Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Parker Higgins owes me an explanation, because his puzzle inspired, and then summarily dashed, my hopes of solving an entirely rhyming crossword.
It’s just not fair to excite us by opening with FLEW (1A) and WHO (5A) if you don’t plan to keep rhyming! (NB: Sam Ezersky, a puzzle editor for , said it “seems unlikely” anyone could accomplish this.) I decided to be the bigger person and complete the puzzle anyway — and I’m glad I did, because it was brilliant through and through. (See? I can rhyme with “who” and “flew” just fine.)
Today’s Theme
Five clues are italicized to indicate a pattern hidden in their entries. Let’s study a few of them to uncover that pattern: [Look for trouble] solves to STINK EYE (17A), [Good for nothing] solves to FREEBIE (21A) and the split clue meaning [Open for business] is DEAR SIR OR MADAM (38A/40A).
These clues look like figures of speech, but their solutions don’t make sense — that is, unless we interpret the clues’ first words as nouns instead of verbs or adjectives. Then, STINK EYE works as a “look” used “for trouble” — a stare that stirs the pot. A “good” obtained “for nothing” is a FREEBIE. And a business “open” is a way to address people in professional correspondence: DEAR SIR OR MADAM.
I loved this theme so much that I’m hungry for more examples of phrases that would suit it. If you have any, please drop them in the comments. (I tried to think of one, but all I came up with was “hold for applause,” meaning a caged studio audience.)
Tricky Clues
16A. PEORIA, Ill., became [Shorthand for mainstream taste] in the early 1930s, and its reputation is attributed to Groucho Marx: The saying went that if vaudeville acts “played in Peoria,” they were sure to succeed elsewhere. Decades later, “It’ll play in Peoria” became the Nixon administration’s way of alluding to the average voter. (I certainly understand why PEORIA plays so well in the New York Times Crossword — vowels much?)
35A. You don’t apply this [Gig makeup?], but you might rely on it to download applications: “Makeup” refers to what a “gig,” short for gigabyte, is made up of. The answer is MEGS.
43A. I hope no MIME takes offense at being referred to as a [Performer who thinks inside the box?] — mimes are not always trapped inside imaginary boxes. Sometimes, they play imaginary games of tennis.
11D. See a question mark, question your instincts: [Got on first?] sounds baseball-related, right? Strike that, and think again. “First” may refer to order, as in the order of a queue, and something that you “get on” could be an airplane. Aha! One who [Got on first?] PREBOARDED.
41D. Question marks in a clue merely indicate the presence of wordplay — it’s up to you to narrow down the options. In the case of [Where you might dress up for a court appearance, informally?], the question mark makes it unlikely that a real courtroom is the correct setting. But should we imagine a sports court or a royal court? Use your crossings, and you’ll see that the “court” in question is a royal one. The answer is REN FAIRE.
Constructor Notes
Another midweek puzzle that I’m delighted to share with New York Times solvers! I was very happy to find this little theme set, which is a little more constrained than it may look at first.
Solvers of my previous puzzles may know I usually like to write a little software to help me find theme set candidates, but I couldn’t figure out how to drill down on “x for y” idioms where the first word is not a noun but is homonymic with one (to say nothing of the recast phrase actually making any sense). So, I reluctantly used the crossword constructor’s tool of last resort: thinking really hard. And I’m sorry to report that it worked.
Join Our Other Game Discussions
Want to be part of the conversation about New York Times Games, or maybe get some help with a particularly thorny puzzle? Here are the:
Spelling Bee Forum
Wordle Review
Connections Companion
Improve Your Crossword Solving
Work your way through our guide, “How to Solve the New York Times Crossword.” It contains an explanation of most of the types of clues you will see in the puzzles and a practice Mini at the end of each section.
Want to Submit Crosswords to ?
Crossword has an open submission system, and you can submit your puzzles online.
For tips on how to get started, read our series “How to Make a Crossword Puzzle.”
Noun the Wiser?
We object: Subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.
Trying to get back to the main Gameplay page? You can find it here.
