THURSDAY PUZZLE — I’ve been pretty busy lately with my recent staycation — thank you to Caitlin Lovinger and Helen Verongos for steering the ship in my absence — but I would never shoo away people like Kurt Weller seems to be doing. Maybe he’s just stressed out. Or maybe he has a reason for saying “I’m busy!” as he does at 71A.
Either way, Mr. Weller makes a very clever debut today in the New York Times Crossword. Although you may find yourself a little confused before you get there, the “aha!” moment is totally worth it.
Tricky Clues
49A. The only reason I knew that the PEGASUS was the winged horse of Greek legend was because my father used to work for the Mobil oil company. The PEGASUS is its symbol.
54A. TIL (Today I Learned) that the appendage that an ant uses to feel things is called a PALP.
70A. My son takes umbrage with this clue for STY: “Many a dorm room, in a manner of speaking.” You just can’t hear him, because his plaintive cries are muffled by the mess.
28D. Hi, kids! You might have seen the stage play. Maybe you’ve watched the movie from 1978. Why, you might have even had a role in your school’s production of “Grease,” which is put on by every educational institution in the United States under the Mandatory Parental School Play Attendance Act. The actress DIDI Conn played the role of the aspiring beautician Frenchie in the film, and here’s how she got the part:
38D. To “Sound off?” means to count out loud in order to be accounted for, but with that question mark we need to think of what else it might mean. If we turn the sound off, we MUTE it.
Today’s Theme
We have seen this type of theme before, but have we seen one that involves two unique letters? Our crosswords editor, Will Shortz, believes this is a first in the pages of The Times.
You may find yourself a bit disconcerted about the answers to some of the clues in Mr. Weller’s puzzle. He’s from Australia (Greetings, Australian solvers!), so could it be some slang with which we Yanks are unfamiliar?
Unlikely. You know those Thursday puzzles. There is definitely something going on here.
I mean, everything looks fine. You might solve this entire puzzle without seeing the theme, and while having only a vague “hmm” feeling throughout. But some of those answers just don’t make sense.
Let’s look at a random entry, say, 12D. The clue is “Wrought,” but the answer is COARSE. Could “wrought” have another meaning?
Not if you look at the revealer. At 71A, the answer to the clue “‘I’m busy!’ … or, if read in four pieces, an aid in solving several clues here” is NOT NOW. Again with the shooing.
Wait. The hint “if read in four pieces” mean we have to break up that revealer. If we read it in four pieces, the answer is really NO T NO W.
We have to remove the T and the W from each theme clue.
So “Wrought” is really “Rough,” and that is an appropriate synonym for COARSE.
And right out of the box at 1A: Take the T and the W out of “Twice over,” and you get “Ice over,” a perfectly cromulent clue for FREEZE.
Good on ya, Mr. Weller. Hope to see more from you soon.
Constructor Notes
Greetings from Australia! As you read this, I am likely to be FAST ASLEEP! Let me fill you in (pun intended) on how this Aussie came to have his crossword appear in your world-renowned newspaper.
Christmas holidays in Australia are for surf, sun and sand … and for myself growing up: puzzles! Tucked inside a caravan, north of Brisbane at Coolum Beach, is where I found a love for crosswords, wordplay and puzzles. While the holiday high times were spent playing on the waterfront, the down times were spent snoozing in the cool breeze, reading a good book or huddling around the camp table with my family searching our collective mental resources for crossword answers. I also enjoyed creating word puzzles for my family to try. I remember my first as a child was a word search that I couldn’t stop beaming about around the caravan park.
But as I aged, my love of crosswords waned somewhat. See, unless you enjoy a good cryptic crossword (which at times I do), my experience of crosswords in Australia is that they are quite straightforward. No themes, no intricate construction, no wordplay — just the satisfaction of a completed puzzle.
You can imagine my delight when I came upon the New York Times Crossword app two years ago! It wasn’t long before I was hooked again. You can imagine my ecstasy when I found out that anyone can write and submit a crossword for a chance to have it published.
I enjoy all the New York Times crosswords throughout the week but I love, love, LOVE the Thursday puzzles. The mix of wordplay, complexity and tricky cluing is my kind of puzzle! The first one I attempted to solve two years ago involved rebuses. I admit, I had to cheat and look up the solution. I remember thinking, “What?! There’s more than one letter in these boxes! … Amazing!!!” In my mind, it’s no wonder that my debut submission is a Thursday puzzle.
As many constructors do, I came up with the revealer first (and you’ll see that great minds think alike if you tried Robyn Weintraub’s July 23 puzzle). I soon realized, though, that my ambitions of having numerous theme answers that hold symmetry would be difficult to accomplish. It’s not as easy as I thought to add a T and a W to other words to create meaningful and misleading clues. Further to that, creating the remaining clues without using T or W was also a strain. The letter T feels as if it’s in everything when all you’re trying to do is avoid it! But through persistence, a rejection, some early constructions with very ugly fill, and a little help from Will, Sam and the team, I have something I am proud to call my debut NO MATTER WHICH way I look at it.
A big thank-you to the editors for the feedback and crossword writing tips that come with each submission. I am sure to try my hand at many more in the future. From Down Under, enjoy!
The Tipping Point
Almost finished solving but need a bit more help? We’ve got you covered.
Warning: There be spoilers ahead, but subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.
Trying to get back to the puzzle page? Right here.
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