NYT Crossword Answers for July 31, 2024

Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues

WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Jackson Matz’s first crossword for The New York Times, which was published in March, featured three 15-letter spanners: I COULD EAT A HORSE, CARE TO ELABORATE and SELF-DRIVING CARS. That’s a tough act to follow, even if you set the bar yourself. It seems Mr. Matz decided he wasn’t taking any chances, because this time he brought along his big brother Ben.

The Matz brothers — or the brothers Matz, for a flourish — have combined forces to bring us a rollicking Wednesday grid, whose theme can be identified only by the revealer at the appointed hour (59-Across). Let’s take a look under the hood, shall we?

Today’s Theme

The [Song from “The Little Mermaid” that’s a phonetic hint to interpreting the answers to the starred clues] (59A) is UNDER THE SEA. In other words, removing the letter C from the beginning of each themed entry gives us the correct answer to the clue.

Here’s one example: To [Rip off] (25D) your customers is to OVERCHARGE them, not to “cover charge” them — though I stand by the opinion that cover charges are generally a rip-off. Another example, at 11-Down: If you’re [Not moving fast enough], you are LOSING TIME.

This is the third puzzle with a theme that plays on the homophony between the word “sea” and the letter C to come across my desk in recent months, but I’m tickled every time. Just a few weeks ago, Tarun Krishnamurthy’s debut puzzle for The Times featured the grammagram “sea anemone” (C-N-M-N-E). Last fall, Ella Dershowitz brought us a grid filled with “C creatures,” with words like “sponge” and “urchin” appearing on the grid in C-like curves.