• by Melynda Fuller , March 4, 2019

This week New York magazine debuts a new digital crossword feature with the publication of its March 4-17 issue.

Available on the publication’s website across desktop and mobile devices, the crossword will be exempt from New York’s digital subscription package and will post every Sunday night. A new puzzle will post every two weeks with each new issue of New York.

A puzzle from the archives appears on alternate weeks.

The puzzle, whose first appearance was curated by Stephen Sondheim at New York’s launch, is written by Matt Gaffney.

City editor Christopher Bonanos stated: “[Gaffney’s voice is] brain, but also hugely entertaining, it’s impeccably constructed while retaining a sense of loose and funny, and it has a distinctive voice unique to our magazine’s pages. And now to our digital pages as well.”

Earlier this year, The New York Times revealed it had added 172,000 new subscriptions derived from it’s own digital Crossword and Cooking products.

According to New York, a collection of 50 of Cathy Allis’ New York crosswords will also be published in June by Simon & Shuster. 

Separately, New York Media’s the Cut announced it would begin to publish a work of fiction monthly. The first installment is an original short story by best-selling author Curtis Sittenfield called “Creative Differences.” 

Upcoming authors include Polly Rosenwaike and Xuan Juliana Wang. Future installments will include both original pieces and book excerpts.

The Cut’s essay editor Jen Gann oversees the fiction series, which she hopes will be “as weird and funny as a blog post, as dark and honest as an essay, as thought-provoking and original as a feature.”

The new feature comes as the Cu tand its sister sites, like Vulture, expand their book coverage. Last fall, New York Media announced it would triple its books coverage across both sites and others, including Daily Intelligencer, the Strategist, and Grub Street, as well as New York.