Crosswords are weird. One minute you're breezing through a Monday puzzle with your morning coffee, and the next, you're staring at a five-letter blank for "Anything fun on the agenda today crossword" like it’s a lost dialect of Ancient Greek. It happens to everyone. Even the pros. You think you know the word, it's right on the tip of your tongue, but the constructor has decided to be a little bit cheeky with the phrasing.
Honestly, that’s the draw.
The phrase "anything fun on the agenda today" is a classic example of what crossword insiders call a "conversational clue." It isn't asking for a dry dictionary definition. It’s asking for a vibe. It’s looking for that specific word that fits into a casual Saturday morning chat or a quick text to a friend. Usually, when you see this in a New York Times or Los Angeles Times puzzle, the answer is PLANS.
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Sometimes it’s GOINGS ON. If the grid is feeling particularly spicy, it might even be UP TO. But why do these clues trip us up so consistently? It’s because our brains are wired to look for synonyms, not conversational replacements.
The Psychology of the Conversational Clue
Most of us start our crossword journey looking for direct translations. "Large bird" equals "Emu." "Metric weight" equals "Gram." Simple stuff. But as you move into the Wednesday through Saturday territory, the editors—folks like Will Shortz or David Steinberg—start playing games with how we actually speak.
When a clue is written in quotes, like "Anything fun on the agenda today?", it signifies that the answer is something someone would say in response, or a word that represents the essence of that question. It’s meta.
Take the word PLANS. It’s a boring word in a vacuum. But in the context of a crossword, it’s a pivot point. If you have the "P" from a crossing word like ASPEN and the "S" from ETATS, your brain might still struggle because "plans" feels too simple. We expect something more academic. We overthink it. We start wondering if there’s a Latin root we’re missing. There isn't. It's just a Friday night at 7:00 PM.
Why Constructors Love Vague Phrasing
Constructors use these conversational phrases to balance out the "crosswordese." If you have a section of the grid filled with high-value consonants like Z, X, and Q, you need common vowels to make the crossings work. PLANS or DOINGS are perfect "glue" words.
They provide the structural integrity for the flashy 15-letter entries.
Think about the grid like a building. The long, impressive answers are the architecture. The "anything fun on the agenda today" clues are the nails and mortar. They aren't always pretty, but without them, the whole thing falls apart.
I spoke with a frequent contributor to several major syndicates once, and they told me that the hardest part of a puzzle isn't the long words—it's cluing the short ones in a way that doesn't feel repetitive. How many times can you clue ARE as "to be" before you want to pull your hair out? You can't. So you turn to phrases. You turn to the everyday language that makes the puzzle feel human rather than something generated by a cold, calculating database.
Decoding the Context
If you’re stuck on this specific clue right now, look at the length. Crosswords are a game of constraints.
- 5 Letters: It is almost certainly PLANS.
- 4 Letters: Look for TODO or UP TO.
- 8 Letters: You might be looking at WHAT'S NEW.
Context matters. If the puzzle has a "Question Mark" at the end of the clue, the constructor is definitely trying to mislead you. "Anything fun on the agenda today?" with a question mark might actually be a pun. Maybe it’s about a literal agenda, like a "DATEBOOK" or "CALENDAR." Without the question mark, it's usually just a casual inquiry.
One thing people get wrong about crosswords is thinking they need to be a walking encyclopedia. You don't. You just need to be a student of human behavior. You need to know how people talk at bars, in offices, and at the dinner table.
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The Evolution of Crossword Language
Crosswords have changed a lot since the early 20th century. In the 1920s, the clues were very literal. It was all about "The King of (blank)" or "A type of flowering shrub." It was very formal. Very stiff.
But by the time we hit the 90s and the early 2000s, there was a shift toward "Indie" styles. New constructors wanted the puzzles to sound like the people solving them. They started using slang. They started using TV show quotes. And they started using full-sentence clues like "Anything fun on the agenda today?"
This shift made puzzles more accessible but also more frustrating for traditionalists. If you grew up solving puzzles that relied on knowing the name of a specific river in Germany, a clue about "plans" feels like a trick. It’s not. It’s just modern.
The New York Times puzzle, specifically, has leaned hard into this. They want the Friday and Saturday puzzles to feel like a conversation with a slightly annoying, very intelligent friend. Someone who uses puns and skips the boring parts of a story.
Pro Tips for Solving Conversational Clues
Stop looking for the definition. That’s the first rule. When you see a clue like "Anything fun on the agenda today crossword," don't reach for a thesaurus. Instead, imagine someone is saying that phrase to you. What is the topic of their sentence?
The topic is their future schedule. Their intentions. Their PLANS.
Another trick is to check the tense. If the clue is "What's the word?", the answer needs to be in the same "energy." If the clue is "Was it fun?", the answer is likely past tense, like HAD A BLAST. Match the vibe, match the tense, and you’ll usually find the answer hidden in plain sight.
Also, don't be afraid to leave it blank and come back. The human brain is incredible at "incubation." You stare at a clue for ten minutes and see nothing. You go wash the dishes, come back, and the word PLANS jumps out at you like it was screaming the whole time.
Moving Past the Block
Look, everyone hits a wall. Even the people who compete in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford. There is no shame in getting a letter or two from a crossing word to jumpstart your memory. If you have the "L" and the "N" in a five-letter word, the answer PLANS becomes a lot more obvious.
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Crosswords are a test of your ability to see patterns, not just your vocabulary. The pattern here isn't linguistic; it's social.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Puzzle
- Identify the Quotes: If a clue is in quotation marks, it’s a "spoken" clue. Treat it like a dialogue snippet.
- Check for Puns: If there is a question mark, throw your first instinct out the window. It's a trap.
- Cross-Reference the Vowels: Most conversational answers like PLANS or UP TO rely on common vowels. Solve the short three-letter words around it first to see if you can pin down the vowel placement.
- Read Out Loud: Sometimes hearing the clue helps your brain process the conversational rhythm better than just reading it.
- Use a Database Sparingly: If you're really stuck, sites like Rex Parker’s blog or XWord Info can show you how that specific clue has been used in the past. It's a great way to learn the "language" of specific constructors.
Crosswords aren't just about what you know. They’re about how you think. The next time you see a clue about "anything fun on the agenda today," don't panic. Just think about your Friday night. The answer is usually simpler than you think.
Go back to the grid. Look at the crossings again. You probably already know the answer; you're just waiting for your brain to admit it.