Of course, more can be made of this change that is warranted: The Times puzzles have had their wit and innovations in the past. Shocking, we know, but someone had to break the news to you. And some of Mr.Shortz' changes at the Times are barely blips on the radar to those who don't regularly and passionately follow this world: Daily puzzles, for example, will now bear the bylines of their constructors as Sunday puzzles always have. Such is the genteel world of crossword puzzles - the kind of subculture in which an ongoing controversy is whether. They just want puzzles to stay the same.'

'Some people probably think you shouldn't besmirch the Times puzzle that way. 'I'm sure I'll get complaints for things like using television references,' says Mr. He's expecting some cross words from tradition-bound puzzle solvers - but then, as all newspapers have learned, even the smallest of changes to longstanding features like puzzles and comics can set the phone lines afire. It's too inventive, it's too fresh, it's too creative.' 'I don't think this would have appeared in the old Times. Shortz says with a devilish, gotcha grin. Even better (or worse, depending on your perspective) the answer, 'VIOLETSAREBLUE,' fit into a mere six squares. And you had to do that every time those words appeared elsewhere in the puzzle - meaning, for example, the six-letter answer to ''Closer to Fine' singers' would be 'INDIGOGIRLS,' and INDIGO is written in one box followed by GIRLS in the six boxes following. And in the right order of a real rainbow - RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, VIOLET. Instead, in each of the seven boxes in which you normally would print a single letter, you had to squeeze a whole word, the entire name of a color of the rainbow.

RAINBOW, right? Not in the new New York Times puzzle. (As with 'The Crying Game,' we must warn you: If you haven't done constructor Peter Gordon's puzzle yet, skip the next paragraph!)ДЇor 72 across, the clue was 'After-shower scene,' a seven-letter word. But even more new-wave than the individual clues is the overall theme of the puzzle.

Ny times crossword editor will