Apply the same technique to other theme answers, relying on the crossing entries for help. At 17A, [Taps] is actually “spat,” so the answer is COUNTERARGUMENT. At 36A, [Paws] is parsed as “swap.” Its answer is FLIP OF A SWITCH. At 24A, [Trams] is “smart,” and a synonym for smart is “chic,” so the answer is RETRO CHIC, a fashion style that blends vintage and modern. Finally, 49A’s clue is [Dessert], or “tressed,” an adjective that describes hair. The answer is, delightfully, HAIRY BACK.
Tricky Clues
14A. Last week, my colleague Eleanor Kagan wrote that, sometimes, how a clue sounds is just as important as how it reads. This clue, [Meteor shower?], relies on different pronunciations of the word “shower.” It’s not SHAU-er, as in rainfall, but SHO-er, as in something that shows. Something that shows meteors is a TELESCOPE.
65A. When you’re playing a card game, [Everybody’s hands] are DEALS.
3D. Join the club — I’m making T-shirts that say, “I Read the Clue [Perceived Democratic electoral bloc] and Put ‘Blue Wave’ Instead of BLUE WALL and It Nearly Torpedoed My Solve.” Back of shirt: “Additionally, All I Got Was This Stupid T-shirt.”
12D. The N.H.L. season is back. Tune in and you might hear an announcer use a snappy nickname to refer to the [Penalty box in hockey, slangily]: the SIN BIN. The N.H.L. record for the most career penalty minutes belongs to Tiger Williams. Across his 14-year career, he was sentenced to 3,971 minutes in the sin bin to think about what he had done.
35D. Another day in the office thinking about the different meanings of slug. Is [Tiny slug?] referring to the slimy garden pest? Nope. A punch? Also wrong. A bullet? The deafening “Family Feud” wrong-answer buzzer erupts from my cubicle. This slug is a swig of a drink, so the answer is SIP.
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