Daniel Bodily takes a hands-off approach.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
TUESDAY PUZZLE — I was excited to see Daniel Bodily’s byline at the top of today’s crossword for two reasons. The first is that, as a relatively recent addition to the Games desk, I still get a thrill whenever I recognize constructors’ names from past puzzles — a novel way of marking time, somewhat similar to notching a wall to track growth spurts. The second reason is that I had a lot of fun solving Mr. Bodily’s last puzzle for The New York Times, a Thursday thinker in which common phrases had their halves reversed to create new ones — “craps tables” became “table scraps,” and so on.
It won’t be that hard to spot Mr. Bodily’s trick this go-round. But solving the puzzle is a real throwback — as in, you might just throw out your back laughing, once you figure out the theme.
Today’s Theme
My, my, my. How did it feel when you applied a certain famous “MC Hammer lyric” — the words of which are split across the bottom row of the grid at 66-, 67- and 68A — to all of the starred clues?
The sheer catchiness of (U) CAN’T TOUCH THIS, the 1990 hip-hop hit, is part of what makes this revealer so satisfying. I recommend listening to the song while reviewing the puzzle’s list of things you CAN’T TOUCH (or can, but really shouldn’t): a CAMERA LENS (17A), WET PAINT (31A), an ELECTRIC FENCE (38A), a LIMBO BAR (44A) and anything at a CRIME SCENE (60A).
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
