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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

What does Kenneth Cortes look for in a good crossword? Location, location, location.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Anyone who has tried to lease an apartment in New York City has probably learned to translate brokers’ euphemisms for crummy real estate. An “open concept” one-bedroom? That’s a studio. A place that’s “close to transportation” can just mean that it’s within earshot of subway tracks. You’ll love this “quiet” pad — all of your windows face brick walls!Kenneth Cortes, who constructed today’s puzzle, takes certain liberties in describing the grid’s real estate — but the use of language is clever rather than crooked. Today’s ThemeEach of this grid’s four sides has its own witty theme pair, with the inner entry giving us a hint to the outer entry’s location and meaning. At 17A, for example, a [Prime cut of beef … or 5-Across, literally?] is a TOP SIRLOIN. 5A is at the TOP of the grid, so we head up there for the clue [Texas Roadhouse specialty]. It solves to STEAK, which can be a cut of SIRLOIN.Let’s move east for one more example. At 11D, [One of four for a square … or 32-Down, literally?] is a RIGHT ANGLE. On the RIGHT side of the grid, at 32D, we need a word that suggests an ANGLE or a [Biased point of view]: SLANT.Keep moving clockwise to find the entries at the bottom and the left of the grid.Tricky Clues28A. [Eloquence] is known as the gift of GAB, which feels like a mismatch. Shouldn’t a word denoting eloquence be fancier? The gift of gabardine, maybe.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 Hawkins opens our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — This is purely anecdotal, but Kate Hawkins has managed to do something that I imagine few constructors can pull off. Once constructors are published, they sometimes create subsequent crosswords that stick to a certain part of the week: Some tend to be Monday constructors, while others love to make themeless puzzles that run toward the end of the week.This is Ms. Hawkins’s 14th published puzzle in The New York Times, and she has come very close to hitting for the full-week cycle. She needs only a Tuesday and a Sunday puzzle to have published one on every day of the week.Contributing 14 crosswords to a single outlet is an accomplishment in itself, but constructors who hit for the cycle must also become adept at making a variety of puzzles that follow different rules.Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday puzzle formats are similar, but the difficulty level of the clues must increase as the week goes on, either by virtue of the clue trickiness and wordplay or because of a visual element in the grid.Friday and Saturday puzzles are themeless and more open, which means the constructor must collect longer entries that pique the solvers’ interests, as well as come up with clues that are both entertaining and designed to fool even the veterans among us. And making Sunday puzzles? That’s simply an exercise in stamina and perseverance.Being able to design good puzzles for every day of the week requires skill, dedication and practice. I believe that Ms. Hawkins has developed all of these, and I enjoy her puzzles very much.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

Damon Gulczynski wants to make sure you’re paying attention.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — Verbal communication is a funny thing. I might say something to someone and assume the person heard me correctly, both in words and intent. Successful communication, however, does not happen as often as we would like.Damon Gulczynski’s puzzle isn’t difficult, but it may be easier to solve if you really focus on what he’s saying in the clues. I needed to repeat them to myself a few times before I understood what was going on. At some point, you may even slap your forehead, saying, “Ohh, that’s what he meant,” followed by, “You know what? That’s pretty clever.”Today’s ThemeEggcorns are words or phrases that are misheard or misinterpreted. If the misinterpretation occurs in a musical lyric, it is called a mondegreen. (Think “There’s a bathroom on the right” instead of “There’s a bad moon on the rise” in “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.)Mr. Gulczynski has written some crafty theme clues that contain eggcorns, and, once you understand what he means, the answers will make much more sense.I can tell you, for example, and with apologies to the French, that Americans don’t think of the EIFFEL TOWER as a [Rod-shaped parasite]. We might, however, refer to it as a “Paris sight” or “site” (both are appropriate here).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

Samuel A. Donaldson gives us a chance to beat him fair and square.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — You’ve probably heard me whine about my distaste for math before. The truth is that I don’t actually hate it: Math seems cool! I envy the heck out of Will Hunting, or really anyone who can write a long and complex equation spanning several chalkboards. I just wish that it came naturally to me.That’s why the theme for today’s crossword, constructed by Samuel A. Donaldson, gave me such a thrill: I was suddenly, albeit briefly, pretty good with numbers. The calculations in the grid are simple — we are still a word puzzle, after all — but I think you’ll feel, as I did, that the combination of mathematics and language adds up to something special. Or does it multiply?Today’s ThemeA certain [hairstylist’s observation], split between 48- and 56-Across, doubles as a key calculation to solve Mr. Donaldson’s theme: YOUR ROOTS ARE SHOWING. The themed entries, at 17-, 25- and 34-Across, refer to common phrases that include a number. But instead of the actual number, we need to write its square root into the grid.Luckily, these entries are mere tricks of language. Imagine how disappointing [Seventh heaven] would be if you felt like you were on CLOUD THREE instead of cloud nine.Tricky Clues20A. Unlike other university sports teams, whose nicknames often have something to do with their mascots or states, [Virginia Tech athletes] are called HOKIES only because a past student dreamed it up during a cheer contest at the turn of the 20th century.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

Shaun Phillips is back again already? You better believe it.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Shaun Phillips made his New York Times Crossword debut just two weeks ago. You might remember his puzzle, which appeared on a Wednesday, for its visual cleverness: The black squares formed the arm of a claw machine, which was also the theme.Given the hundreds of submissions we receive each week, it might be surprising to see Mr. Phillips back so soon. But today’s theme suggests that he might actually like keeping us in a state of mild disbelief. Will he return with a third puzzle two weeks from now? Time will tell. And if he does, I will have foretold the time. Does that work? Moving on.Today’s Theme[The answers to the starred clues in this puzzle] (49D) are just MYTHS, right?Either way, the folklore that shrouds the figures in this puzzle — SANTA CLAUS (53A) and the LOCH NESS MONSTER (46A) among them — is key to the wordplay at 32-Across: The phrase that means [“Seriously?!” … or what one might ask of the answers to starred clues in this puzzle?] is ARE YOU FOR REAL?I learned that the TOOTH FAIRY (17A) wasn’t real after losing the last of my baby teeth, when I felt my mother slipping money under my pillow. Rather than outing my parents in the morning, I hid the cash and complained that I hadn’t received my usual gift. My mother, baffled by this news and unable to confess, was forced to hand me some more as a consolation.Tricky Clues19A. I blame the frequency illusion — the false sense of seeing something everywhere shortly after you first notice it — for the fact that, mere hours after learning that [Southern cornbread] was called PONE, I came across some in the pastry display of a local cafe.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

Hemant Mehta opens our solving weekend with one of the crunchiest crosswords in recent memory.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — Once in a while, readers may hear commenters refer to grids as crunchy or chewy. When applied to crosswords, the terms are interchangeable, and the best way to define them that I can think of is to compare them to peanut butter. Stay with me on this.An easy puzzle that flows well is like smooth peanut butter.A crunchy puzzle is like extra-chunky peanut butter. There are smooth areas, and there are areas that require a bit more chewing. The crunchy parts are unique and fun entries that will give you a run for your money, but you are willing to put in the work because you’re having a good time.The Wordplay column is the refreshing beverage you drink after you finish, to help pry the puzzle off the roof of your mouth.See? It’s a very useful analogy.Anyway, Hemant Mehta offers a puzzle that requires a considerable amount of chewing, and I definitely had a good time. His crossword is packed with unique entries (a whopping 10 debuts, by my count), and many of the clues contain that devious wordplay that Mr. Mehta mentions in his note below.So crunch away on today’s puzzle. I thought it was delicious, and I hope you will, too.Tricky Clues19A. [Short elevations?] should be read as “A shortened version of a word that means elevations.” The answer is HTS, which is short for “heights.”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