Jump to: today’s theme | tricky clues
Wednesday Puzzles — If you think of crosswords as brain teasers, then you’d better prepare your brain with a warm-up activity. Some see the Mini as a gentle entry point into the puzzle of the day. My own routine is to have a cup of coffee and stare out my apartment window for a long time with blank eyes. If possible, I’d like to completely empty my head and just take in the atmosphere without thinking too much before solving.
But after today’s puzzle (Matt Fuchs and Victor Sloan’s collaboration debut), I think I need more warm-up. No atmosphere could prepare me for the challenge of these clues. I was sweating for sure, but my whole body was cramped due to lack of preparation. Woof.
Is there such a thing as a foam roller that works for the brain? (You seem to say it’s called a “martini,” but I’ll look for it when the sun goes down.)
today’s theme
Entries on today’s theme are paired and cross each other in ways that evoke common expressions. For example, on 3-Down, “At 14-Across, we present our first (and last) song of the season.” carol “Her Twelve Days of Christmas”.
Beyond 10D and 15A, you can see the “cause of hoarseness”. That means you have a frog in your throat.
Coincidentally, all representations include animals. Nice flourish, but not essential to appreciate the visual wordplay.
Speaking of crossword warm-ups, if you’re a novice solver who can tolerate this grid, consider trying Thursday’s puzzle. Today’s themes and clues require the same lateral thinking that later week’s puzzles require. Please refer to this guide first and use the “Rebus” function, as the Thursday theme may pack multiple characters into a single square to achieve the desired effect.
tricky clues
17A. Not all “cold sauces” are aiolis, but since the basic ingredient is mayonnaise, all aiolis are served cold. (Hot mayonnaise sounds like a nightmare, or the name of a punk band that doesn’t need to be seen.)
25A. The “former Middle East Alliance” is simply the UAR (United Arab Emirates). “Summary” may represent the life of his UAR. This alliance, which was a political union between Syria and Egypt, lasted only three years.
40A. We say that a person who has “lost everything” is bankrupt. A person who risks everything is also said to “go”. for Broken”, although the latter phrase echo of victory rather than failure.
44A. “Fruity red” here is not a wine variety, but a color. CERISE (meaning “cherry” in French).
63A.Introducing the euro area just once before The term “currency zone,” which appeared in the New York Times crossword, was completely foreign to me. I didn’t know there was such a thing! (Which currency do they use in “”?twilight zoneDo you need to unlock it with the ? key? denomination? I’m done with this; quit. )
1D. Representing the sound of rain or light footsteps, “Pi-a-pat” is a lovely onomatopoeia that’s impossible to guess.I suspect some of you, like me, may have been astonished by the presence of invisible hyphens and other forms of like that “Pitta”
11D. You have to sit down with a “flat sign, maybe” before realizing that the “apartment” in question is an apartment and there is a “sign” in front of it that says “TO LET”. (I spent far too long finding the rebus that turns this entry into her TOiLET — as if it somehow answered the clue.)
15D. The use of Japanese “straw mats” known as tatami mats is ancient. To Japan in the 8th century. In the 21st century, these mats are not only a popular form of decoration, but also useful words for spelling bees when you come across T, A, M, and I.
46D. while accepting, “Hey, Mom!” The correct fill here didn’t come to mind at first. The scene I find most “stereotypical” in Jumbotron is the kiss cam, where a candid camera forces the audience to close their lips at the behest of a screaming crowd.
Constructor note
mat: I can’t wait to see this puzzle run for my birthday! After the last Times puzzle, Victor sent me a letter saying he was interested in doing a crossword and asked me for a theme suggestion. There was no shortage of After he identified phrases like “pigs in a blanket,” we realized that we could express them using the intersection of Across and Down.
Since my last puzzle, I’ve started going to graduate school in architecture, so I’m hoping to find more time to do crosswords.
Victor: This puzzle is dedicated to the memory of my father, Gilbert Sloan, who passed away peacefully on May 24th at the age of 94. He hadn’t seen this puzzle in print, but he knew it had been accepted. Whenever we visited, we worked on puzzles together. The idea for this theme came from an English curiosity book, and I noticed that there are many animal idioms with the same form. Matt kindly agreed to work with me. We learned a lot from our collaboration.
I am a Peace Corps Rheumatologist (volunteer from 1981 to 1983). This October, his wife Sandra Gong and I will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We are proud parents to two wonderful daughters, a 24-year-old and her 19-year-old.
Why not submit your crossword to the New York Times?
Note: Submissions will temporarily close on July 3rd and will resume on July 17th. Puzzle editors will review puzzles that have already been submitted during that period, so you may still be contacted by puzzle editors while submissions are closed.
The New York Times Crossword has an open submission system, allowing you to submit puzzles online.
Read our How to Make a Crossword Puzzle series for tips on how to get started.
Hint, Ahoy!
Still feeling the drift? Subscribers can peek at the answer key.
Are you trying to navigate to the main gameplay page? You can find it here.
