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Sunday Modern Era puzzles with the most "open" grids
Grids that have more open white space are typically harder to solve and to construct.
The "open square count" here is the number of white squares that do not touch a block (black square), even diagonally.
Top constructors and grids:
| D | A | N | I | E | L | C | R | A | I | G | T | A | K | E | S | H | A | P | E | |
| U | S | E | D | V | E | H | I | C | L | E | U | N | E | N | T | E | R | E | D | |
| C | O | L | L | E | G | E | P | R | E | P | T | I | E | D | Y | E | I | N | G | |
| A | F | L | Y | E | L | I | S | H | A | S | P | I | L | L | A | N | E | |||
| I | R | K | E | D | A | M | A | T | I | V | E | |||||||||
| J | E | A | L | O | U | S | Y | P | R | I | S | O | N | E | S | C | A | P | E | |
| O | U | T | I | N | G | C | A | D | G | I | N | G | O | D | O | R | ||||
| A | B | A | C | I | S | H | O | R | T | O | F | E | T | C | H | I | N | |||
| D | I | R | E | C | T | L | I | N | E | S | I | L | I | C | O | N | E | |||
| S | E | I | B | R | A | N | D | N | A | M | E | P | R | O | D | U | C | T | S | |
| T | O | O | K | T | O | T | H | E | S | L | O | P | E | S | ||||||
| S | E | V | E | N | Y | E | A | R | S | I | N | T | I | B | E | T | V | A | T | |
| W | E | I | R | D | E | S | T | D | E | C | O | R | A | T | I | V | E | |||
| A | R | N | E | S | S | D | E | S | E | R | E | T | B | E | L | I | E | |||
| R | I | G | S | C | O | A | L | E | R | S | S | L | A | L | O | M | ||||
| M | E | T | A | A | N | A | L | Y | S | E | S | S | T | H | E | L | E | N | S | |
| M | I | M | E | S | I | S | C | E | R | E | S | |||||||||
| S | A | D | F | A | C | E | S | E | T | A | L | I | I | F | L | A | P | |||
| A | L | E | R | T | E | D | T | O | A | M | A | Z | O | N | P | R | I | M | E | |
| A | T | L | E | I | S | U | R | E | R | A | R | E | D | I | S | E | A | S | E | |
| R | O | A | D | S | T | E | A | D | S | H | O | R | E | P | A | T | R | O | L |
| B | O | B | S | F | O | R | A | P | P | L | E | S | M | I | D | R | I | F | F | |
| A | R | E | W | E | D | O | N | E | H | E | R | E | O | C | E | A | N | I | A | |
| W | I | R | E | R | E | C | O | R | D | E | R | S | T | O | E | T | A | G | S | |
| L | O | R | E | N | K | I | S | S | O | S | M | O | N | D | S | E | T | |||
| S | N | A | P | B | O | N | E | B | R | I | A | R | S | H | E | A | D | |||
| P | O | U | T | B | E | F | O | G | S | F | A | N | T | A | ||||||
| D | E | S | C | E | N | T | L | E | A | R | N | S | D | O | R | S | E | Y | ||
| I | N | T | O | T | O | H | A | L | V | E | S | P | O | R | T | E | R | S | ||
| T | R | A | P | S | B | O | W | T | I | E | M | E | M | E | ||||||
| K | A | T | I | E | H | O | L | M | E | S | P | A | R | A | S | A | I | L | ||
| O | P | E | N | M | I | N | D | E | D | B | A | R | M | I | T | Z | V | A | H | |
| T | D | G | A | R | D | E | N | M | A | S | K | I | N | G | T | A | P | E | ||
| T | E | E | M | C | O | R | S | E | T | R | E | N | T | S | ||||||
| R | I | C | H | A | R | D | S | O | R | B | E | T | G | E | C | K | O | S | ||
| A | M | O | U | R | S | F | O | U | L | E | D | G | O | E | S | A | P | E | ||
| D | I | R | T | Y | A | L | F | R | E | D | B | R | A | N | ||||||
| I | N | N | S | P | R | E | T | T | Y | M | O | O | T | S | C | A | B | |||
| O | L | E | S | E | N | A | T | E | V | A | T | S | C | L | O | S | E | |||
| C | O | L | G | A | T | E | A | S | B | I | G | A | S | A | H | O | U | S | E | |
| A | V | I | A | T | E | S | C | A | Y | E | N | N | E | P | E | P | P | E | R | |
| R | E | A | P | E | R | S | O | N | E | W | A | Y | S | T | R | E | E | T | S |
| W | H | A | T | E | L | S | E | I | S | N | E | W | C | L | O | N | I | N | G | |
| H | E | L | E | N | A | M | O | N | T | A | N | A | A | I | R | A | S | I | A | |
| E | S | T | R | O | G | E | N | P | A | T | C | H | D | R | A | G | O | N | S | |
| T | S | A | R | S | L | I | E | N | L | L | B | E | A | N | G | E | T | |||
| S | E | R | A | P | L | A | N | R | O | B | O | T | S | D | O | H | A | |||
| T | E | E | N | M | A | S | E | R | S | T | E | N | O | N | ||||||
| O | S | W | A | L | D | S | A | T | I | R | E | P | R | T | A | L | K | |||
| D | O | L | I | K | E | I | N | N | I | N | G | M | E | A | S | L | E | S | ||
| O | L | I | N | E | T | R | Y | I | N | G | J | U | A | N | ||||||
| W | A | C | K | A | D | O | O | D | L | E | H | E | L | L | S | C | A | P | E | |
| S | L | E | E | P | A | P | N | E | A | F | O | R | C | E | F | I | E | L | D | |
| E | A | R | D | O | C | T | O | R | F | I | R | S | T | D | E | G | R | E | E | |
| W | H | E | N | T | O | N | N | E | S | R | A | I | N | N | ||||||
| R | A | M | A | D | A | N | C | R | I | K | E | Y | A | R | R | E | T | S | ||
| E | L | I | T | E | S | M | A | U | L | E | D | C | L | A | S | S | Y | |||
| D | O | N | O | R | T | E | R | M | E | D | T | A | I | L | ||||||
| C | O | I | N | S | O | G | L | A | D | J | I | L | T | S | I | V | A | |||
| E | G | G | B | E | T | S | O | N | H | U | L | U | H | U | R | O | N | |||
| D | O | O | R | O | N | E | R | E | M | I | N | D | M | E | A | G | A | I | N | |
| A | B | L | E | I | S | M | F | R | O | N | T | E | N | T | R | A | N | C | E | |
| R | I | F | F | L | E | S | F | A | N | T | A | S | Y | S | E | R | I | E | S |
*** See the rest of the grids or view the view the wide open Daily grids. ***
Click a date below to see the full puzzle. Only 21 by 21 puzzles are considered here.
Here are the top 30:
| Rank | Date | Open Squares | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | November 24, 2019 | 189 | Frank Longo | NY Times, Sun, Nov 24, 2019 OPEN WIDE! |
| 2. | November 4, 2018 | 186 | Patrick Berry | NY Times, Sun, Nov 04, 2018 UNTHEMED |
| December 3, 2023 | 186 | Tracy Bennett | Freestyling | |
| 4. | November 2, 2025 | 180 | Rafael Musa | Open-Faced |
| 5. | May 11, 2025 | 179 | Brendan Emmett Quigley | Power Grid |
| 6. | May 17, 2020 | 177 | Byron Walden | NY Times, Sun, May 17, 2020 WIDE-OPEN SPACES |
| 7. | June 6, 2021 | 174 | Robyn Weintraub | NY Times, Sun, Jun 06, 2021 OLIO |
| 8. | December 18, 2022 | 173 | Ryan McCarty | Some Theme's Missing |
| 9. | January 6, 2002 | 168 | Frank A. Longo | NY Times, Sun, Jan 06, 2002 MAMMALS WITH CHARACTER |
| 10. | June 16, 2019 | 166 | Joel Fagliano | NY Times, Sun, Jun 16, 2019 NOT IN SO MANY WORDS |
| 11. | July 11, 2004 | 164 | Randolph Ross | NY Times, Sun, Jul 11, 2004 YOU SEE NOW? |
| November 13, 2022 | 164 | Samuel A. Donaldson | Collision Courses | |
| 13. | December 22, 2024 | 162 | Adrian Johnson | Go With the Flow |
| 14. | November 7, 2021 | 160 | Sid Sivakumar | NY Times, Sun, Nov 07, 2021 THIS AND THAT |
| 15. | March 26, 2000 | 158 | Manny Nosowsky | NY Times, Sun, Mar 26, 2000 STARTING COSTS |
| March 4, 2018 | 158 | Byron Walden | NY Times, Sun, Mar 04, 2018 CHARACTER BUILDING | |
| June 11, 2023 | 158 | Sam Ezersky | Words, Words, Words: A Themeless | |
| 18. | April 27, 1997 | 157 | Matt Gaffney | NY Times, Sun, Apr 27, 1997 "Off the Rack" |
| November 10, 2013 | 157 | Alan Olschwang | NY Times, Sun, Nov 10, 2013 BYE-LINES | |
| 20. | September 4, 2011 | 154 | Dana Delany and Matt Ginsberg | NY Times, Sun, Sep 04, 2011 THAT'S DISGUSTING! |
| January 20, 2013 | 154 | Yaakov Bendavid | NY Times, Sun, Jan 20, 2013 ALL-INSPIRING | |
| 22. | November 15, 2015 | 153 | Alan Arbesfeld | NY Times, Sun, Nov 15, 2015 HAVING ASPIRATIONS |
| September 16, 2018 | 153 | Joel Fagliano | NY Times, Sun, Sep 16, 2018 "UH, WHAT?" | |
| 24. | January 5, 1997 | 152 | W. R. Williams | NY Times, Sun, Jan 05, 1997 Theme: Water, Water Everywhere |
| August 2, 2020 | 152 | David Levinson Wilk | NY Times, Sun, Aug 02, 2020 PUZZLIN' | |
| April 3, 2022 | 152 | Byron Walden | NY Times, Sun, Apr 03, 2022 SOFT OPTIONS | |
| 27. | June 7, 2020 | 151 | Andy Kravis | NY Times, Sun, Jun 07, 2020 SURPLUS STORE |
| 28. | October 16, 1994 | 150 | Raymond Hamel | NY Times, Sun, Oct 16, 1994 Out Of Their Element |
| March 22, 1998 | 150 | Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon | NY Times, Sun, Mar 22, 1998 "Anagrammatic Disclosures" | |
| August 18, 2013 | 150 | Elizabeth C. Gorski | NY Times, Sun, Aug 18, 2013 EDGINESS |