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WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Brad Wiegmann’s puzzle has no big reveal — unlike the magician in this column’s image, yuk yuk — but I think the piecemeal discovery of his theme inspires just as much of an electric jolt. I couldn’t decide what impressed me more: Mr. Wiegmann’s constructing skills, or the uncanny coincidences of the English language that made up his theme. In the end, I settled on admiring both.

Today’s Theme

When devising a theme, constructors often make certain concessions regarding the intelligibility of their clues or entries. In Alissa Revness and Chloe Revery’s clever letter-swapping puzzle from January, for instance, the theme needed bizarrely elaborate clues and nonsensical entries in order to work.

Mr. Wiegmann, however, has managed to include common expressions on both sides of the equation. His themed clues are idiomatic two-word phrases, and his themed entries are single compound words whose halves mirror the terms used in the idioms. “Wait + see” (16A) solves to STOPWATCH because “wait” can mean “stop,” and “see” can mean “watch.” Combine two synonyms for “Give + take” (25A), and you get HANDHOLD.

Speaking of HANDHOLDing, I don’t mean to do any more! Go ahead and enjoy discovering the rest of these entries — 36-, 51- and 60A — at your leisure.

Tricky Clues

5A. The solution to “Person of the year, for short?” is going to be some kind of play on the clue, on account of that question mark. It’s an ALUM, as in a person from a given year’s graduating class.

21A. We generally think of TINCT in the context of medicine, as in a tincture, but it can also mean a “Touch of color.” The word’s etymology suggests that one sense may refer to the other, as certain bygone medical ointments would discolor the skin.

39A. I was unfamiliar with the word PASEO, a Spanish term for an “Evening stroll.” Maybe it’s because I am so rarely strolling. What’s the Spanish term for an evening’s frenetic hurrying between social events?

3D. This “Cubs manager?” has no particular allegiance to Chicago, unless she happens to be a resident of the Lincoln Park Zoo — we’re talking about a LIONESS.

9D. The clue “Fixer-uppers, of a sort” relies on language from a previous clue, at 57A, to misdirect us. While 57A referred explicitly to a house needing T.L.C., 9D refers to the kind of fixing up that MATCHMAKERS do.

61D. “Between 90 and 100, say” is ambiguous. Is the clue a reference to old age? A description of near-perfection? Nope — it’s just an example of HOT temperature.

Constructor Notes

It’s hard to believe that SMACK-TALK has never appeared in a New York Times crossword until today. I’m not much for braggadocio, but for those unfamiliar with the art of it, crossword constructors’ SMACK-TALK typically goes something like this:

I’m such a crossword god
So many puzzles have I written
My reject pile is high
But that don’t mean that I’ll be quittin’

Cuz I’m a rock star of the grid
I’m the king of all them squares
The crossword groupies mob me
Even though I’ve got no hair

My word skills are superior
To rivals who are drearier
My fans are always cheerier
They admire my posterior

My fill is silky smooth, they say
It ain’t got any warts
My clues are tough, for crossword buffs
They even wow Will Shortz

My vocab is fantastic
Some might say bombastic
My humor’s so sarcastic
My crossword wealth’s dynastic!

I’m takin’ all my puzzles
All the way to New York City
I’m sure that I can sell ‘em
Cuz my themes they are so witty

They say they wanna buy one
’Cause my puzzle is the finest
And that ain’t no surprise
’Cause I’m the crossworld’s royal highness!

I gotta thank those clever cats
who run The New York Times
But now I gotta wrap it
’Cause I’m runnin’ out of rhymes!

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