Games

Kareem Ayas waxes poetic.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — The rebus is the uninvited dinner guest of the New York Times Crossword: You never expect it to show up, and when it does, you have no choice but to accommodate it. I can tell you that everyone’s going to have to squeeze in for today’s puzzle, constructed by Kareem Ayas, because he has brought us a rebus — on a Wednesday, no less. The gall!As the host of this column, I insist that you not let this surprise spoil your appetite. Even the most timid early-week solvers are capable of tackling Mr. Ayas’s theme; we’ll just take it one course at a time.Today’s ThemeBefore we continue, let’s review what the heck I’m talking about. A rebus, in the parlance of the Times Crossword, is a visual trick within the puzzle that often requires the solver to enter more than one letter in a single square. (We go over the ways to do that in our rebus tipsheet.) The trick is revealed, usually through some kind of wordplay, in one of the grid’s entries. You’ll see what I mean as we go over Mr. Ayas’s theme.Today, we get a nice hint: The circled squares look to be our focal points for the rebus. 17-Across, for instance, can’t be solved without some kind of adjustment to its entry for [It will change the way you see yourself]. I wanted the entry to be “fun house mirror,” but crossings gave me only FUNHOU_RROR. And isn’t that [Red-haired toon who is always seeing red] at 39-Down supposed to be Yosemite Sam, instead of YO_TESAM?In a rebus puzzle, the revealer tends to hint at how to interpret its words in order to fill in any missing letters. All we get at 63-Across is that [First- and third-quarter moons] are examples of something that “hint to the puzzle’s theme.” At the first quarter and third quarter of its cycle, the moon looks like a half-circle. Oh, hang on — they’re SEMICIRCLES.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

Alex Eaton-Salners crosses the floor.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — Of the many desks that make up The New York Times, Games is one of the few that doesn’t cover politics in any form or fashion. In the ocean of political discourse, we aim to be an atoll of apoliticsm. A flotilla of frivolity. A lighthouse of levity. What was my point again?Ah, yes: Today’s crossword, constructed by Alex Eaton-Salners, represents a minor deviation from our usual escapism. Its theme hinges on [Political configurations] with present-day relevance, and I recognize that it may inspire conversation on the subject. I must ask, however, that you please keep any discussions in the comments to thoughts on the crossword puzzle — for congeniality’s sake, but also because our EMUs (electronic moderation units) tend to gobble up anything that veers off course.Today’s ThemeThe [Political configurations suggested by the answers (and their circled letters) at 17-, 24-, 50- and 61-Across] are TWO-PARTY SYSTEMS. This phrase refers to each of the cited entries, in which two kinds of parties are represented — one is in circled letters, and the other is the entry in full.For example, a [Brand of kitchen storage containers] is TUPPERWARE (17A), which made up the centerpiece of many a midcentury social affair. The circled letters in this entry spell TEA — another kind of party, political or otherwise. Farther down, the HALLOWEEN party at 50A is [When the skeletons in one’s closet might be brought out]. Circled letters give us the HEN party, another name for a bachelorette celebration that’s used primarily in the United Kingdom (I knew this only thanks to a recent marathon of a U.K.-based installment of “Love is Blind,” which I didn’t not spend several days watching last week.)Other entries name political parties outright, like SOCIALIST (24A) and FEDERALIST (61A). These feel less inspired to me than the parties I mentioned above, but with the colorful inclusion of CAST parties and FRAT parties, Mr. Eaton-Salners still has my vote.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

Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas make their New York Times debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — We have interesting ways of talking about distance in English. A destination might be described as a “stone’s throw away,” two people can stand in mere “spitting distance” from each other and unpleasant things are not to be touched with a “10-foot pole.”Another such phrase lies at the heart of today’s crossword, constructed by Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas. To what lengths must you go in order to discover it? The answer is just around the corner.Today’s ThemeAt 65-Across, a phrase meaning [Short distance to travel] doubles as a hint to 17-, 27- and 49-Across. That’s a HOP, SKIP AND A JUMP — an impressively long entry for such a short distance. But what’s this hint business about?Let’s cover our theme set. A certain [Song character who comes “down the bunny trail”] is PETER COTTONTAIL (17A). You can describe [Someone who says the same thing again and again, metaphorically] as a BROKEN RECORD (27A). And [One having an ice time at the Olympics?] is a FIGURE SKATER (49A), which I resent myself for chuckling at.You’ve probably solved plenty of crossword puzzles in which the revealer applied to all of the themed entries. There’s a fresh twist here: Each word in the revealer describes only one themed entry, and the phrase moves consecutively through the grid. PETER COTTONTAIL can HOP, a BROKEN RECORD is said to SKIP and a FIGURE SKATER can perform a JUMP.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

Colin Adams opens our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — This is not a scientific theory by any means, but once in a while I become convinced that solving a puzzle allows me to tap into a constructor’s mind-set at the time the grid was made. The fill is usually what gives it away.Reading the constructor’s emotions via crossword puzzle is a lot like reading tea leaves in the sense that I am making this up as I go along. But since Colin Adams, the mastermind of today’s puzzle, said in his Constructor Notes that he had a worrisome time filling the southwest corner and 38D somehow wound up in that section, I’m willing to bet that it wasn’t an accident. That was Mr. Adams’s call for divine intervention.He needn’t have worried. Mr. Adams’s second puzzle in The New York Times (his debut was in February) is a fun and accessible grid with lively cluing. I’m looking forward to more from him.Tricky Clues22A. This clue, [Ones used to working from home?], is not talking about people with home offices, but about UMPS who work behind home plates.24A. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that Mittens in [Mittens might fiddle with this one] didn’t refer to hand coverings, but to a cat by that name. Mittens likes to play with a CAT TOY.

I think there’s something wrong with your duck…Imgur.comWe 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

Jesse Goldberg goes puzzle-hopping.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Is it wrong to covet someone else’s brain? I’m asking because, after solving today’s crossword, I really wish I had Jesse Goldberg’s. How he managed to craft his grid’s theme is beyond me, even with the inspiration cited in his constructor notes. Maybe I can offer up my brain in exchange for his — I’ll get his brilliance, and he’ll get my disturbingly weird dreams.This is Mr. Goldberg’s fourth puzzle for The New York Times. I’m looking forward to seeing where his enviable imagination takes us next.Today’s ThemeWhen you’re already stumped by the first clue of a crossword puzzle, you know there’s something special in store. At 1-Across, [Chicken par_ _ _ _ _ in fat] seems to be asking us to fill in its blanks. But with what? My first thought was “boiled,” which didn’t fit. Also, I have a feeling that parboiling chicken in fat might be absurd.We get an easier hint at 9-Across: The ending of [Hurdles for doct_ _ _ _ _tudents]. The ending looks as if it should be “students,” and the first part could be “doctoral.” Here’s where the magic happens: If we fill the clue’s missing letters into our entry squares, we get ORALS. And the oral defense of a dissertation can be a hurdle for a doctoral student. Another example, at 65-Across: The missing letters [Pitcher’s positio_ _ _ _ _e lineup, historically] should make this clue read “Pitcher’s position in the lineup, historically.” That position — at least before the introduction of designated hitters — is spelled out by the missing letters: NINTH.That [Chicken part high in fat], by the way, is a THIGH.Between identifying the letters of several words within the clue, writing the letters into an entry as a single word, and then making sure that the entry word actually solves the clue, I think I gave myself whiplash. (And the only prescription is more Crossword.)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

Julia Hoepner makes her New York Times debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — If you’re coming to this column before having solved today’s crossword, constructed by Julia Hoepner, then allow me to prepare you for the visceral reaction you may have to 68-Across. The overall theme is wonderful, but that revealer is almost certain to inspire groans for reasons beyond the puzzle.If you do experience a jolt — or, should I say, a jilt — of recognition, take heart in the fact that thousands of solvers around the world are probably doing the same. I also have to wonder, given the subject matter: Was it intentional not to have any X’s in this puzzle?Today’s ThemeShaded squares in the grid tell us where to find the themed content, but we’ve still got to figure out what we’re looking at. For instance, at 38-Across, there’s an [Epigram or elegy] — a POEM, with the letter M shaded. To the right, at 40A, we have a word meaning [Set straight], ALIGN, with all of its letters shaded. And to the right of that, at 42A, there’s [Opposed to]. That’s ANTI, with only the first three letters shaded.String these shaded letters together and you get MALIGNANT. The key to interpreting this is at 68-Across, with an expression that refers to the [Messy end of a relationship]: a BAD BREAKUP.MALIGNANT means very bad, and it’s been “broken up” across entries. With that in mind, have a look around. You may find that there’s something ROTTEN split between 17- and 18A, or an ICKY feeling between 26- and 30A. Gosh, there’s a lot of bad stuff in here! And I mean that as a compliment.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

Refrain from making assumptions about Zachary David Levy’s puzzle.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Zachary David Levy knows his audience. I say this because Mr. Levy, who constructed today’s puzzle, opted to use a Scrabble reference to reveal his theme. While I hesitate to paint solvers of the New York Time Crossword with a wide brush, I’m willing to bet this meant that many of you figured it out without missing a beat (or stroke, to continue the metaphor).My assumption is biased by my own love of Scrabble — I recently discovered that I owned two versions and had trouble convincing myself that I needed only one — so if your wordy board game affinities lie elsewhere, feel free to correct me! The only time that I mind being wrong is when it rains after I’ve left the house without an umbrella.Today’s ThemeThe [Coveted Scrabble space] at 58-Across is a TRIPLE-WORD SCORE. We’re told the entry also describes [the sheet music for 16-, 21-, 34- or 51-Across]. That’s because each of the themed entries is a song title consisting of three identical words. The [ABBA hit of 1979] (16A), for example, is “GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!” The [’NSync hit of 2000] (21A) was “BYE BYE BYE.” Since sheet music is also called a score, this gives us our TRIPLE-WORD SCORE.Solve the two remaining theme entries on your own, or click to reveal them below.34A. [Mötley Crüe hit of 1987]GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS51A. [Beach Boys hit of 1964]FUN, FUN, FUN 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