NYT Crossword Answers for April 25, 2024

Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues

THURSDAY PUZZLE — We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with, well, me. Deb Amlen has stepped out for the week, and in her absence I have the pleasure of writing the Wordplay column for today’s crossword, constructed by Hanh Huynh.

Regular solvers may remember Mr. Huynh for his New York Times debut last year. He constructed a Thursday puzzle that featured a dastardly rebus, and to this day it remains the only grid I can remember having really and truly given up on (thankfully, not when I was meant to write the Wordplay column). Mr. Huynh seems to be feeling more charitable toward us this time around — his theme doesn’t require quite as much head-scratching to figure out. But don’t get comfortable: It’s still a Thursday crossword if I’ve ever seen one.

Shall we take the lid off and see what’s inside?

Today’s Theme

Have you taken a deep, calming breath? Good. Now I can tell you that this puzzle contains a rebus that works differently in Down and Across entries.

Whenever I’m faced with a Thursday puzzle, I use my crossings to see whether I can identify some added trickery. My hackles go up especially when there are symbols in the grid — like the circles in this one, for example.

Let’s begin our investigation at 21-Across: The “Longtime judge on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and ‘America’s Got Talent’” should be SIMON COWELL. But his name is 11 letters long, and there are 13 squares to be filled. At 9-Down, the “Popular backyard game” appears to be a five-letter word. But bocce doesn’t work with the crossings, and CORNHOLE doesn’t fit … or does it?