Julia Hoepner makes her New York Times debut.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
TUESDAY PUZZLE — If you’re coming to this column before having solved today’s crossword, constructed by Julia Hoepner, then allow me to prepare you for the visceral reaction you may have to 68-Across. The overall theme is wonderful, but that revealer is almost certain to inspire groans for reasons beyond the puzzle.
If you do experience a jolt — or, should I say, a jilt — of recognition, take heart in the fact that thousands of solvers around the world are probably doing the same. I also have to wonder, given the subject matter: Was it intentional not to have any X’s in this puzzle?
Today’s Theme
Shaded squares in the grid tell us where to find the themed content, but we’ve still got to figure out what we’re looking at. For instance, at 38-Across, there’s an [Epigram or elegy] — a POEM, with the letter M shaded. To the right, at 40A, we have a word meaning [Set straight], ALIGN, with all of its letters shaded. And to the right of that, at 42A, there’s [Opposed to]. That’s ANTI, with only the first three letters shaded.
String these shaded letters together and you get MALIGNANT. The key to interpreting this is at 68-Across, with an expression that refers to the [Messy end of a relationship]: a BAD BREAKUP.
MALIGNANT means very bad, and it’s been “broken up” across entries. With that in mind, have a look around. You may find that there’s something ROTTEN split between 17- and 18A, or an ICKY feeling between 26- and 30A. Gosh, there’s a lot of bad stuff in here! And I mean that as a compliment.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
