Crossword Puzzles

Hannah Slovut-Einertson wants us to change.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — This is Hannah Slovut-Einertson’s second crossword in The New York Times, and it’s nice to see her back in the rotation. There has been a sizable gap between her debut in 2018 and today’s puzzle, and in that time, she appears to have married, which also extended her byline by nine letters.Today’s ThemeWhen you were solving this puzzle, did you suspect that the theme contained rebuses because there were entries you were sure you knew, but they turned out to be wrong?Me, too.No rebus theme today. Instead, Ms. Slovut-Einertson asks us to remove parts of the theme answers as they are written and replace them with other letters to get the “real” answer. These answers are clued fairly simply, but they won’t make sense until you follow the instructions in the grid.Wait, what? The hints are in the grid and not in the clues? Yes, although the theme clues point us to those instructions.Here’s how it works. Each of the four theme entries has two parts: The instructions on the left and, in the same row, the answers on the right. The instruction entry is a word that happens to contain the letters “TO.” The entries need to be read as X TO Y.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. More

Eli Cotham floats an idea.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — No one can predict the life span of an internet meme. When a new snowclone (i.e. replicable phrase) or image macro is making its way through social media sites, it’s anyone’s guess as to when the joke will die a cringe-y death. You won’t see anyone today posting about how “one does not simply” do something. Plays on the William Carlos Williams poem about the plums in the icebox have largely fallen out of favor.The meme that inspired today’s theme and crossword, constructed by Eli Cotham, became popular online in 2017. Honestly, I didn’t get the appeal. When it spawned a game show on Netflix in 2020, I was genuinely baffled. But now that the expression has made its way into the New York Times Crossword, I have no choice but to concede defeat. I guess 58A is here to stay.Today’s ThemeA certain modern-day [Rainy-day game for children] is the witty grounds for entries at 16-, 24-, 35- and 50-Across. THE FLOOR IS LAVA (58A) has one rule: Players need to avoid touching the floor at all costs.When interpreted in a different way, each of these themed entries describes a means of staying off the ground. You can COUNTERBALANCE (16A), as in balance on top of a counter. From there, you may TABLE-HOP (24A) or COUCH SURF (35A). You can even BAR CRAWL (50A). Any other strategies for avoiding the lava? Feel free to share them in the comments.Tricky Clues13A. As a figure of speech, [Look bad?] normally refers to optics. But this clue ends in a question mark, which usually means that the entry has a more literal interpretation. Here, it’s about giving someone a bad look: OGLE.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. More

Tarun Krishnamurthy finds a few sweet spots.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — If not for its appearance in a crossword puzzle, any theme might be dismissed as mere happenstance. Three or four distinct phrases contain a similar letter pattern or word sequence; so what? Crosswords elevate these patterns from happy accidents to linguistic marvels. They make facts seem stranger than fiction.It’s clear, from solving Tarun Krishnamurthy’s puzzle and from reading his constructor notes, that there’s more than coincidence afoot. This theme requires skill to identify, smarts to appreciate and a constructor’s unique eye to execute.Today’s Theme40- and 41-Across combine to reveal the theme of the puzzle, which plays on the name of a [popular candy] by representing it visually in entries at 17-, 26- and 57-Across.The same six letters are circled in sequence in these entries: RE / ES / ES. That gives us REESES (40A). And the letters of the word are split up — i.e., they’re in PIECES (41A).You’ll find the candy scattered in the [Classic Beatles song written and sung by George Harrison] at 17A, HERE COMES THE SUN, and again at 26A in [Mathematician/philosopher who wrote “I think, therefore I am”], RENÉ DESCARTES.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. More

Jill Rafaloff and Michelle Sontarp start from the beginning.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — The theme of this Monday crossword, constructed by Jill Rafaloff and Michelle Sontarp, struck me as a callback to an entry in last week’s Wednesday puzzle (by Sam Koperwas and Jeff Chen): [Sounds heard during a cuteness overload]. The answer there was AWS.You may go “Aww!” at the discovery of this theme, or be in awe of the constructors’ ability to craft it. Choose your own awed-venture, I say!Today’s ThemeThe first words of 18-, 23-, 36-, 49- and 56-Across can all be categorized by the term at 64-Across.What do the above entries have in common? Let’s see: A [Short stiletto shoe] is called a KITTEN HEEL (18A). The [‘N Sync bandmate of Justin Timberlake] was JOEY FATONE (23A). [What a first crush might be dismissed as] is PUPPY LOVE (36A). Kitten, joey, puppy: Each of these is a BABY (64A) in the animal kingdom.I won’t give away the puzzle farm, but here’s a hint for the remaining entries: You’re looking for a cow and a bird.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. More

Daniel Bodily’s puzzle scores.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — Maybe it’s because I talk about the tricky Thursday puzzles every week, but I sometimes feel as if I’ve seen so many commenters suggest that the puzzle they have just completed is more a means for the constructor to show off than it is a crossword for solvers to enjoy. But when pressed, the commenters often reveal that they did not completely understand the theme.That is not a reflection on the commenters, of course. Thursday crosswords in The New York Times can be much more complex than those on other days of the week. They require a flexible mind and a penchant for lateral thinking.But to cast a puzzle aside because you (not you specifically, the collective “you”) didn’t understand it defeats the purpose of trying to solve the puzzle in the first place.I think it’s OK to be bested by the constructor once in a while. It means that there’s still more to learn. A tough puzzle teaches us that we can’t win ’em all. Hopefully, it also teaches us how to accept defeat gracefully, in the form of not defenestrating your device, which would definitely void the warranty. It arms us with additional solving tools, knowledge and new neural pathways that we can use to triumph the next time around.Some solvers may want to shake their fists in the air and say, “Damn you, Daniel Bodily!” while trying to solve his crossword. But I hope everyone will also try to maintain a positive attitude about tricky puzzles like this one. If Thursday crosswords flummox you, remember that it’s much better for your stress level to do your best and sharpen your skills than to become angry because you aren’t sure what’s going on.That’s what Wordplay is for: Come here for clarification on the themes and clues. If you don’t see your question answered in the column, ask in the comments. There are plenty of veteran solvers who will be happy to help. (Note to veteran solvers: Be kind, please.)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. More

Sam Koperwas and Jeff Chen go splitsies.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — As I’ve mentioned several times throughout my Wordplay tenure, geography isn’t my strong suit. I can’t name states based on their shapes; I have trouble locating European countries. Give me a trivia question about an archipelago, and I will give you the wrong answer.Today’s crossword by Sam Koperwas and Jeff Chen played to that weakness (which may very well be your strength), and it was only by staring at the completed grid for a few minutes that I finally understood what I was looking at. One day, I will encounter a puzzle themed around my store of knowledge: pop and rap hits from the 2000s, the “Columbo” detective series and styles of pants.Today’s ThemeAt 18-Down, the constructors have inserted a [Natural dividing line on a U.S. map, as suggested by this puzzle’s circled letters]. Those letter clusters didn’t strike me as individually significant — but as a set, I realized, they represented state abbreviations: IA for Iowa, MO for Missouri, TN for Tennessee and so on.The dividing line between these states is the MISSISSIPPI River (18D). To the left are Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. To the right are Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee and Mississippi itself (the river sits on its westernmost side). The states’ locations are also represented in relation to one another by their placements on the grid. It’s not just that they appear to the right or left of 18D — they also appear in locations representative of the U.S. map. (Visual accuracy may be table stakes in constructing geography-based crosswords, but it never fails to impress me.)Tricky Clues4A. Abbreviated clues solve to abbreviated entries. That’s one of many “must match” rules in crossword puzzles. [Co. badges, e.g.] shortens the word “company,” so the answer is a shortened description of company badges: IDS.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. More

Zachary David Levy dials it up.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — A few years ago, The New York Times reported on teens who had started a “Luddite Club” in the hopes of wresting their generation from the clutches of smartphones. Now in college, the group is holding strong. And the more I struggle with my own tech devices, the more I envy their lifestyle.Maybe that’s why I couldn’t help but feel that today’s crossword, constructed by Zachary David Levy, was a Luddite manifesto. The theme centers on a positive aspect of personal tech, but solving it reminded me only of the countless times my devices have failed me. Once you’ve completed the puzzle, share your reactions in the comments: Where do you stand on digital dependency?Today’s ThemeAltogether, the ends of 18-, 24-, 48- and 57-Across yield an interpretation of the revealer phrase at 38-Across, which is clued as [“You predicted that correctly”]. Here’s a review of what we’re seeing: [Places where nonprofessionals sing] are KARAOKE BARS (18A). [Netflix or Hulu] is a STREAMING SERVICE (24A). An [Occasion for toasts] is a WEDDING RECEPTION (48A). And if you’re [Nodding yes while saying no, e.g.], then you’re giving a MIXED SIGNAL (57A).If you have bars, service, reception and a signal, you’re quite likely to have a GOOD CALL (38A). One could argue that these terms are synonyms, but I’m inclined to drop it — the argument, that is, not the call.Tricky Clues30A. You don’t need a degree in astronomy to solve a crossword puzzle, but celestial terms are popular entries, so you may want to familiarize yourself with those that show up again and again. The name of this [Altar constellation] has appeared over 200 times in Times puzzles: ARA, meaning “altar” in Latin.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. More

Adrian Johnson opens our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — This is Adrian Johnson’s 12th crossword in The New York Times, and he seems to enjoy hanging out at the end of the week. Eight of Mr. Johnson’s puzzles were published on Fridays or Saturdays and, if you are just joining us, the crosswords on those days run without themes.There are pros and cons to constructing themeless crosswords. Pros include having more open space in which to place those lengthy, wonderful entries (as long as you can keep your black square count down) and not needing to come up with and polish a theme. The primary con is that it’s tough to get a themeless puzzle published these days. Only two are published each week, and the bar is extremely high. The result is that you may have a long wait before your puzzle sees the light of day.Fortunately for us, Mr. Johnson’s puzzle cleared the bar. His long entries and quadruple stacks in the northeast and southwest are lively, and there’s a decent amount of wordplay in the clues.Tricky Clues4A. Very slick, Mr. Johnson, but you can’t fool us with [Adviser to an acting president?]. The word “acting” refers to a dramatic performance (as in Martin Sheen’s portrayal of President Bartlet in “The West Wing.” The answer is DRAMA COACH.17A. ATTA, or whole wheat flour, is [one of two ingredients used to make chapati]. The other ingredient is water, although oil and salt may be added. Want to make the Indian flatbread known as chapati? Here’s a recipe from New York Times Cooking.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. More