PUZ files from different crossword sources

[mackmeller]

Hey Everyone,

I'm fairly new to construction and the world of crosswords in general, and I'm going to be working with Pete Muller and Matt Ginsberg to update Matt's clue database. The database requires PUZ files for all the different sources, and I'm hoping someone can point me to the best way to obtain these.

The ones I'm starting with are NYT, WSJ, LA Times, and USA Today:

- NYT: I found several sources saying the NYT discontinued their PUZ archive in August 2021 - is that correct? If so does anyone know of an alternative source? I did find a Reddit user who wrote a code to generate a PUZ file from the browser page, but unfortunately it has a bug -- they're working to fix it but I expect that may take a while (I'll update if I get that working though).

- WSJ: I see I can download today's PUZ off of Cruciverb, but does Cruciverb has the functionality to do this retroactively? Or if not is there somewhere else to get WSJ PUZ files?

- LA Times: I'm all set here -- I can get these off the Cruciverb archive.

- USA Today: Hitting a wall here, any ideas appreciated.

Thanks very much in advance!

Mack Meller

[Glenn9999]

I may be able to help out on some of this, but not sure specifically how much you need on these things or how much I can do with public forum posts on this.  Please feel free to let me know.

[phil262]

2023 WSJ puzzles can be found here:
https://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/23-wsj.html

For other years just replace the "23" in the URL with the desired year... "22", "21", "20", etc.
I'm not sure how far back it goes.

Some other puzzles that might be of interest:
Universal Daily
https://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/23-uc.html

Jonesin Thursday
https://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/23-jz.html

Washington Post Sunday
https://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/23-wp.html

[mackmeller]

Thanks very much to both of you! Can confirm Phil's link worked for the WSJ, and thanks for sending the other puzzles available on that site, I'll add those too while I'm at it. And the Reddit user did debug the NYT code, so I'm now able to create PUZ files for the NYT as well.

At this point the only other source I'm missing is USA Today -- any chance either of you know a way to obtain PUZ files for USA Today puzzles? Specifically I need them for all puzzles from July 1, 2021 onward as that's when Matt last stopped updating his database.

I may come back at a later date asking for help with less well-known sources, but I think these will keep me busy for a while.

Thanks again,

Mack

[phil262]

I just remembered that they also have the special 21x21 Universal Sunday edition that's different than the 15x15 Sunday Daily
https://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/23-ucs.html

Sorry I can't help with USA Today

[jopela]

Thank you for sharing these quizzes. I will try to solve these crosswordssnow rider 3d

Can you solve all quizzes?

[amorapotter]

As of August 2021, the New York Times discontinued its PUZ archive, so obtaining PUZ files directly from them may not be possible.mapquest

[yaniebogisish]

It may not be feasible to acquire PUZ files directly from the New York Times as they ended their PUZ archive in August 2021.