Suits From Around the Globe

Jump to: Tricky Clues

Note to readers: In the past, Wordplay indicated crossword clues with quotation marks. In crossword construction and editing, though, clues are typically indicated by brackets, a practice Wordplay is now following.

FRIDAY PUZZLE — In any themeless puzzle, there should ideally be a lot of open space (read: fewer black squares) so that the constructor can pack the grid with long, interesting entries. I consider these lively entries my reward for wrangling all of the shorter fill that I encounter earlier in the week. And when they are triple-stacked the way they are in Billy Bratton’s crossword, with exciting entries in all four quadrants, a good time is certain to be had by all. Or by most of us, anyway.

I predict that there will be what I like to call the Goldilocks reaction to Mr. Bratton’s 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 do have: a crossword with sizzling entries and fun clues. In particular, I loved 8D. The entry is a fairly common phrase, yet it is making its New York Times Crossword debut. It was fun to see the clue call our attention with a red siren emoji on each side of it.

Whether you did or didn’t struggle with Mr. Bratton’s puzzle is unimportant, in my opinion. I just hope you enjoyed the experience. Remember, crosswords are games, and games are meant to be fun.

Tricky Clues

15A. The [Notes taken by a single person?] are musical notes, and that person is singing or playing a SOLO.

16A. Not only is [Condescendingly spells out] a synonym for MANSPLAINS, but that spelling out is typically also done to someone who is already an expert in the area that is being explained.

24A. Clues that end in “e.g.” suggest a category that the rest of the clue belongs to. For example, [Scottish fold and Russian blue, e.g.] are cat BREEDS.

35A. Today I learned about Popeye Village, a resort in MALTA that was originally built as the film set for the 1980 production of “Popeye,” starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall.

36A. Did your brain first interpret [Peddled good] as “Pedaled good?” Mine did, too. This clue has nothing to do with bicycles, however. The peddling is selling, and the good that is being sold is a WARE.

51A. This [Sign of sluggishness?] is not a comment on health. The answer is SLIME, because we are supposed to be thinking about gastropods.

3D. If something [Didn’t go down well?], it means that a person had trouble swallowing, or that news wasn’t received well. In this puzzle, the thing that didn’t go down well is usually a watercraft, which means that it SANK.

5D. Yesterday, some of our international readers wrote about the U.S.-centric nature of Ella Dershowitz’s puzzle. Mr. Bratton’s puzzle offers an international comparison, [Dummies : pacifiers :: ___ : diapers]. Pacifiers are often called dummies outside the United States, and diapers are called NAPPIES.

8D. What a lively clue, which enters our consciousness with sirens screaming. The answer to [🚨 “Serious situation developing!” 🚨] is THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

13D. With the question mark in [Blue yarn?], we know that we’re not just thinking about yarn that is blue. When people are blue, they are sad (or Na’vi), and yarn is a synonym for story. Put them together and you have SOB STORY.

24D. I do love a cheeky clue. [Rings given to a lover] are not necessarily jewelry. These rings are phone calls or, more specifically, BOOTY CALLS.

25D. When you see the word “nesting” in the clue [One might be nesting], you probably think about birds, but that’s not where this clue is going. We’re supposed to be thinking about a Russian matryoshka DOLL.

42D. What a cute clue! The [Dome-icile?] in this puzzle is an IGLOO.

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