Joe DiPietro takes us back to old Rome.
Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
THURSDAY PUZZLE — Last week I wrote about how constructors’ brains fascinate me because they can come up with unusual, creative ideas for what is essentially a two-dimensional pastime that simply involves crossing words. These puzzle makers have elevated the craft to include three dimensional puzzles and visuals that delight the eye, as well as unparalleled wordplay, mostly enabled — sorry, make that encouraged — by Will Shortz, Joel Fagliano and their merry band of editors.
Creativity is one thing, but how do some of these constructors manage to be so prolific? I asked Sam Ezersky, an editor of the Crossword, who has had 55 puzzles appear in The New York Times in eight years. It boils down to noticing things that are not readily visible to others, and setting them aside for future use.
“As Will Shortz says, they have flexible minds,” he said of these constructors.
“I jot things down in my Notes app all the time,” he continued, “just properties of phrases I notice. Some things I’m able to turn into fully fleshed out, fun puzzles.
“Your mind just becomes increasingly attuned to thinking ‘Hey, imagine if you could take that phrase and use it to explain this sort of wordplay.’”
Today’s Theme
Joe DiPietro offers four theme entries where Roman numerals substitute for parts of phrases. The theme clues sort of hint at this trick by ending in “ … in old Rome?”
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
