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Freddie Cheng experiments with the initial phase of constructing.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — I’ve written about two of Freddie Cheng’s puzzles since I started working at The New York Times, which is a small fraction of the number he has constructed. But it took only those two grids for me to appreciate Mr. Cheng’s talent for identifying subtle patterns in the English language. He can play with diverse definitions of a single word. He can use a shared ending of proper nouns as a springboard for puns. His sense of humor shines through each puzzle, and it’s wonderfully original.Today’s crossword continues this artistic streak as Mr. Cheng curates a few phrases that share a notable grammatical feature. I never would have thought about the feature if not for this puzzle, and I’m thrilled that he’s brought it to our attention.Today’s ThemeAbbreviations often appear as crossword entries, but rarely do they make up the theme of an entire puzzle! Each of today’s themed entries is a common expression that ends with a three-letter abbreviation: At 17A, the way [Some movies were released, pre-streaming] — what a concept! — is DIRECT-TO-DVD. At 29A, the [Bruce Springsteen album with a red, white and blue cover] is BORN IN THE USA, released in 1984. And at 44A, the [Question to someone who’s on the way] is WHAT’S YOUR ETA?The final clue — [A piece of cake, so to speak] (59A) — is the only toughie, funnily enough, because two nearly identical phrases ending in three-letter terms fit the spaces. Only one phrase satisfies the constraints of the theme, though: It’s AS EASY AS ABC, because “pie” is not an abbreviation.If you want to be fussy — and at The Times, we often do — then don’t refer to the three-letter abbreviations in this puzzle as acronyms. They’re technically initialisms, which are distinct from acronyms in that they are pronounced by their letters rather than as words (think N.F.L. versus NAFTA).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

Jackson Matz opens our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — Jackson Matz, the constructor of today’s puzzle, is a high school senior who is going through the college application process, a notoriously stressful time in a teenager’s life. I don’t know if we can persuade his first choice of school to admit him, but perhaps if we all cross our fingers and send him good wishes we can help him out.While he’s waiting to hear back from colleges, Mr. Matz is making puzzles, which is a perfectly normal and relaxing thing to do when you’re under stress. (That’s a lot funnier if you’ve ever tried to construct a crossword.)Today’s puzzle has intersecting 15s, a feature that I love. It’s fun to take an overall guess at a grid-spanning entry, write in the letters one by one and hope that, by the time you get to the end of it, you have the entire thing correct. When a crossword has many of these crossing spanners, the fun increases, as does the amount of 10D that I can conquer in the grid by simply solving a few entries.Shorter answers can help fill in crossing entries, but for my money it’s those long answers that make solving themeless puzzles so much fun.Your thoughts?Tricky Clues1A. The philosophy of THEISM was [influenced by Aristotle’s concept of the Unmoved Mover], a being that represents God. According to Britannica.com:“Aristotle’s fundamental principle is that everything that is in motion is moved by something else, and he offers a number of (unconvincing) arguments to this effect. He then argues that there cannot be an infinite series of moved movers. If it is true that when A is in motion there must be some B that moves A, then if B is itself in motion there must be some C moving B, and so on. This series cannot go on forever, and so it must come to a halt in some X that is a cause of motion but does not move itself — an unmoved mover.”7A. As soon as I saw the phrase “pig tales” (as opposed to the hairstyle called “pig tails”) in the clue [Four-year-old in pig tales?], I assumed the answer was Fern, the young girl who rescued Wilbur, the pig in “Charlotte’s Web.” Unfortunately, that name didn’t fit the five-letter slot. Once I had the first and the last letter of 7A filled in, I realized that the answer was PEPPA Pig.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

Josh Goodman has some good advice for us.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — I enjoy themed crosswords, mostly because taking the time to understand a puzzle’s theme offers an extra bit of enjoyment for me. It’s like savoring a good dessert after — or even during — a meal.But sometimes the very thing that defines a theme — a set of ideas that all share something in common — can make solving it a bit of a letdown. Once you understand the reasoning behind one or two theme entries in a puzzle, it’s not that difficult to figure out the others.But what if today’s puzzle, by Josh Goodman, mixed things up a little? What if a crossword theme set contained entries that all had something in common, but the way you got to each answer was different? Now that would be interesting, and it would be interesting throughout the entire solve.Enjoy that dessert, my friends.Today’s ThemeMr. Goodman’s theme offers great advice for navigating the world, even though we didn’t exactly ask for it. Each tip begins with the word “Don’t …” and a hint about where to apply that advice, as in 17A’s [A proverb about risk: Don’t …]. That’s our overall theme. Now we just have to figure out what Mr. Goodman is trying to say to us.The puzzle contains rebuses in both senses of the word. Each theme entry must be interpreted by using the letters in the circled squares to understand the entry phrase. In addition, 17A contains a traditional crossword rebus in that it requires solvers to write more than one letter in each of the circled squares.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

Casey Callaghan and Will Nediger reach new heights in their collaboration debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Tourist season may be winding down in the Northern Hemisphere, but Casey Callaghan and Will Nediger are whisking us away for a last-minute vacation: Their crossword theme takes us on a sightseeing tour of Rome. As I prepare to spend all of my remaining vacation days for the year on a trip to the Maritime Provinces of Canada — which also means that this column will feature several guest stars over the next week or two — I’m thrilled about this bonus bit of travel.I’ll admit, however, that this grid is one of the more challenging Wednesday puzzles I’ve solved in recent memory, and that certain trivia-based entries made the puzzle feel more like a Friday crossword. That shouldn’t deter you from solving! I simply recommend tackling the grid from the safety of your comfiest chair, with a glass of whatever you please beside you.Today’s ThemeTo crack this multifaceted theme, start with 67A, an [Architectural attraction in Rome depicted by this puzzle’s grid?]. One must assume it has something to do with the circled letters that create a diagonal strip down the grid from left to right.This revealer clue, just like 29D, uses a question mark to indicate wordplay. THE SPANISH STEPS aren’t just an architectural attraction; they’re also hinted at by the Spanish numbers UNO, DOS, TRES and CUATRO in the circled squares, whose positions evoke the shape of a staircase.Then, we’ve got the [House of worship at the top of 67-Across] (17A). That’s the TRINITÀ DEI MONTI, a 16th-century Gothic church at the top of the Spanish Steps. Don’t feel bad if you got stuck here — unless you’re already familiar, this answer and THE SPANISH STEPS are nearly impossible to figure out without crossings. (Let that also be a reminder to us all to Use the Crossings, Luke.)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

Howard Neuthaler makes his New York Times Crossword debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — Do you believe in magic? There might be some of it in today’s crossword puzzle, constructed by Howard Neuthaler. I don’t know that I have convictions either way, but a skilled magician can, at the very least, persuade me to withhold my skepticism for an evening. Last year, for instance, I watched Penn & Teller perform a successful card trick on roughly 1,000 guests at a gala over Zoom. I have barely managed to pull my jaw off the floor since.Mr. Neuthaler’s talents will become evident once you start solving, though his trick is more about language than legerdemain. Today’s ThemeIf you begin your solve from the top-left corner, 17A is the first themed entry you’ll encounter. [“AB negatve?” or “B poditive”?] are two examples of a BLOOD TYPO. This is a play on “blood type.”At 28A, [Odysseus vis-à-vis Ulysses?] is the SAME HERO, because Ulysses is just a Latinized version of Odysseus. Here, the joke is subtler: It’s playing on a figure of speech, “same here.”We’ve just witnessed a brilliant illusion, and it’s explained by the phrase “Presto CHANGO!” (23D): At 17-, 28-, 41- and 52A, common expressions have their final E’s exchanged for O’s — which I’d suggest is also true of the word CHANGO, even though it’s spelled that way in the dictionary. Shouldn’t it be “change-O,” if anything? Aren’t you, too, compelled to rhyme CHANGO with “mango”?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

Boaz Moser makes his New York Times Crossword debut.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — It didn’t happen often, but on occasion, I used to sit down to solve a Friday puzzle only to discover that the grid contained a theme. That must be a mistake, I thought, with my brow furrowed. Fridays are always themeless puzzles. If the subsequent reader commentary and emails were any way to gauge the reaction to this supposed impossibility, I wasn’t alone in that assumption.I haven’t seen a themed Friday grid in a while, and while Boaz Moser’s debut for the New York Times Crossword does not actually contain a theme, I thought it did when I started solving. I have to admit, I got a little excited at the prospect of solving something a bit different.I originally thought Mr. Moser’s grid contained a theme was because of 1D and 26D. The two entries have twin clues and synonymous answers. They are both on the perimeter of the puzzle, which has been used as a place to “hide” theme entries, as this 2003 crossword does.Alas, that’s as far as today’s theme-that-was-not-a-theme goes, but no matter. Mr. Moser’s puzzle is packed with fun and unique entries, and I am looking forward to seeing more from him, theme or no theme.Tricky Clues1A. The “jackknives” in [What jackknives can help to carve] are exercises, not actual carving tools. They look like this and target, among other muscle groups, the ABS.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

Parker Higgins needs our help making good matches.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY 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 ThemeMr. 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.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

Barbara Lin reflects on common sayings.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Over the last few years, I’ve noticed the emergence of a strange tic in my speech: I swap the opening syllables of words. These swaps are called spoonerisms — and boy, do I spoonerize. I might think, for instance, about how much I enjoy solving crosswords, but then say aloud that I enjoy “crolving saucewords.” Ah yes, the saucewords! My favorite is “marinara.”I normally find these lapses in communication to be embarrassing, if not a worrisome portent of cognitive decline. But it’s likely that this tendency helped me to identify the theme of today’s crossword, which was constructed by Barbara Lin.Today’s ThemeTo allow a slang phrase or longer expression as a crossword entry, The New York Times’s puzzle editors have to deem it idiomatic enough to resonate with most solvers.Ms. Lin’s expressions are rather obscure in their forms as written; it’s only when you flip them that you discover something familiar. At 17A, for instance, to [Swim around, scare some people, ram a boat …?] solves to LIFE OF JAWS. That solution is true enough to the clue, but the more recognizable expression is its reverse: “Jaws of Life.” At 22A, a [Good quality for a midwife?] is a LOVE OF LABORS, but swap the nouns and you have the common expression “labors of love.”59A was my favorite of these reversals: [Jacket sleeves?] are ARMS OF COAT. Why yes, I thought, they certainly are.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