Sam Ezersky raises the temperature in his grid.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
THURSDAY PUZZLE — Sam Ezersky has a reputation for constructing some of the trickiest New York Times Crosswords, but sometimes he can be a softy. Today’s puzzle, for example, is fairly gentle by Thursday trickiness standards.
That may disappoint some of the hard-core solverati, but for people who have been reluctant to push past Wednesday solving, this 16×15 grid is a compelling way to get started. It’s not an easy puzzle by any means, but it is a lot of fun.
Mr. Ezersky is also a digital puzzle editor and the man behind Spelling Bee (please send all strongly worded correspondence to buzzwords@nytimes.com). This puzzle is his 53rd in The New York Times.
Today’s Theme
Mr. Ezersky offers a theme set in which the four italicized clues hint at the places where one could find “mercury.” Are we supposed to be thinking solely of the element or the planet? Of course not; this is a Thursday puzzle. There are more mercuries than that. You just have to use your imagination.
The theme clue at 17A reads “Mercury is in this,” and the answer is GLASS THERMOMETER. This was a no-brainer for me, which I’m frankly surprised still works at full capacity, considering that my mother allowed my sister and me to play with the silvery stuff every time a thermometer broke.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
