Go to: Today’s Topic | Clever clues
MONDAY PUZZLE — I believe many of you, as puzzle lovers, have already come across a New York Times game called Strands. This is a missing word search that relies on puns for its themes. The current version is still in beta, but I mention it here because the sly spirit that makes puzzles so much fun is present in spades in today’s crossword puzzle constructed by Alana Platt.
Ms. Plath’s theme entries, like the hidden phrases in a word search puzzle, are not easily seen. Even after solving the revealer, I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. But after my “aha!” for a moment I bounced around the grill again just to enjoy the cleverness of the finished product. Congratulations to Ms. Platt on a dynamic debut. I hope to see more of her soon.
Today’s topic
Although I don’t eat any Artfully Arranged Meats (35A), it was the only thematic clue that jumped out right away. The answer had to be CHARCUTERIE – although another version of this arrangement could be called a “girl’s dinner”. A Needle’s Cousin (32D) wasn’t too obscure either: THUMBTACK.
A phrase for “Assistance to run a non-profit organisation, say” (56A) tells us in some witty way “where to find” the entries above. ON THE BOARD describes where THUMBTACK can be found — a bulletin board after all — and how CHARCUTERIE is presented. WOOD GRAIN (10D), “The cross-sectional texture of wood,” is found on a floorboard. And I hardly need to tell you where to find a WAGON WAGON (17A).
I love that the grid is also kind of a board, which makes Ms. Platt’s reveal even more of a wink.
Clever clues
19A. How romantic is it to have a crossword that reads like a riddle: “What’s black and white and wet everywhere?” ORCA. Other answers that don’t fit into the table include: pictures in a dark room, a wet newspaper, or a nun after a water balloon fight.
32A. TRIP OUT seems like a difficult way of saying, “Get high on acid.” But what do I know? The closest to such an experience was probably watching The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.
40A. When trivia requires trial and error, as in the case of “About 37 million people shop on it every day, which is roughly equal to the population of Canada,” there’s nothing wrong with letting your imagination run wild a little. I first tried Wegmans (people love this supermarket) and then Sephora (people love makeup) before an intersection led me to the correct entry, WALMART.
60A. Ogden Nash’s line “So they flew through a flaw in ___” begins an alliteration pattern, so there’s a good chance this entry begins with FL-. And it does! The answer is the FLU.
1D. A more common phrase to describe a ‘quick visit’ might be ‘drop in’ – did you try that first too? – but resorting to “as a show” is what leads us to the correct answer, DUCK. In other words, there is a difference between a quick stop and a quick lean.
4D. I can’t remember the last time I put “Two fingers in the shape of an ‘L'” on my forehead to call someone a LOSER. Maybe I never did. But the reference lives on forever in Smash Mouth’s “All Star.” Who says I’m not a Shrek fan? (Actually, several commenters in a recent column.)
35D. If you’ve come to this column to complain about an “Iced Coffee Alternative,” come sit with me. The difference between iced coffee and COLD BREW is more than nominal, although the terms are often used interchangeably: While most iced coffee is first brewed hot, COLD BREW is made by steeping coffee grounds in room temperature water for up to 24 hours, then which dilution of the concentrate.
Designer’s Notes
This is my debut puzzle! I am a student at the University of Texas at Dallas, majoring in accounting. I also do crossword puzzles for my school newspaper, The Mercury. My other hobbies include fabric and fiber arts (knitting, crocheting and sewing) and traveling.
My family has always been into wordplay — usually puns and similar-sounding words — so this type of topic came naturally to me. My favorite puzzles to do are the ones that lead to an “aha!” moment for the solvers in the reveal.
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