Readers have been all over the map with their critiques of how <em>The Kansas City Star </em>covers the news in recent days. That&#8217;s good, because some of the most insightful comments can come from a single voice, and some of the less persuasive are commonplace.</p><p>I&#8217;ve talked to people who thought the paper has dwelled too much on dress codes in the Power &amp; Light District (&#8220;Really a lot less controversial and not as big a deal as The Star thinks it is,&#8221; said one), or that Britney Spears&#8217; local appearance wasn&#8217;t really news at all (&#8220;I&#8217;d like to see something a little more sophisticated for our students in the Kansas City area,&#8221; one caller told me). E-mailers have suggested story topics, like a comparison of real estate appraisals in Kansas versus the Missouri side, or complained that MU&#8217;s basketball team didn&#8217;t get coverage as favorable as KU&#8217;s.</p><p>But among all that diversity of opinion, one part of the paper united readers by the dozens. As a caller last Thursday morning put it, &#8220;What on earth has happened to our crossword in the FYI section? That is the thing I look forward to most every day, and I know someone different is putting this thing together now. It&#8217;s a completely different mindset.&#8221;</p><p>I&#8217;ve always thought that the ability to work puzzles is the mark of a first-class intellect. It requires a strong memory, attention to detail, and a knack for recognizing patterns.</p><p>So it doesn&#8217;t surprise me one bit that when I looked into the provenance of the Tribune Media Services crossword, I discovered that the sleuths had solved another one: There is, indeed, a new brain behind the puzzle. Longtime crosswords guru Wayne Williams has retired the puzzle, and Tribune is supplying a new one by Jackie Matthews in its place.</p><p>No big deal? No way. The games and puzzles are a major part of thousands of people&#8217;s lives. Some people work both the FYI crossword and <em>The New York Times </em>one in the Classified section (no panic, please &#8212; that&#8217;s not going away).</p><p>The puzzle in the FYI section is purposely easier than the <em>Times&#8217;. </em>&#8220;I do both of them most of the time,&#8221; one caller told me. &#8220;There are days when I want a challenge, but other times I just want something that&#8217;s fun and doesn&#8217;t frustrate me. But I&#8217;m afraid this new version is going to end up being harder than I want. But I&#8217;m willing to go with it for a few weeks and see how it shapes up.&#8221;</p><p>I&#8217;ll continue to collect and share your thoughts on the new puzzle with editors. Just don&#8217;t ask me for help solving it I&#8217;m absolutely no good there.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Too much of Britney</span></strong></p><p>I heard another point from several readers last Friday about the coverage of Spears &#8212; but they were talking clothing, not news. The photo on the Local cover showed her dressed in high-heeled boots, fishnets and a black outfit that offered a bit more coverage than a bikini.</p><p>&#8220;I know this isn&#8217;t pornography,&#8221; said one caller, &#8220;but this scenery she&#8217;s climbing on looks like a stripper pole. This is not the kind of taste level I expect out of <em>The Star.</em>&#8221;