Ken Cohen and Stacy Cooper make their New York Times Crossword debuts.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
MONDAY PUZZLE — Having at last recovered from a mild mystery illness in an undisclosed location, I make my triumphant return to Wordplay. Fanfare! Trumpets! Applause, applause! That’s what I was imagining, anyway. In reality, my triumphant return consisted of scooting into my desk chair and opening my laptop.
Far greater ADO (24A) is in order for today’s crossword, because it’s a rare treat to have a collaboration between two first-time constructors in the New York Times Crossword. Collaborations tend to feature one new constructor alongside a more experienced one, but Ken Cohen and Stacy Cooper have pulled it off. Applause, applause, indeed!
Today’s Theme
Salute any of today’s themed entries with the [Slangy greeting] at 51-Across, and you’ll realize that WHAT’S CRACKING applies, wittily, to the starts of each one. At 20A, the [Rules on how to behave] would be a CODE OF CONDUCT, and one tends to “crack” a code. And at 25A, [Baba ghanouj, e.g.] is a kind of EGGPLANT DIP — an egg is what’s cracking here.
The last one gave me a visceral wince: At 45A, a [Goofball] is a KNUCKLEHEAD, since knuckles can be cracked. But must they? Can’t those people pick up a noiseless tic instead, like hair twirling?
Tricky Clues
50A. When crossword clues hint at two things that can be described by the same adjective, there’s usually lateral thinking involved. In the case of [Like diamonds and calculus problems], both are HARD — but one in a physical sense, and the other in a conceptual one.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
