, there are seven theme clues at 24-, 31-, 49-, 66-, 85-, 103- and 114-Across. Each of these clues is an allusion to a story in the Bible, from Noah’s Ark to the Plagues in Exodus. But there is a nice catch in the puzzle that reveals itself once you solve two or three of the questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

24-Across (The Ten Plagues<\/a>) solves to DEATHONTHENILE<\/strong>. As you may know, Death on the Nile is a famous detective story by Agatha Christie, featuring Hercule Poirot investigating a series of dark murders. (And historically, the Biblical plagues took place in Egypt which makes this a perfect fit!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

31-Across (Sodom and Gomorrah) is TALEOFTWOCITIES<\/strong> (Tale of Two Cities), a classic novel by Charles Dickens. Because, literally, Sodom and Gomorrah is a tale of two cities!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

49-Across (Samson and Delilah<\/a>) solves to DANGEROUSLIAISONS<\/strong> (Dangerous Liaisons<\/em>). The same title belongs to the famous epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

66-Across (Noah\u2019s Ark) is the funniest one. Its answer perfectly describes what most of us would say while thinking about Noah\u2019s crowded ship: WHERETHEWILDTHINGSARE<\/strong> (Where the Wild Things Are). It is a classic 1963 children’s picture book by Maurice Sendak about a boy named Max.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

85-Across (Garden of Eden) is AGEOFINNOCENCE<\/strong> (The Age of Innocence), which is a great novel by Edith Wharton. Speaking of which, please read Ethan Frome. It\u2019s a tragic novella by Wharton that will absolutely bring you to tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

103-Across (Moses Parting the Red Sea<\/a>) solves to THEPRINCEOFTIDES<\/strong>, a novel by Pat Conroy about the Wingo family from the South Carolina low country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

114-Across (Jonah and the Whale) is an Old Testament narrative about a reluctant prophet who flees from God’s command to preach in Nineveh. This clue solves to THEGREATESCAPE<\/strong> (The Great Escape), which is exactly what Jonah attempted in the story! The Great Escape is also a 1950 novel written by Australian novelist Paul Brickhill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can see why I chose \u201cBooks in the Grid\u201d as the title. The NYT Crossword of Feb 22 presents us with a subtle link between different Biblical stories (or \u201cbooks\u201d) and various physical “books” with corresponding titles, but wholly different themes and contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today’s puzzle was a bookworm’s dream! Which “Biblical Book” was your favorite? Was it the mental image of Max on Noah’s Ark (WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE) or Dickens\u2019 take on SODOM AND GOMORRAH? Let me know in the comments!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you need the answers for daily crossword puzzles like the\u00a0NYT Crossword<\/a>\u00a0or the\u00a0NYT Mini<\/a>, make sure to check\u00a0Daze Puzzle<\/a>\u00a0every day to find the solutions you need in record time.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For me, the Sunday version of the NYT Crossword is like a roller coaster, full of excitement and tense moments. The grid is at its largest size, and the theme clues are spread widely across the puzzle. However, today\u2019s puzzle is something else entirely. It contains some witty clues and a central theme that poses …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crossword-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2291"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2295,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291\/revisions\/2295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}