Evan Park and Jeffrey Martinovic connect with us on the astral plane.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — I go back and forth on my feelings about outer space. On the one hand, there is the terrifying unknown of what lies beyond our solar system, the infinite vastness of which makes me feel about as significant as a dust mote. On the other hand, planets are neat.
Today’s New York Times Crossword, constructed by Evan Park and Jeffrey Martinovic, tipped the scales a little further in favor of the cosmos. The grid features a witty visual representation of a certain celestial event. It was tricky to identify, but all the more satisfying once I’d done so.
Today’s Theme
Starting a crossword puzzle in the top-left corner is generally a decent solving strategy. But in this puzzle, that quadrant contains the most frustrating parts of the theme.
We begin with a tricky rebus square at the intersection of 16A and 3D: A [Place to take a break] should be a REST AREA, and [Skills of the past] would normally be LOST ARTS. But we don’t have enough spaces for either of these entries unless we extract and condense the word STAR to the confines of that rebus square. (Here’s a quick how-to on entering more than one letter in a square.)
So the cluster of four circled squares at 23-/27A and 5-/21D should contain similar rebuses, right? Wrong. They’re just plain circles, spelling S-T-A-R. But this inconsistency isn’t an oversight — it’s the beginning of a [Chewy fruit-flavored candy … or a description of what’s depicted visually in this puzzle]: STARBURST (10D).
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
