Jump to: Tricky Clues
Friday Puzzle – In any themeless puzzle, there should ideally be plenty of open space (read: fewer black squares) so the creator can fill the grid with long, interesting entries. I consider these lively entries my reward for all the short fill-ins I got earlier in the week. And when they're triple-stacked like Billy Bratton's crossword, with exciting entries in all four quadrants, it's sure to be a good time for all. Or for most of us, anyway.
My guess is that Mr. Bratton will have a Goldilocks reaction to the puzzle (“This puzzle is too easy!” or “No, this puzzle is too hard!”). But perhaps we can take a moment away from the competition to appreciate what we have: a crossword with great entries and fun clues. In particular, I loved 8D. The entry is a fairly common phrase, yet it's making its debut in the New York Times crossword. It was fun to see the clue catch our attention with the red siren emojis on each side.
In my opinion, whether or not you struggled with Mr. Bratton's puzzle is not important. I just hope you enjoyed the experience. Remember, crosswords are a game, and the purpose of a game is to have fun.
16A. not only [Condescendingly spells out] A synonym for MANSPLAINS, but this spelling is also usually given to someone who is already an expert in the field being explained.
24A. Clues ending in “e.g.” suggest a category to which the rest of the clue belongs. For example, [Scottish fold and Russian blue, e.g.] Cats are breeds.
35A. Today I learned about Popeye Village, a resort in Malta originally built as a film set for the 1980 production “Popeye,” starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall.
36A. Did your brain interpret it first? [Peddled good] Like “Is the pedal good?” That was mine too. However, this clue has nothing to do with bicycles. To pedal is to sell, and the item being sold is a ware.
51A. This [Sign of sluggishness?] This is not a comment on health. The answer is slime, because we should think of gastropods.
3D. If anything [Didn’t go down well?]It means that a person had trouble swallowing or that the news was not well received. In this puzzle, the thing that did not go well is usually a ship, which means it sank.
5d. Yesterday, some of our international readers wrote about the US-centric nature of Ella Dershowitz's puzzle. Mr. Bratton's puzzle offers an international comparison, [Dummies : pacifiers :: ___ : diapers]Outside the United States pacifiers are often called dummies, and diapers are called nappies.
8D. What a vivid clue that enters our consciousness with the sound of the siren. [🚨 “Serious situation developing!” 🚨] This is not a practice.
13d. with question mark [Blue yarn?]We know we're not just thinking of the blue thread. When people are blue, they're sad (or noob), and the thread is synonymous with story. Put them together and you get SOB STORY.
24 D. I love cheeky clues. [Rings given to a lover] These rings don't have to be jewelry. These rings are phone calls or, more precisely, booty calls.
25D. When you see the word “nesting” in the clue [One might be nesting]You probably think of birds, but this clue is not leading us to that. We should think of a Russian matryoshka doll.
42D. What a lovely clue! [Dome-icile?] This puzzle features an igloo.
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Proceed through our guide, “How to Solve the New York Times Crossword.” It has explanations of most types of clues you'll find in the puzzles and a practice mini at the end of each section.