NYT Crossword Answers for July 29, 2024

Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues

MONDAY PUZZLE — At the beginning of your crossword journey (because what else would I call it?), the goal is just to solve the puzzle. Once you can comfortably reach that goal, you might start to challenge yourself not to ask anyone for help or look things up. You may even compete against your own solving speed. (You’ll often see solvers in the comments referring to a “PB,” short for their personal best on a given day.)

I can’t say what my goal was when I started solving Jeffrey Lease’s puzzle. All I know is that I was flooded with a sense of accomplishment when the last letter (a correction of a previous guess, I’m not ashamed to admit) fell into place. I hope that you emerge from this puzzle a winner, too — whatever that means to you right now.

Today’s Theme

Without a revealer entry to make it obvious, we have to identify the puzzle’s pattern ourselves. What repeats itself throughout Mr. Lease’s grid? A couple of things, actually.

The [Cry from someone who has finally had it] (16A) is ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! A [Sarcastic non-apology] (26A) is SORRY NOT SORRY. Is there an echo in here? Kidding. These entries are just common expressions that use word repetition. The pattern continues with the [Perennial optimist’s motto] (48A) NEVER SAY NEVER, and a [Way to make incremental progress] (63A) — LITTLE BY LITTLE.

Tricky Clues

4A. When something is [Impressively done], we might refer to it as a BANG-UP job. But why? The word “bang” began as pure onomatopoeia in the 16th century to describe the pounding of a hammer. In the 19th century, it came to be used as an adverb — soon with the addition of “-up” — denoting a standard of precision or excellence. The new usage makes sense given the word’s original meaning: You’ve got to bang a nail right on its head if you don’t want to lose a thumb.