NYT Crossword Answers for Jan. 27, 2024

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SATURDAY PUZZLE — Well, hello there. Are you surprised to see me hanging around Wordplay so late in the week? As regular readers of the column may have already surmised, Caitlin Lovinger indulged me in a little column swap: You got her “Take” (52A) — that is, ANGLE — on Monday and Tuesday’s crosswords, so I’m writing about the weekend puzzles. Think of it as an exchange program.

The view from this side of the week is lovely. Today’s themeless grid was constructed by Greg and Grace Warrington, a father and daughter duo — cue the “Aww!” from our imaginary studio audience — who are making their New York Times debut. The generational span between constructors may explain why this puzzle feels so charmingly versatile in its subject matter; it really has something for everyone. Its pacing also varied notably from quadrant to quadrant. The northwest corner came naturally, while the southeast nearly took me out. Your mileage may vary with your knowledge base, as always. Shall we take it for a spin?

Tricky Clues

33A. Out of context, a “double albatross” sounds like a cursed creature that escaped extinction during the last ice age. To those with some sports slang in their arsenal, however, this reads as a golf reference. The answer is PAR FIVE — a “Possible (but extremely unlikely) setting” for this whimsically named hole-in-one shot (also known as a condor).

49A. Mensa seems a fitting guess for this “Pioneer in I.Q. testing,” if only because it’s the organization that jumps to mind whenever I.Q. tests are mentioned. But the origins of intelligence quotient testing are back a little further: Alfred BINET, a French psychologist, developed the test questions at the turn of the 20th century. (Mensa was founded in 1946.)

50A. It’s been a while since the New York Times Crossword caught a glimpse of Josep Maria SERT, the “Muralist who was a colleague of Dalí.” The painter’s last appearance in a puzzle was on Sept. 6, 2020.