The New York Times - USA (2020-08-09)

Months into the pandemic, you’ve

most likely spent more time declut-

tering — and assessing the amount

of joy sparked by forgotten discov-

eries — than you’d ever expected.

Now you’re on to organizing, and

baskets are a great way to collect all

of those little things floating around

your home. With just a pair of scis-

sors, a glue stick and a paper clip,

you can transform your newspaper

into a receptacle to keep things tidy

that’s also a woven work of art.

Here’s how. CHRISTY HARMON

Cut a full page of the newspaper

into thirds lengthwise. Working

with one piece at a time, fold over

the paper one-third of the way

widthwise and crease firmly.

Run the glue stick down the entire

right side of the paper (which isn’t

folded at all yet) and fold it over

again, pressing down well.

Your strip should now be one-third

its original width. Now, run the glue

stick along what has become the

right side of the strip and fold it in

half again, pressing down and creas-

ing well. The strip should now be

one-sixth the width of its original

size. Repeat the whole process so

you have 18 long, thin pieces of

newspaper.

Place six of the strips vertically on a

table next to each other. Using six

more strips, weave each through

horizontally one by one, going over

and under the vertical strips, start-

ing in the middle.

Each new strip should follow the

opposite path of the one above it.

When 12 of the strips are woven

together, creating a small square,

pull on the ends of each individual

strip, making sure the edges are

neatly aligned.

Once you’re happy with the place-

ment, glue each of the four corners

of the square together between the

paper to help keep the base secure.

Take a new strip. Leaving about a

half-inch tab of newspaper sticking

out at one edge, take your paper clip

and affix the strip underneath one of

the corners, which holds it in place

while you weave around the basket.

Weave the strip over and under each

of the six strips on one side, bending

every other one upward.

Continue weaving until you’ve gone

all the way around, turning and

creasing at the corners to help make

the box’s shape. To secure the strip,

put a small amount of glue on the tab

that you created at the start and

press where your strip meets the

corner to finish the square.

Take another strip and, this time,

paper clip it to the inside of the bas-

ket in order to hold it in place. Then,

weave it around the square using the

same over-under technique, but

opposite the row beneath, pulling up

the remaining strips on the table as

you go. Continue this until you’ve

used the rest of your premade news-

paper strips.

You’ve made it through the hard-

est part and are well on your way

to a newsprint basket. Now, cut off

any excess length that’s left over

from weaving the sides of the

basket.

To neaten the top, crease the strips

at top of the basket, fold over to the

other side and tuck into a lower

layer. Trim any excess paper.

Congratulations! You’ve just made

yourself a lovely basket.

Weave Your

Newspaper

Into a Basket

Send us photographs of your bas-

kets, or ideas for crafts that involve

newspaper. Email us at

[email protected].

THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020 D 9

MAKE THE STRIPS BUILD THE BASE ADD SOME HEIGHT GIVE IT A TRIM

PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY CENICOLA/

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Solve These Crosswords

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meaning you can only fill in half of the spaces.

EDITED BY JOEL FAGLIANO

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

BAT

MI CRO

KEAT I NG

NETS GE LS

AYE HAM

POOP EARS

FR I ZZLE

SCARF

SPA

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS

Read about and comment on

each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay

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GYMS

FROYO

LIKED

OPERA

GELS

SALT

CLOWN

ABBEY

TUBES

SYNE

RAM

ME NU

TALKS

EX I LE

DICES

123

4

5

6

7

PUZZLE BY ZHOUQIN BURNIKEL

ACROSS
1 Hydroelectric project
4 “Mourning” animal
5 Poker tournament entry fee
6 Book of maps
7 ‘’Laughing’’ animal

DOWN
1 Creator of Holmes and Watson
2 For the birds?
3 Brainiacs’ group
4 ___-free store
5 “Rubbish!”

12345

6

7

8

9

PUZZLE BY ANDY KRAVIS

ACROSS

1 Playing card suit

6 2016 #1 hit for Adele

7 Take place

8 “Go team!,” for one

9 Loser to Bush in 2004

DOWN

1 ___ Full o’ Nuts (coffee brand)

2 Café con ___ (coffee with milk)

3 Stomach malady that can be

exacerbated by coffee

4 In lower spirits

5 “My apologies”

12345

6

7

8

9

PUZZLE BY YACOB YONAS

ACROSS

1 Summer getaway spot

6 Republican senator Marco

7 Popular sans-serif font

8 Ban alcohol

9 What might float your boat?

DOWN

1 Toot one’s own horn

2 They replaced francs and marks

3 Put up with

4 R&B singer with the 2004 hit

“1, 2 Step”

5 Divine

12345 678

910

11 12

13 14

15 16 17 18

19 20

21 22 23 24 25

26 27

28 29

PUZZLE BY LYNN LEMPEL

ACROSS

1 Cheesy chip

6 Ship’s official record

9 Mitch who wrote “Tuesdays with

Morrie”

10 Jane Goodall subject

11 Common burger topping

12 Goal for some beachgoers

13 Common burger topping

15 Genesis victim

18 To a smaller extent

19 Common burger topping

21 Beach ___

22 Common burger topping

26 Unspecified amount

27 Literary style

28 Some fall highlights on ESPN

29 Crooked

DOWN

1 Snatch

2 Chicken ___ king

3 Montreal’s public TV

4 Big to-do

5 Deluxe hotel chain

6 Potato pancake eaten at Hanukkah

7 Multicolored gems

8 Trait determinants

14 Exact copies

15 Trying for a hit

16 Leap

17 TV awards

20 “Julius Caesar” apparel

23 Calligraphy supply

24 Miner’s find

25 Never before seen