Bounce to: Immediately’s Theme | Tough Clues
TUESDAY PUZZLE — Rena Cohen made her New York Occasions Crossword debut in 2024 with an excellent head-scratcher of a Thursday puzzle: It performed with the idea of a lie detector by that includes the phrase “lie” in rebus squares that spiked above the entries to which they belonged, giving the entire thing the looks of a polygraph take a look at.
You may assume it uncommon that Ms. Cohen, who’s a graduate of the Various Crossword Constructor Fellowship, has saved largely to Monday and Tuesday grids since then. Is she going simple on us? I doubt it. The development of early-week puzzles is usually more difficult than crafting the superior ones, and assembling a decent theme set with simply the correct quantity of beginner-friendly bounce is not any small feat. If something, such puzzles merely show Ms. Cohen’s versatility; they affirm that, regardless of what this grid’s theme might counsel, she’s not all speak.
Immediately’s Theme
Within the absence of a revealer clue, 17A serves as a touch: The puzzle is ON MESSAGE (17A), in that every of right this moment’s themed entries are widespread expressions that play on parts of communication. [“Eye on the ball,” “Get under it!,” “I got it!,” etc.] are CATCH PHRASES (20A) — as in, phrases about catching a ball. An inventory made up of [Mink, ferret, stoat, etc.] could be titled WEASEL WORDS (35A), as a result of these are phrases describing weasels. Asserting [“Ta-da,” “All done,” “There you have it,” etc.] upon finishing a activity could possibly be utilizing FINISH LINES (44A). And [Yield, Stop, Dead End, etc.] are varied SIGN LANGUAGES. Nyuk, nyuk.
Tough Clues
9A. I’ve misplaced hair making an attempt to parse crossword entries that include multiple phrase, or a mixture of letters and phrases. Living proof: A [Good thing to bring to a competition] is your A-GAME. It’s neither “agame,” no matter that’s, nor merely “a sport.”
53A. [Crafters’ knives] is a clue reduce from the identical material: The reply is X-ACTO. (I believed the spelling was “exacto” till I began fixing crosswords.)
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