Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues
THURSDAY PUZZLE — A crossword is probably the last place you would expect to learn about someone’s life philosophy, but Joe Marquez, the constructor of today’s puzzle, lays his outlook on us.
The thing is, you’re going to have to look for it. Mr. Marquez seems to enjoy hiding things in his grids, and his fourth puzzle for The New York Times is no different.
Today’s Theme
When you’ve been around long enough, you begin to understand that life is not really a straight timeline, despite what our history books may show us. Our time here is a series of UPS AND DOWNS (57A), as well as a “big ball of wibbly, wobbly, time-y wimey stuff,” especially if you are a fan of “Doctor Who.”
Mr. Marquez found a way to illustrate these [Uncertainties of life … or a feature of four answers in this puzzle?] using three circled squares rising vertically from each theme entry. To understand the answer, you need to start at the beginning, read the letters in the circled squares upward and then downward, and then continue to the end of the entry.
For example, at 23A, I’m sure we are all in agreement that the answer to [Groundbreaking medical procedure first accomplished in 1967] is not a HEANSPLANT. It’s a HEART TRANSPLANT, which is read as follows:
Let’s try one more. At 52A, the answer to the clue [Has a clouded mind] as written is CANTRAIGHT, which is definitely not right. But if we go through the UPS AND DOWNS of the circled squares attached to that entry, we can read it as CAN’T SEE STRAIGHT.
Tricky Clues
1A. The [First U.S. prez to be born outside the original 13 colonies] was ABE Lincoln. If you are new to solving, the abbreviation of the word “prez” indicates that his shortened nickname should be used, rather than his full name.
20A. Phone clues bamboozle a lot of solvers, for some reason. If you look at the numbered buttons on your phone, you’ll see that the DEF key also contains the number THREE.
31A. I am obsessed with the television show “Severance,” and all of its references to innies and outies, so imagine my surprise when I solved the entry OUTIE from the crossings. Then I read the clue [Only about 10% of Americans have one] and thought with horror: My God! Are most of us severed? It turns out that we’re supposed to be thinking about belly buttons. By the way, if you are a fan of the show, and our games, you will love this TikTok:
34A. The Shakers are a community of pacifists who are admired for their contributions to art and architecture. In this puzzle, however, the things that are shaking are quaking ASPENS.
19D. The clue [Work on a sub?] is not about serving on a submarine, it’s about sitting down to EAT a submarine sandwich.
55D. The [Base for a proposal?] is supposedly a bended KNEE.
58D. You might change places if you [Switch positions], but in Mr. Marquez’s puzzle, the positions are the ONS, as opposed to the offs.
Constructor Notes
I’m glad to be back in The Times, almost a year after my last puzzle! This puzzle was inspired by a palindrome I noticed within the name BIL(LIE EIL)ISH. A quick Python script gave me a couple dozen phrases that had the same property.
Some entries that I liked but had to leave out of the puzzle include:
W(RAP PAR)TY
ATLAN(TIC CIT)Y
TO(NAL LAN)GUAGE
KANG(AROO RA)T
TOO (HOT TO H)ANDLE
Join Our Other Game Discussions
Want to be part of the conversation about New York Times Games, or maybe get some help with a particularly thorny puzzle? Here are the:
Spelling Bee Forum
Wordle Review
Connections Companion