MONDAY PUZZLE — It’s time we came up with a word for the gift (or affliction, to some) of seeing crossword-worthy wordplay in regular words. I wouldn’t call it pareidolia, and it’s far more dignified than Witzelsucht. We could just call it “wit,” but that lacks diagnostic authority. I’m thinking something like … “wordplaysia.” Workshop at your leisure.
The urge to brainstorm came from solving today’s crossword, constructed by the frequent collaborators Kevin Christian and Andrea Carla Michaels. The theme is nothing fancy, but it’s clever, and making it work is no small feat. What’s astounding to me is that someone could look at the term at 61-Across and think, “That’d make a fun crossword theme.” How do they do it?
Today’s Theme
The word for [All over the place … or a hint to the circled letters in 16-, 25-, 39- and 48-Across] is SCATTERSHOT.
The circled letters in the cited entries — rendered here in bold, for easy reference — contain S-H-O-T, scattered among the full phrase. The [Walled area for a racket sport] at 16A, for instance, is a SQUASH COURT. 25A’s [Band with the 1999 triple-platinum hit “All Star”] is SMASH MOUTH.
At 39A, [“Pretty please? I won’t ask again”] translates to JUST THIS ONE TIME, and, at 48A, the term for [Played mind games with] is PSYCHED OUT.
In her constructor notes, Ms. Michaels writes that she originally thought the expression was two words, “scattered shot.” As it happens, I thought it was “scattershod,” which makes even less sense. Any other misapprehensions about the revealer? Share it in the comments; you’re in good company.
Tricky Clues
31A. Several past New York Times puzzles have used [Sonnets and such] to clue “poems.” I was thus unprepared for the same clue to solve to that entry’s whimsical cousin, POESY.
43A. Sometimes the hardest thing about solving a crossword is reading the entries. The [Kids’ fun run length, for short] covers a single kilometer, so it’s … “onek”? Oh, ONE K.
69A. The [Contract detail, informally] is a SPEC, as in specific — not to be confused with the “spec” that’s short for “speculative.”
5D. It has only just occurred to me that [Bit of derring-do] is the result of a folksy misspelling: It describes the doing of something daring, which is also known as a GEST.
11D. The Wordplay column generally disapproves of petty insults, but where wit is involved, exceptions must be made. A [No-brainer?] is one without a brain, i.e., an IDIOT.
41D. Despite its acronym, this [1970s feminist cause, for short] was more than just a phase: ERA is short for Equal Rights Amendment.
54D. As one who rarely encounters military slang outside the bounds of the Times Crossword, I was unfamiliar with this term for a [Sergeant’s superior, slangily], LOOIE (as in lieutenant).
Constructor Notes
Andrea Carla Michaels: This was one of those collaborations where Kevin took me from my basic 2 a.m. idea (even saving me from thinking the phrase was “scattered shot”) to providing me a list of myriad phrases that were possible.
We had a good time picking those I hoped would be the most fun, and he surprised me with variations on the grid that accommodated over 61 themed squares — that’s a lot! — yet still yielded a clean fill. He’s amazing!
This is our umpteenth collaboration. He can probably tell you exactly how many. And I’m hoping for many more.
Kevin Christian: Andrea suggested this theme idea and I immediately thought that it was a winner. It was straightforward to use online tools to generate possible theme phrases. I generated a long list and the two of us pored over them to find the best ones. One of my favorite things about collaborating with Andrea is selecting the best theme answers. They’re almost always better than the ones I would have selected on my own. She has really good eyes and ears for theme answers.
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.
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