NYT Crossword Answers for September 23, 2024

Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues

MONDAY PUZZLE — I’ve written about two of Freddie Cheng’s puzzles since I started working at The New York Times, which is a small fraction of the number he has constructed. But it took only those two grids for me to appreciate Mr. Cheng’s talent for identifying subtle patterns in the English language. He can play with diverse definitions of a single word. He can use a shared ending of proper nouns as a springboard for puns. His sense of humor shines through each puzzle, and it’s wonderfully original.

Today’s crossword continues this artistic streak as Mr. Cheng curates a few phrases that share a notable grammatical feature. I never would have thought about the feature if not for this puzzle, and I’m thrilled that he’s brought it to our attention.

Today’s Theme

Abbreviations often appear as crossword entries, but rarely do they make up the theme of an entire puzzle! Each of today’s themed entries is a common expression that ends with a three-letter abbreviation: At 17A, the way [Some movies were released, pre-streaming] — what a concept! — is DIRECT-TO-DVD. At 29A, the [Bruce Springsteen album with a red, white and blue cover] is BORN IN THE USA, released in 1984. And at 44A, the [Question to someone who’s on the way] is WHAT’S YOUR ETA?

The final clue — [A piece of cake, so to speak] (59A) — is the only toughie, funnily enough, because two nearly identical phrases ending in three-letter terms fit the spaces. Only one phrase satisfies the constraints of the theme, though: It’s AS EASY AS ABC, because “pie” is not an abbreviation.

If you want to be fussy — and at The Times, we often do — then don’t refer to the three-letter abbreviations in this puzzle as acronyms. They’re technically initialisms, which are distinct from acronyms in that they are pronounced by their letters rather than as words (think N.F.L. versus NAFTA).