nyt-crossword-print

name	nyt-crossword-print
description	Automatically downloads the daily NYT crossword puzzle PDF and prints it to a network printer. Runs on a nightly schedule via OpenClaw cron. Supports pause/resume via Telegram and sends error alerts on failure.
version	1.1.0
author	user
tags	["crossword","nyt","printing","automation"]
requirements	["python3 (3.10+)","playwright (pip install playwright && playwright install chromium)","playwright-stealth (pip install playwright-stealth) — required for NYT bot detection","pymupdf (pip install pymupdf) — for block opacity post-processing","CUPS (for lp print command)"]

NYT Crossword Auto-Print

This skill downloads the daily New York Times crossword puzzle PDF and sends it to your network printer automatically each evening after the puzzle is published.

Prerequisites

1. NYT Subscription: You must have an active NYT Games or All Access subscription (a basic News subscription does not include crossword access).
2. NYT-S Cookie: A valid NYT-S session cookie saved to .nyt_cookies.json. See Authentication below.
3. Playwright + Stealth + Chromium:

   pip install playwright playwright-stealth
   playwright install chromium
   

4. PyMuPDF (for block opacity):

   pip install pymupdf
   

5. CUPS: Configured with your target printer. Verify with lpstat -p.
6. Tailscale: Printer accessible on the Tailscale network.

What You Need to Configure

1. NYT-S Cookie (required)

The script authenticates using a saved NYT-S session cookie — there is no automated login (NYT's DataDome bot detection blocks it).

To get your cookie: log into nytimes.com in a browser, open DevTools → Application → Cookies → NYT-S, and copy the value. Then save it:

cat > .nyt_cookies.json << 'EOF'
[{"name":"NYT-S","value":"YOUR_COOKIE_HERE","domain":".nytimes.com","path":"/","secure":true,"httpOnly":true,"sameSite":"None"}]
EOF

Sessions typically last several weeks. When the cookie expires, the script will fail with a clear error message and you'll get a Telegram notification asking you to provide a fresh cookie.

2. Printer + Settings

Edit config.json — at minimum, set printer_name to match your CUPS printer:

{
  "printer_name": "YOUR_PRINTER_NAME",
  "copies": 1,
  "fit_to_page": true,
  "block_opacity": 30,
  "paused": false
}

Find your CUPS printer name with lpstat -p -d.

Field	Purpose
printer_name	CUPS printer name — you must set this
copies	Number of copies to print
fit_to_page	Scale PDF to fit the page
block_opacity	Black square darkness, 0 (white) to 100 (black)
paused	true to skip nightly prints

OpenClaw Cron Setup

Schedule the skill to run nightly at 9:10 PM Central. The cron payload should run the script with PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 and a 300s shell timeout so logs survive slow or failed runs:

openclaw cron add \
  --name "NYT Crossword Print" \
  --cron "10 21 * * *" \
  --tz "America/Chicago" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "$(jq -r '.payload.message' cron-job.json)" \
  --deliver \
  --channel telegram

Telegram Commands

• Print today's crossword: "print the crossword"
  • Run: python3 fetch_and_print.py
• Print a specific date: "print the crossword for Feb 7, 2025"
  • Run: python3 fetch_and_print.py --date 2025-02-07
  • Convert whatever date format the user provides into YYYY-MM-DD
• Pause: "pause crossword printing"
  • Run: python3 pause_resume.py pause
• Resume: "resume crossword printing"
  • Run: python3 pause_resume.py resume
• Status: "crossword printing status"
  • Run: python3 pause_resume.py status

All commands must be run from the project directory: cd /home/mrrobot/projects/nyt-crossword-print && .venv/bin/python ...

How It Works

1. Checks the pause flag in config.json — skips if paused.
2. Loads the saved NYT-S cookie from .nyt_cookies.json.
3. Launches headless Chromium via Playwright (with stealth mode).
4. Fetches today's puzzle ID from the NYT API.
5. Downloads the PDF using cookie authentication.
6. If block_opacity < 100, post-processes the PDF to lighten the black grid squares (edits the PDF content stream directly — text stays black).
7. Sends the PDF to the configured CUPS printer via lp.
8. Cleans up the downloaded PDF.

If the cookie has expired, the script exits with an auth error. Because the OpenClaw cron job sends Telegram alerts on nonzero exits, you'll get a message telling you to provide a fresh cookie.

Authentication

NYT uses DataDome bot detection which blocks automated login attempts. The script does not attempt to log in — it relies entirely on a saved NYT-S session cookie.

Cookie state is stored in .nyt_cookies.json (gitignored). Sessions typically last several weeks before expiring. When it expires:

1. You'll get a Telegram alert from the failed cron job.
2. Log into nytimes.com in a browser.
3. Copy the NYT-S cookie value from DevTools.
4. Update .nyt_cookies.json (or tell the agent your new cookie value).

Troubleshooting

• Cookie expired: You'll see an auth failure in the error output. Get a fresh NYT-S cookie from your browser and update .nyt_cookies.json.
• Printer offline: Ensure the printer is reachable via Tailscale (ping <printer-tailscale-ip>) and registered in CUPS (lpstat -p).
• PDF not available: The puzzle publishes at 9 PM CT. The script retries twice with a 10-second delay if the PDF is not yet available.
• Silent timeout / SIGTERM: The OpenClaw cron command should be PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 timeout 300 .venv/bin/python fetch_and_print.py 2>&1.