You’ll have to use all of your senses to solve Kareem Ayas’s crossword.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
MONDAY PUZZLE — Today’s puzzle is for those who believe that rules were made to be broken. If that’s you, read on — and if it isn’t, welcome to the party.
Since they serve as ideal entry points for newer solvers, and format changes might intimidate those just learning the ropes, Monday crosswords rarely break with tradition. But an unusual grid isn’t necessarily an impenetrable one, and this puzzle, constructed by Kareem Ayas, bends the rules in a way that solvers of any level will enjoy.
Christina Iverson, a puzzle editor for The New York Times, emphasized the accessibility of Mr. Ayas’s crossword. “The trick would be too easy for any other day,” Ms. Iverson said, adding that solvers will be further aided by explanatory clues and a theme that, once revealed, has a domino effect. “Once you get it, you can write in all the three-letter words.”
Today’s Theme
The reason all the three-letter words can be identified so quickly is that they’re all the same word. That word is the “Guinness world-record holder for ‘English word with the most meanings’” (71A): SET.
SET has 430 senses recorded in the Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, according to the Guinness entry, so the “Complete collection” (62D) of meanings (that is to say, the SET) could not be featured in today’s puzzle.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
