DAY 452

LA Times Crossword
June 15, 2017
Brian Thomas

The four collections of letters below follow a certain pattern and are related. Can you determine what's going on?

X I F
O ST
URY

R I X
I  S T
TH Y

TFO
YIN
NER

HOT
EY I
NEG

HINTS:
#1: The letters in each set are scrambled.
#2: The shape of each set is a clue.

Answer:

The letters in each collection, unscrambled, spelled out:

SIXTY-FOUR
THIRTY-SIX
FORTY-NINE
EIGHTY-ONE - - - 3 x 3 letters - - - perfect squares