Freddie Cheng assembles a body of experts.
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TUESDAY PUZZLE — How do you know when you’re doing too much? The question seems to plague New Yorkers more than most other people, if only because they live in a bustling metropolis that compresses their personal and professional lives into a smaller area than that of the average American. But whether we’re city or country folk, our bodies rebel against overexertion — or burnout, as it is sometimes called — in a bid to shift us back into balance. Do less, says the body. (Not now, body, I’m busy.)
Freddie Cheng’s latest crossword, on the other hand, multitasks with ease. Unlike our mortal coil, his clever theme has no signs of burning out. In fact, it burns brighter as it takes on more meaning.
Today’s Theme
The New York Times Crossword likes to toy with solvers’ brains by challenging them to interpret clues as either verbs or nouns. “Check box of last resort” comes to mind as an example of a recent clue whose first words read like a directive, but were meant as a noun.
In today’s puzzle, the opposite is true: To understand how “Bodies of advisory experts,” (63A) — called THINK TANKS — hint at the theme, we’re told they must be “reinterpreted as an imperative.” Think tanks? No. Just think: tanks.
The theme entries represent various kinds of TANKS: a vessel that HOLDS WATER (17A); a military COMBAT VEHICLE (24A); a verb describing how an object DROPS LIKE A STONE (38A); or the shorthand for a SLEEVELESS TOP (52A).
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
