Further improving at crossword puzzles
Last week I began answering a question about how to move from being a Wednesday solver to a Thursday solver, and I shared strategies for uncovering a tricky Thursday theme. But Thursday puzzles are tricky not just because of the themes, but also because the clues on the whole are tougher, and we allow harder vocabulary in the grid than on a Monday or Tuesday. Keep in mind that we will very rarely give a very hard clue for a very hard answer. The more difficult an answer is, the more straightforward the clue will be. So, if there’s a trivia clue like [Its motto is “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain”] for a four-letter entry, you can guess that we’re not asking you to know the motto for some obscure place or company. It’s almost certainly one of the three four-letter states (in this case, it’s IOWA). If there’s a strange clue about a British school, the answer is pretty much guaranteed to be ETON, which shows up in puzzles a lot. Any really hard proper nouns will be prompted with a straightforward clue, and we expect that some people will decide to look up the answer. And that’s OK! Don’t feel bad about looking things up online. If you spend five minutes reading about Egyptian gods to find the answer to a tough clue, you’ve learned something new in the process. Something to look out for in clues is that on a Thursday, we’re more likely to try to mask plurals and tenses by using ambiguous synonyms. For instance, “hit” could be past or present tense; [Hit the ceiling] could be a clue for either ERUPT or ERUPTED. While on a Monday or Tuesday we would specifically try to avoid ambiguities like this, on a Thursday you should keep an eye out for them. We will often try to hide gerunds, past-tense verbs and plurals. We may also use words that could be a noun or a verb depending on context. When you read a clue, pause to think about how many different ways it could be interpreted. We’re trying to fool you, and learning to recognize words that have multiple meanings can be really helpful. We often fall back on the same tricks, and after solving a lot of puzzles, you’ll be able to spot them more easily. For instance, [Stick in the fridge] is a clue that sounds like a verb phrase but is actually referring to BUTTER. Describing a river as a “flower” (think: something that flows) or a thermometer as a cold “shower” (something that shows) are a couple of tricks we use a lot. Clues about a “toy,” “lab” or “boxer” are about dogs more often than not, and clues about a “Nice” thing are often France references. Try saying the clue aloud with different pronunciations or with stress on different syllables. If you ever correctly fill in an answer to a clue but still don’t understand why it’s the answer, there’s almost certainly someone else who is wondering the same thing. The comment section of our Wordplay column is a great place to talk about clues with fellow solvers and get your questions answered. Good luck!
Solve Friday’s Crossword on Easy Mode!
In today’s Wordplay column, Deb Amlen writes about what constructors do after making their debuts. For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read her column. Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us on the X platform, on Threads or by email. A Quick Cool-DownHow fast can you solve today’s Mini?
Get a ClueMy favorite clue from last week is 51-Across from Saturday, Nov. 29. Clues that sound like spoken phrases but don’t have quotation marks are often playful descriptions. 51-Across: Take it back!
How are we doing? Thanks for playing! Subscribe to New York Times Games. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up to receive it regularly here. P.S. The answer to Get a Clue is TIME MACHINE.
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