SUNDAY PUZZLE — Will Shortz, in his print introduction to this grid, writes: “Dylan Schiff is a middle school science teacher in Millsboro, Del. John Kugelman, of Gainesville, Va., is a cybersecurity software engineer. Dylan got the idea for this puzzle during an after-dinner stroll. ‘I’ve found that many of my successful puzzle ideas come from idle thoughts during lulls in the day — evening walks, showers, etc.’ Together with John, whom he met over Discord, they created the puzzle. ‘Once we’d filled the grid, we each wrote clues and picked our favorites.’”
This is a great collaboration. The theme is unforced and zingy from start to finish, the fill entries flow nicely, and the solve is light, but not flimsy.
Today’s Theme
There are 10 entries in this theme set, at 22-, 24-, 34-, 49-, 63-, 67-, 82-, 94-, 109- and 111-Across; each is clued with a question in italics. These questions all follow the same format wherein solvers are asked to differentiate two similar things: for example, 22-Across, [Firefly vis-à-vis a fruit fly?]. The title of the puzzle, “Relatively Speaking,” further emphasizes the idea of comparison (and originally made me think that some family members might show up in this solve, but that notion didn’t pan out).
You’ll probably have some letters in place from crossing entries before you complete your first theme entry or two, because the clues aren’t easily deciphered on their own and there’s no revealer to tip you off. I first filled out the upper right corner, and with it came 24-Across: [Peridot vis-à-vis jade?]. The entry? OLIVER STONE, an entertaining non sequitur until you realize that the two items in the clue, peridot and jade, are green stones. Furthermore, peridot is a variety of olivine, a silicate mineral, and tends to exhibit a yellowish hue, more olive than jade green. That makes it an OLIVER STONE.
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