Puzzler-in-Chief: Bill Clinton Provides Clues for 'NYT' Crossword

By: E&P Staff How does Henry Kissinger say he feels? "Vel." Or so Bill Clinton claims. Then there's the "guitarist on the rim," better known as Edge.

As promised, The New York Times offers online only today a full-scale crossword puzzle with clues provided by Clinton. It's an adjunct to the Times' special issue of its Sunday magazine on Baby Boomers.

Famed Times' puzzle chief, Wil Shortz, warns in an intro, "The clues in this puzzle are a little moree playful and involve more wordplay than in a typical crossword."

Spoiler alert: Here are some answers to give you an idea of what was on Clinton's puzzling mind.

The former Prez offers several clues for hit songs, but with "Boomer update" added to the clue. So the old Johnny Nash hit comes out "I Can't See Clearly Now." The Otis Redding classic reads as "The Doc of the Day", the Neil Sedaka favorite is "Waking Up is Hard to Do," and then there's Carly Simon's "You're So Veiny" and Ray Charles' "Let's Go Get Toned."

A clue "It's nice to be on the receiving end of one" may raise eyebrows (no, it's not what you think). Then there's "those French girls" (elles).

"Ageless diva," four letters, begins with C? Got to be Cher.

There are other clues that produce answers involving Stan Musial, the Beatles, "Men in Black," and the Pope. He closes with 116 down, "a party I don't attend," three letters, begins with G.

You can get that one.