FRIDAY PUZZLE — Themeless puzzles are to crossword solving what headstands are to yoga: an exercise in changing one’s perspective. Every Friday and Saturday, The New York Times publishes two puzzles that have no hidden themes or added gimmicks; all of the guile is reserved for the clues. I find that, despite their difficulty, these grids help me appreciate the little flourishes that make all this language so much fun to puzzle out.
Consider a few clues in today’s crossword, constructed by Adam Shapiro. The clue at 10-Down is [Past word], which sounds almost like “password.” That resemblance has nothing to do with the entry, AGO. It’s just a little wink as we go along. At 50-Across, Mr. Shapiro identifies the MOLE RAT as a [Burrowing animal whose name is made up of two other animals]. Before this puzzle, the mole rat was only ever clued as a [Burrowing rodent] or [“Naked” rodent]. This clue makes discovering the animal’s name feel like solving a riddle.
Let me know what else you pick up on, solvers. And read on for explanations of a few especially chewy clues.
Tricky Clues
34A. Now we’re really riddling: This [High concept?] refers to CLOUD NINE, a figure of speech that deals in high altitude.
18A/3D. Those of us who tuned out in biology class were doomed to get stuck on this term for 3D’s [Not gendered]: EPICENE. I had the neighboring term “epigene,” which, despite the word “gene,” is unrelated to living creatures. I also had no idea what 18A’s [Virginia is in it, in brief] referred to. Only after I’d completed the puzzle did it occur to me that Virginia might be shorthand for the University of Virginia. This clue refers to the university’s football alignment, in the A.C.C. (the Atlantic Coast Conference).
49A. I trust that this is a safe place to admit that I’ve never seen the “Rocky” movies, and thus had no idea why [Rocky openings?] solves to YOS.
11D. And now, back to your regularly scheduled wordplay: [Hot pockets?] refers to RAVIOLI, a cooked dish of pocketlike noodles.
13D. It’s been a while since I found a new clue to add to the favorites pile. As of today, I’m adding [Small sounds], a subtle description of INLETS. Sounds! Brilliant.
31D. According to one the many “matching” rules of crossword solving, singular clues must solve to singular entries, and ditto with plurals. But the “s” of [Complimentary lines] is deceptive, because it refers to a collection of lines, as in an ODE.
41D. The fact that [Stage-left orchestra section] solves to CELLOS is an affront to every “celli” plural that has come before it. We’ve had virtually equal numbers of each, and I insist we choose one and stick with it.
Constructor Notes
This puzzle started when I fell in love with the smiley grid shape. I was working on a themed collaboration that used a version of this grid with more black squares, and thought it could be adapted into something fun and unusual for a themeless, too.
The fact you are reading this suggests my instincts were correct, but I was shockingly naïve about the challenges of filling the grid well. With the exceptions of the central North and South sections, everything is highly interconnected. I learned that overcommitting to my favorite spanners led to terrible, forced entries toward the end of filling the grid (one early version had the archaic British spelling “caviare” alongside a justly forgotten 19th-century politician). I also learned that many fun and colorful entries didn’t work with the smile.
Four months of on-and-off tinkering and 112 saved versions later, I finally had something that felt submittable. Oddly, OOPS! I DID IT AGAIN was 14-Across in both the first and 112th versions, although that slot contained many other entries in between.
I’m profoundly grateful to the many experienced constructors who gave me advice and support. It was often based on nothing more than an unsolicited direct message on Crosscord (which I highly recommend to anyone who’s interested in construction, or looking for a friendly place to geek out about crosswords in general). My particular thanks to three people: Josh Palmer, who graciously encouraged me to pursue this grid in parallel to the themed grid we were working on (we should finish cluing that puzzle sometime!); John Kugelman, who has been an amazing mentor to me and countless others; and Sonia Steinway, who has test-solved pretty much every puzzle I’ve made and provided precisely the right mixture of support and candid feedback.
Improve Your Crossword Solving
Work your way through our guide “How to Solve the New York Times Crossword.” It contains an explanation of most of the types of clues you will see in the puzzles and a practice Mini at the end of each section.
Need a little more help? Subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.
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