TUESDAY PUZZLE — Yesterday’s crossword took its theme from a line in a Shakespeare play. The theme of today’s puzzle, constructed by Adam Vincent, concerns the kind of play that comes from a toy box.
In theater, the saying goes, “there are no small parts, only small actors.” Mr. Vincent’s play-themed puzzle contains small actors, all right, and they’re made up of even smaller parts.
Today’s Theme
It’s not a doll, it’s a [Posable plaything] — which is to say, an ACTION FIGURE. This revealer, split across 67- and 68-Across, hints at the makeup of entries at 4-, 7- and 10-Down and 46-Across.
How so? Let’s start by solving the themed entries: The [Interception returned for a touchdown] at 4D is a PICK SIX (touchdowns in football are worth six points) and to [Break for a few minutes] at 7D is to TAKE FIVE. To [Surf with one’s toes off the front of the board] at 10D is to HANG TEN, and 46A’s [Strategic disk game played on a vertical board] is CONNECT FOUR.
Each of these entries represents an ACTION/FIGURE, in that it’s a two-word phrase made up of an action and a number.
Tricky Clues
20A. I don’t think I’ve heard someone describe another person’s [Pale and sickly] appearance as PEAKY except in period dramas of the Victorian era.
39A. One who [Gallops into the sunset, say] RIDES ON, though one could just as easily say “rides off.”
65A. If you’re [Peeved], you may be described as IN A SNIT. In other puzzles, you may be “in a huff” or “in a mood” instead.
11D/47D. Each of these clues is context-specific but solves to an entry that is somewhat nonspecific. At 11D, [What an electric meter measures] is plain old USAGE — even if that usage is measured in watts and kilowatts. And at 47D, [Hurdles or high jump, e.g.] are things you’d see at a track meet, where each activity is referred to simply as an EVENT.
49D. As with 1D, the word for [Secure tightly] is generally rare in modern speech. TRUSS peaked in usage — was at its peakiest? — about 150 years ago.
Constructor Notes
Part of being a crossword constructor is exploring dozens of theme ideas that never make it to a grid. I keep track of my brainstorms in a sprawling Google Sheets document, and I never delete anything, just in case I can think of some way to make a specific theme work in the future. This puzzle directly resulted from that strategy. Although I came up with the core of the theme (verb + number phrases) back in 2022, it wasn’t until summer 2025 that I realized that the phrase “do numbers” might be the key to making it work as a set.
“Do numbers” didn’t end up helping, but trying to get it to work with the original theme entries did make me realize that I could split the term ACTION FIGURE into two six-letter entries. This division allowed me to use mirror symmetry to fit the revealer plus the four theme answers. While many more of my theme ideas are still languishing in Google Sheets, I’m glad this one made the cut.
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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