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Daniel Raymon rides the current.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — Some crossword themes have punchlines. Others end in “aha!” moments. And some, like today’s theme, have no beginning or end at all. They merely drift into focus and then echo in our minds long after we’ve solved the puzzle. I have a soft spot for themes in this third category and was thrilled to find one in today’s crossword by Daniel Raymon.These gentle, revealerless themes tend to highlight something simple about language: the various uses of a cliché, for instance, or a specific way that words go together. Perhaps this kind of thing shouldn’t surprise me — a crossword being about words? what a concept! — but I love that these observations can still make me gasp a little gasp. And that’s just what I did today once Mr. Raymon’s theme was in view.Today’s ThemeAll of today’s themed clues are spoken, which is to say they appear between quotation marks, although they aren’t the only clues to do so in the puzzle. The way to identify them is not by their cluing, but by their common format: Each consists of the word AS, followed by a pronoun and a verb.The clue for 17A, [“Any option is fine by me”], for example, solves to AS YOU PLEASE. And for 21A, a more succinct way to say [“Or so the motto goes”] is AS THEY SAY. By contrast, a way to say [“What a surprise!”] stretches across 27A, 33D and 51A: AS I LIVE / AND / BREATHE!See if you can solve the remaining two themed entries at 59- and 65A and get to the finish line AS the crow flies.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

Kate Chin Park offers a challenging puzzle.FRIDAY PUZZLE — It has been a while since I’ve written a First Pass Friday, the occasional feature in which I show readers how I forged my way into the dreaded, second-hardest puzzle of the week (the hardest is on Saturday). I had trouble finding a way into Kate Chin Park’s entertaining, formidable puzzle, so I thought that some of you who are just starting to play the crossword might be interested in seeing how even an experienced solver can be tripped up. Based on the reader responses to earlier First Pass Fridays, it is also an excellent opportunity to feel smarter than me before the solving even begins. No, don’t thank me; that’s what I’m here for.The best way to break into a grid, in my opinion, is to scan the clue list and find the gimmes. Fill in the answers you definitely know first, and you’re in.Your gimmes may not be the same as my gimmes, and your knowledge base will be different from mine, and that’s OK. Work the crossings if you are having trouble with an entry. And don’t forget to take breaks when you’re stuck. That way, you can come back to the crossword with a refreshed brain. Keep a bag of chocolates nearby for when the going gets tough.But don’t be afraid of what’s ahead. A good late-week puzzle should make your heart sink a little.Fortunately for me, there were a couple of entries that I had committed to memory over the years because they appeared frequently and were usually clued in similar ways. For example, if there is a three-letter slot that is clued as [Adornment for a kimono], or that has anything to do with a kimono, the answer is invariably going to be OBI, a wide sash that wraps around the wearer’s waist. Similarly, if a five-letter slot is clued as [First name in cosmetics], you can bet that the answer will be ESTÉE, as in ESTÉE Lauder. The clue for 36D was a fill-in-the-blank of sorts, [Rae of “American Fiction”], which tripped the pop culture wire in my brain, and I was able to write in ISSA.Also, in the past, readers have asked why I solve using Autocheck. The answer is that I work on deadline and have to solve the puzzles quickly. This is how far I got during my first pass through the clues, and I’ve been doing this for 13 years.The New York TimesWe 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

Rajeswari Rajamani makes her New York Times Crossword debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — I’m always happy to welcome new constructors into the fold. I’m even more happy when they make their debuts on a Thursday — that beautiful, infuriating day of the week when any sort of wordplay or trickery can happen in the puzzles — because I get to witness a new voice emerging. So do you.This is Rajeswari Rajamani’s debut in The New York Times, and if this is any indication of her talent, I hope to see more from her. The theme set in her puzzle is particularly tight, and her clues make her mid-to-late-week puzzle very accessible. There’s even a neat trick that I will explain in the theme section. That’s enough to keep me happy on a Thursday.Ms. Rajamani finished the Diverse Crossword Constructors Fellowship under the tutelage of Sam Ezersky, one of our puzzle editors, and I think that he guided her well.“Raji was such a pleasure to work with!” Mr. Ezersky said. “An innate talent alongside an eagerness to learn really set her apart, and both of these attributes are nicely reflected in today’s puzzle.”Today’s ThemeI’d like to drop a pearl of experience (I wouldn’t call it wisdom, necessarily) that not everyone thinks about while solving: Sometimes, in order to solve a puzzle, you will have to go back and alter the clues themselves.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 and Ben Matz make their collaborative debut.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Jackson Matz’s first crossword for The New York Times, which was published in March, featured three 15-letter spanners: I COULD EAT A HORSE, CARE TO ELABORATE and SELF-DRIVING CARS. That’s a tough act to follow, even if you set the bar yourself. It seems Mr. Matz decided he wasn’t taking any chances, because this time he brought along his big brother Ben.The Matz brothers — or the brothers Matz, for a flourish — have combined forces to bring us a rollicking Wednesday grid, whose theme can be identified only by the revealer at the appointed hour (59-Across). Let’s take a look under the hood, shall we?Today’s ThemeThe [Song from “The Little Mermaid” that’s a phonetic hint to interpreting the answers to the starred clues] (59A) is UNDER THE SEA. In other words, removing the letter C from the beginning of each themed entry gives us the correct answer to the clue.Here’s one example: To [Rip off] (25D) your customers is to OVERCHARGE them, not to “cover charge” them — though I stand by the opinion that cover charges are generally a rip-off. Another example, at 11-Down: If you’re [Not moving fast enough], you are LOSING TIME.This is the third puzzle with a theme that plays on the homophony between the word “sea” and the letter C to come across my desk in recent months, but I’m tickled every time. Just a few weeks ago, Tarun Krishnamurthy’s debut puzzle for The Times featured the grammagram “sea anemone” (C-N-M-N-E). Last fall, Ella Dershowitz brought us a grid filled with “C creatures,” with words like “sponge” and “urchin” appearing on the grid in C-like curves.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

Jeffrey Martinovic and Will Nediger host a crossword.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTUESDAY PUZZLE — Jeffrey Martinovic and Will Nediger are having a party, and we’re all invited! Date? To be determined. Place? No idea. All I know is that, according to today’s crossword, the constructors have already sent their invitations and are eagerly awaiting our responses.First, though, we had better solve the puzzle. I’d count it as another toughie of a Tuesday — and, frankly, I’d expect nothing less from these two crossword-constructing powerhouses — but I have faith in all of you. What’s more, I have spoilers.Today’s ThemeBy [Acknowledging an invitation] from the constructors — R.S.V.P.-ING (60A), that is — we get [a hint to the starts of 19-, 32-, 39- and 49-Across]. Hmm. We’d better take a look at our themed entries and then come back to the interpretation.The [“And in this corner …” speaker] (19A) is a RING ANNOUNCER.To [Use non-lead pipes?] (32A), in a bit of witty misdirection, is to SING BACKUP.My solve was nearly thwarted by VING RHAMES (39A). I had only _ _ NGRHA _ _ _ for some time, and I sensed that the [Actor who plays Luther Stickell in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise] probably wasn’t the North Georgia Relic Hunters Association.PINGPONG BALLS (49A) are the [Projectiles tossed into cups of beer, in a drinking game].You’ll notice that we can spell R.S.V.P. using the first letter of each of these entries. But there’s a second dimension to the cleverness: Each letter is followed, in its entry, by ING. Thus, R.S.V.P.-ING.Tricky Clues16A. The [Restaurant handout that might come with crayons] is a KIDS’ MENU, though my first guess was an all-ages “place mat.” I see that I may be the only one who thinks adults should also be encouraged to doodle at restaurants.42A. Note the hyphen in [Uber- relative], which signals that we’re not looking for a competing ride-hailing app. Instead, this clue refers to a synonymous prefix: MEGA.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

Jeffrey Lease doubles down.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — At the beginning of your crossword journey (because what else would I call it?), the goal is just to solve the puzzle. Once you can comfortably reach that goal, you might start to challenge yourself not to ask anyone for help or look things up. You may even compete against your own solving speed. (You’ll often see solvers in the comments referring to a “PB,” short for their personal best on a given day.)I can’t say what my goal was when I started solving Jeffrey Lease’s puzzle. All I know is that I was flooded with a sense of accomplishment when the last letter (a correction of a previous guess, I’m not ashamed to admit) fell into place. I hope that you emerge from this puzzle a winner, too — whatever that means to you right now.Today’s ThemeWithout a revealer entry to make it obvious, we have to identify the puzzle’s pattern ourselves. What repeats itself throughout Mr. Lease’s grid? A couple of things, actually.The [Cry from someone who has finally had it] (16A) is ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! A [Sarcastic non-apology] (26A) is SORRY NOT SORRY. Is there an echo in here? Kidding. These entries are just common expressions that use word repetition. The pattern continues with the [Perennial optimist’s motto] (48A) NEVER SAY NEVER, and a [Way to make incremental progress] (63A) — LITTLE BY LITTLE.Tricky Clues4A. When something is [Impressively done], we might refer to it as a BANG-UP job. But why? The word “bang” began as pure onomatopoeia in the 16th century to describe the pounding of a hammer. In the 19th century, it came to be used as an adverb — soon with the addition of “-up” — denoting a standard of precision or excellence. The new usage makes sense given the word’s original meaning: You’ve got to bang a nail right on its head if you don’t want to lose a thumb.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

Andy Kravis returns after a two-year absence with a lively puzzle.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — I’ve missed Andy Kravis: His most recent crossword in The New York Times was published a little more than two years ago.Maybe he has just been busy as an associate editor of puzzles and games at The New Yorker, but it’s nice to see his byline again. You can always count on Mr. Kravis to pack his puzzles with exciting fill and mind-bending clues.Let’s dig in.Tricky Clues1A. The coverage in the clue [Letters of coverage] is sunblock, and the letters we associate with sunblock are SPF. I also appreciate the pun on the phrase “letters of courage.”22A. I particularly enjoyed the clue [French buns] for DERRIÈRE, because I, like the puzzle editors, am 12 years old.36A. The [Jam session?] in this puzzle is not a musical one. It’s a SLAM-DUNK CONTEST, in which basketball players compete to see who can jam the ball into the basket within certain time constraints.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