In which we have our fill of Trenton Charlson’s misdirection.
THURSDAY PUZZLE — This puzzle by Trenton Charlson appears difficult, but when you finally get the theme, you will be mad at yourself for not seeing it from the beginning. In fact, go ahead and duct tape a pillow to your forehead now, so you don’t bruise yourself when you slap it. No one will look at you askance, I promise. Sort of.
I’ve gone on record as someone who absolutely loves when constructors break the rules of puzzle making, and this crossword does it well. It really drives home the premise that solvers should never pick up a puzzle with the expectation that everything is as it should be, especially on a Thursday.
Tricky Clues
18A. In this puzzle, “Made an impression” does not mean to actually press something. It means someone did an impression of someone else, and the answer is APED.
5D. Loved this clue. “Some bouncers use them” made me think of the bouncers who vet people outside of bars or clubs, but that is not the kind of bouncer we are supposed to be thinking about. The bouncers in this puzzle are bouncing around on POGO STICKS.
12D. This is a matching clue, heavily disguised. Remember, a different language in the clue means that same language in the answer. In this case, it’s still English, but it’s British English. “What the verb ending ‘ise’ isn’t spelled with” is a Z, but in Britain, the letter would be pronounced ZED.
29D. This is not a pretty bow worn on clothing or in the hair. It’s a presumably wooden bow that shoots arrows. The answer to “Bow-making choice” is ELM.
41D. Another great bit of wordplay. “Spots to keep watch?” is really asking you for spots where you might wear your watch, and those spots would be WRISTS.
Today’s Theme
When people ask me how to get started solving, I usually direct them to the fill-in-the-blank clues. They are easier in the sense that they tend to inspire your brain to do something truly amazing.
When confronted with missing information, your brain will rifle through its voluminous files and pull out the very thing the clue is looking for. Occasionally, it will misfile something, and instead pull out an embarrassing experience from your past, like that time you were daydreaming in class and the teacher called on you and you mistakenly called her “Mom.” But most of the time it will come up with the right answer, so it’s good to start there.
My point is, your brain loves to fill in missing information. So you would typically see a clue with a blank, thank your brain for pulling the correct file and then write the answer into the grid, right?
Not in Mr. Charlson’s puzzle. Today is Thursday, and that would be far too easy.
What we have here is a sort of inverted fill-in-the-blank theme, where we are literally putting the word “fill” in the blank space in the clue. The entry is the definition of the clue, instead of the other way around.
Say what, Deb?
Let’s look at an example. At 19A, the clue is “Land ___.” The answer could be any one of a number of things, but we have a 12-letter slot to fill. The entry turns out to be DISPOSAL AREA, which I got through the crossings, but how does that help us with the clue?
Here’s where the pillow duct-taped to your forehead comes in. (You did read the intro, right?)
All we have to do to solve the clue, as it were, is put the word “fill” in the blank. So, we have “Land fill” in the clue, and that turns out to be a perfectly cromulent answer to the entry DISPOSAL AREA.
Got that? Good, let’s look at another one.
At 22A, the clue is “___more and more,” and the entry is PRESIDENTS. Put the word “fill” in the blank, and you get “Fillmore and more.” It takes a sharp eye to see that there is no space between the blank and the first “more,” which makes it a single word. Millard Fillmore was a U.S. president, and the “and more” makes it plural.
And finally, at 40A, the NEWSCASTER (for one) in the grid is Gwen Ifill.
All of this is revealed at 48A, where the clue is “Test format … or a hint to understanding three of this puzzle’s clues” and the answer, of course, is FILL IN THE BLANK.
You can remove the pillow now, but be careful with the duct tape. That stuff can hurt when you pull it off.
Want to Submit Crosswords to The New York Times?
The New York Times Crossword has an open submission system, and you can submit your puzzles online.
For tips on how to get started, read our series, “How to Make a Crossword Puzzle.”
The Tipping Point
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