Parker Higgins needs our help making good matches.
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THURSDAY PUZZLE — Parker Higgins, the constructor of today’s puzzle, made his New York Times Crossword debut in 2022 with one of my favorite puzzles of that year. I remember thinking that Mr. Higgins had a flair for developing brain-twisting themes, and today’s crossword left me feeling no different.
The only thing solvers will need to understand Mr. Higgins’s puzzle is familiarity with a certain type of clue. I’m not saying that this kind of clue is actually in the grid, but it will definitely help to know about it.
If you’re not sure what kind of clue I’m referring to, here’s a hint: It’s in the “More Types of Crossword Clues” section of our guide, “How to Solve the New York Times Crossword.”
Today’s Theme
Mr. Higgins has taken a fairly common cluing device and turned it on its head. We typically see partner clues, not partner answers.
A partner clue wants you to come up with a word that is typically paired with a word in the clue, separated by “and.” An example would be the clue [Partner of live], with the answer being LEARN, as in “live and learn.” The trick to solving partner clues is to run through all the idioms you know that contain the clue word, add the word “and,” and then figure out which idiom fits.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
