Ella Dershowitz declares her feelings in a lighthearted holiday puzzle.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Subtle it’s not, but I still got a chuckle out of Ella Dershowitz’s declaration of L.O.V.E. blaring from today’s Valentine’s Day crossword. I also needed some L.O.V.E. myself, since I spent over 15 minutes struggling in the puzzle’s southeast corner and wondering: Is this the day I finally choo-choo-choose to walk away from a Wednesday?
I didn’t walk away, of course. I persevered, filled with certain gray-shaded sentiments represented in today’s theme. Valentine’s Day may be tiresome for single and partnered romantics alike, but Ms. Dershowitz’s crossword is a welcome escape from the demands of the day. Solving it also reminded me that there’s nothing I L.O.V.E. quite so much as a good puzzle.
Today’s Theme
In discovering the layers of today’s theme, I felt like a child plucking petals from a flower: I’ve solved it! I’ve solved it not. I’ve solved it! I’ve solved it not.
Gray-shaded letters in the grid clearly spell the word LOVE. But we don’t discover the significance of their fill until 35-Across, where a revealer points out that certain “Valentine’s Day exchanges” double as a descriptor for “what this puzzle’s shaded areas are?”
The answer is LOVE LETTERS. At first, this entry may seem too obvious — of course we’ve seen how those LETTERS spell LOVE! But as we fill in the grid, we discover that each letter contains a term for loving affection: The shaded L is filled with ROMANCE, the O with FONDNESS, the V with PASSION and the E with RESPECT.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
