Solve the July Bonus Puzzle
Every month, The New York Times publishes a bonus crossword puzzle for subscribers. The puzzles are designed to have the difficulty of an early-week puzzle and to use the theme throughout. The theme of this month’s puzzle, by Katie Hale and Adesina O. Koiki, is soccer. I don’t think this will be a particularly shocking admission, but it’s one I must disclaim nonetheless: I don’t know a lot about soccer. In many ways I feel as though I’m fairly adept in my knowledge of sports, but every time the World Cup rolls around I learn about an incredibly famous and talented player who I’m the last to find out about. This year it was the Spanish winger Lamine Yamal, who, at just 18 years old, is considered one of the best players on the planet. To me, this is one of the great joys of the tournament. Soccer is a sport with a global fan base beloved by billions of people. I may not have a firm grasp on how everything works, but I see this as an opportunity to learn more about it and connect more with my friends who are devoted to the sport. One of my friends has made it her goal to watch every game somewhere owned by people from one of the countries playing in it — yes, New York has Curaçaoan bars — and she and I have been texting about it as the World Cup has gone on. So what have I learned? In short, trivia about the participating countries as well as the intricacies that make the game interesting. A sampling: Paraguay has two official languages, Spanish and Guarani, an Indigenous language. A center forward is different from a striker because they usually play a little deeper (even though they both might shoot). Saudi Arabia is the largest country by area without a perennial river. Keepers can’t pick up the ball with their hands if their teammate passes it to them. A lot of this is probably well known to soccer fans, and maybe even a little embarrassing for me to admit to not knowing. That’s a feature to me, not a bug. The learning is the point, and now I can wrap up the round of 32 knowing a little bit more than I did before. I certainly enjoyed testing my knowledge in this month’s bonus puzzle.
Try This Clue18-Across: Wavy pattern seen on Real Madrid’s 2025-26 prematch jerseys.
How are we doing? Thanks for playing! Subscribe to New York Times Games. If you like this newsletter, you can tell your friends to sign up here. The answer to the clue is MOIRE.
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