Games

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

Taylor Johnson and Rafael Musa are veteran constructors who are collaborating on a New York Times Crossword for the first time.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — I have collaborated on the construction of a crossword puzzle only once, and it was a fantastic experience. But, like all group projects, there was a certain amount of give-and-take. This exchange of ideas can be hard sometimes because there will always be disagreements: An entry you love may be nixed by your collaborator, or a clue that the other person loves may strike you as a bit off.That’s why I always love to hear about constructing teams that are on the same wavelength. Today we are solving Taylor Johnson and Rafael Musa’s first New York Times Crossword collaboration, a lively puzzle with 10-letter stacks that I really enjoyed. A brief commentary on a particular entry follows, after the spoiler alert.Spoiler Alert!

Spoilers No Spoilers GIFfrom Spoilers GIFs tenor.comHow can you not love a puzzle grid that has a fabulous entry like ARE YOU KIDDING ME plunging through its center?Tricky Clues14A. The clue [Takeoff announcement?] may make you think about buckling your seatbelt on an airplane, but the answer, I HAVE TO RUN, is simply about leaving.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

Brad Wiegmann’s puzzle theme is hard to pronounce.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — Constructors and puzzle editors are very good at writing tricky clues that misdirect solvers, but what do they do when they want you to pay attention to something specific in a puzzle?Today’s grid, constructed by Brad Wiegmann, offers a good example. I’ll talk more about that in the theme section.Today’s ThemeConstructors and editors have multiple ways to direct our attention to a special clue. Some clues include asterisks, some are capitalized and some are bolded. When you see a clue that fits one of those categories, assume that something tricky is up.Mr. Wiegmann’s theme consists of five phrases that are clued in unusual ways. How is an entry like EMMY AWARDS an answer to [MEDALS]? The last time I checked, Emmys were statuettes.But the puzzle makers wouldn’t just leave you hanging. There will always be a path to the correct answer. Try pronouncing the first two letters of each theme clue separately.M + E = EmmyNow look at the second word in the answer, AWARDS. [MEDALS] are types of AWARDS.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

Stacey Yaruss McCullough makes her New York Times debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — There are situations in which it pays to read between the lines, but a crossword theme with no revealer is not often one of them. So when you start to see the pattern in Stacey Yaruss McCullough’s crossword — her first puzzle for The New York Times — don’t think too hard about it. I speak from experience, having the capacity to overthink just about everything: crossword themes, text-message reactions, side eye from retail workers that I am certain means they dislike me.No such mental acrobatics are required here. Ms. McCullough’s theme is merely a guileless celebration of rhyme in the English language, which acts as a perfect counterweight to the challenge of the puzzle itself.Today’s ThemeRhyming makes everything just a little more whimsical, and Ms. McCullough has managed to have it on both sides of the crossword equation: Her themed clues rhyme, as do their entries. At 17A, [Gathering for a lathering?] is a RUB-A-DUB CLUB. [Jewels for fools?] at 26A could be called DING-A-LING BLING.You probably won’t hear anyone calling a [Fryer piled higher?] a CHOCK-A-BLOCK WOK, or a [Cup to drink up?] a CHUG-A-LUG MUG, but that can be the greatest gift of a crossword puzzle: We get to see and hear words combined in ways that they might never be otherwise. It’s dreamy stuff when you think about it.Tricky Clues36A. [Events at which you try not to lose track?] are MEETS (think track and field).60A. When you see “not” in a clue, its entry is often an opposite of the word provided. That gets tricky when a word’s meaning is ambiguous. Here, [Not out] means HOME. In a different puzzle, the same clue might have an answer like “safe” (as in baseball) or “secret.”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 Buchbinder shares a few of his favorite things.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — There’s nothing wrong with using the “Check” feature to probe a puzzle for mistakes. It can help you identify a false square, or isolate a specific entry that’s troubling you. Even Deb Amlen, my Wordplay colleague and one of the sharpest crossword solvers on the Games desk, recently reiterated her preference for solving the Crossword with Autocheck turned on.I admit that I’ve had trouble allowing myself to use the feature in the past. I convinced myself that, as long as a machine never identified my mistakes, it would be as though I hadn’t made any. My solving report card was unblemished.That all changed in today’s crossword, constructed by Sam Buchbinder, when the completion text insisted that I was at least one square off. I scanned my work over and over, but I couldn’t identify an error. Finally, I swallowed my pride and checked the puzzle, at which point I discovered that I had made a pair of wrong (but plausible) guesses at the intersection of 47-Down and 50-Across. Would you like to know what they were? I’ve laid out my embarrassment for all to see in the Tricky Clues section below.Today’s ThemeIf clever puns strike a chord with you, then you’ll really like what this puzzle has in store.Mr. Buchbinder has used the title of the [Best Picture winner of 1965] — THE SOUND OF MUSIC — as a witty descriptor for three entries in the grid, because the ends of those entries sound like the names of musical instruments. A [Superscript by a brand name], for instance, is a TRADEMARK SYMBOL (17A). The end of this term is a homophone for “cymbal.”I’ll leave you to identify the remaining homophones in 30- and 45-Across. Hint: They belong in the horn and string sections of an orchestra.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