Go to: Theme of the day | Tricky clues
Note to readers: In the past, Wordplay indicated crossword clues with quotation marks. However, in constructing and editing crosswords, clues are usually given in parentheses, a practice that Wordplay now follows..
THURSDAY PUZZLE — I’m hungry. Are you hungry?
Let’s get stuck into these crossword puzzles from Paolo Pasco and Sarah Sinclair. This should quell our cravings for a fun puzzle. If you’re solving online, try not to get any pixels stuck in your teeth; I no longer have grid wire.
And if you’re tempted to give up on this one for any reason, don’t: you’ll be in for a nice surprise when you’ve had enough.
Theme of the day
At first I thought that Mr. Pasco and Ms. Sinclair’s rounded grid represented a cell, with all its parts swirling inside, and that the reveal was going to be something like “Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell “.
I was disillusioned with this notion when I got to the actual revealer, at 26A, which says (Pepperoni, Mushroom, or Green Pepper…or what each group of black squares in this puzzle represents). The answer is PIZZA TOPPING, but I had a problem: the answer, like many entries in this puzzle, didn’t fit in its slot.
And we all know what that means. This means I spent a lot of time swearing at the puzzle and not filling in answers, which is the cue I use to recognize that the grid is full of rebus squares. These squares, located along the perimeter of the grid, are shaded for better visibility.
So we were served a large pizza with delicious toppings, but that doesn’t explain why we have rebus entries along the perimeter of the grill. This is alluded to in a second revealer, in 41A, which says (Characteristic of a luxury pie…and of this puzzle?). This luxury feature is a STUFFED CRUST, illustrated by the multiple letters that fill the shaded squares.
I hope you finish the pizza – sorry, I mean the puzzle – because when I entered that last letter, the grid came to life in a way that made me hungry for more.
Tricky clues
1A. My first guess for (Castle: France:: ___: Spain), before knowing the puzzles, was “casa”, but clearly I wasn’t thinking big enough. The answer is CASTILLO.
50A. When (Rough Houses?) is a word, it means to wrestle or play physically. In two words, it refers to literally rough houses, and the answer is STUCCOS.
66A. This (Vixen, for example) is not the traditional term for a spirited woman. It’s a REINDEER from Santa Claus.
3D. (The college team whose name is its home state minus two letters) is the Fighting ILLINI, and the missing letters are O and S.
17D. Did you think the constructors were talking about musical instruments in the clue (One of two heard in “This Kiss”)? Not this time. But there are two SHORT I’s in the sentence.
24D. When a crossword clue is put in parentheses within the puzzle itself, it prompts the solver to think of a non-verbal synonym. What would you do if you asked yourself ((Is it still good?))? You could SNIFF the object in question.
36D. An (artist whose work has a wide scope?) is a MURALIST, because many murals are large.
59D. Oh, I wish I was an Oscar MAYER sausage… that’s what I really wish I was…
Manufacturer’s notes
I’ve read a lot of builder’s notes over my life, but this is one of my favorites.
HOW TO MAKE PIZZA:
1. Think about Evan Birnholz’s “false starts” puzzle, as you do about once a week.
2. I wonder if there are other ways to create crosswords where each Across answer has a fun/tricky property.
3. Come up with an idea for a puzzle in which each Across answer begins with a two-letter rebus, with the revealer HEADS CRUSHED.
4. RETRACTED HEADS may not be the best thing for the breakfast test. Maybe pivot.
5. Adjust the idea in STUFFED CRUST, with the two-letter rebuses being at the beginning and end of each Across entry.
6. Take Sarah’s idea, which suggests a pizza-shaped grid, with two-letter puzzles around the “crust.”
7. Realize that this makes the idea good. Move forward with a collaboration.
News Source : www.nytimes.com
Gn tech
