NEWS: Olin is the Answer; The NYT Features Olin College in Famous Crossword
June 10, 2024
On June 7, 2024, Olin College of Engineering was featured in The New York Times' famous crossword puzzle, known across the world as The Crossword, as an answer.
The hint for 52 across was "Massachusetts college specializing in engineering," and as word of the fun and somewhat surreal inclusion began circulating across the internet and amongst those in the Olin bubble, people excitedly shared that they had seen Olin while solving the puzzle, and others said that while Olin wasn't their immediate guess (another three letter college in Massachusetts ALSO known for engineering came to mind first...), they quickly discovered that Olin fit perfectly.
"Olin," short for Olin College of Engineering, is shown to be an answer in the June 7, 2024 The New York Times crossword puzzle.
Other common sentiments from Oliners on social media about Olin being the answer were: "That's cool!" "Whoo-hoo!" "This is wild!" and even, "We made it!"
Our website (olin.edu) also saw increased traffic for the search terms "mass engineering college," and "mass college engineering," as people across the world were working on solving the puzzle, highlighting the extensive reach and popularity of the 82-year-old game.
Adding to the fanciful news of the day, and thanks to alumni parent, Malcom Ritter (P '10) for letting us know, it turns out that blogger, Rex Parker, who writes a widely read blog about the Times' puzzles, also mentioned the four-letter answer - sharing that their daughter toured Olin's campus at one time.
Parker writes that, "I had many single-letter problems today. CRAY before CRAW (1A: Lead-in to fish) and (as always) REMI before RAMI and SNARE before SNARL and OLEN before OLIN (52A: Massachusetts college specializing in engineering) (my daughter toured that school back when she thought engineering was the way to go, but today I convinced myself that OLIN was a name that belonged solely to actors Lena and Ken and OLEN must be the college).”
If you'd like to print out and play the June 7 puzzle, you can find a pdf with all of the hints here.
Join the conversation about Olin and The Crossword on social media!