Sean McGowan

@John W. This is a common and fair question to ask, especially with the ubiquity of AI slop. To clarify: many, many puzzle makers use construction software, and have been for years. These tools are not artificial intelligence; they do not write clues, or come up with inspiring themes, or supplant any of the thoughtful creativity that's required for a good crossword. What they -are- good at is helping constructors quickly generate and analyze the fill, or the non-theme answers, which the constructor then must manually (and often painstakingly) curate. And even for generating fills, it's up to the constructor to feed the software a wordlist for it to use. This isn't a perfect comparison, but I would equate constructors using software to a novelist using a word processor. It won't write the book for you, but it allows the writer to edit and rewrite much faster than if they were doing it with a typewriter, or by hand.

@Billy In this case, "track event" means an event held on a track, which horse races are. It's deceptively written, but that's the intention — to make you think it's a track and field event.

@Lewis Nice catch! You are correct — BRINGS UP THE REAR has appeared before, in the pre-Shortz era. Thanks for calling it out and I appreciate the kind words about the column.

@ted When you create a king in a game of checkers, you stack two checkers on top of each other!

I’m sorry you didn’t find the Tricky Clues section helpful today! Selecting the Tricky Clues can be ... tricky. Like crosswords as a whole, a clue’s difficulty is very subjective; one solver’s gimme is another’s stumper. I generally try to select question-marked clues that require a logical leap, misdirectors, neologisms that some folks may not have heard yet (see: REKT), or more deep-cut, “know it or you don’t” trivia. I also try to pick clues from different parts of the puzzle, for solvers who might be stuck in a particular corner or quadrant and need a toehold. And unless it solves to a real ten-dollar word, synonym-style clues don’t always lend themselves to a meaty explanation or teach a broader solving skill — there’s not much else to say about the connection between [Puppy] and WHELP, other than that WHELP is another word for puppy. Still, I understand the frustration when a clue that you want an explanation for doesn’t appear in the Tricky Clues section! I just wanted to provide a little insight into how I choose them. I hope that next one is more helpful.

@David Valid opinion and I thank you for sharing it! Though I will note that a computer program did not generate these clues — NYT crosswords clues are written or edited by the puzzle editors, who are very much human! What the constructors are referring to in their notes is using a program to find the theme answers: In this case, phrases with 4 of the same letter that, when removed, still make a word. It's not unusual for constructors to write a script to help them find theme answers like this. In those cases, it's the curation of the fill and the cluewriting where they add their human touch to each puzzle.

@Gareth I know we're joking about product placement in crosswords, but there is a reason you're seeing ETSY so much! It has nothing to do with endorsement and everything to do with the letters E, T, S and Y, which are all very common (especially at the end of a word). It's the same reason you'll see STYE so often, and, to a lesser extent, the dreaded TSE-TSE. These words are sometimes described as "glue" for puzzles — the often-necessary tradeoff of building crosswords with satisfying entries or a great theme. Few constructors want to reuse words that have appeared hundreds of times, but sometimes you can't make an omelet without a few OREOS :)

@Ιασων It's getting there! For the stat fans: OREO has appeared 523 times in the Crossword, SARI at 466. 468 if we include SARINOTSARI from that fun Tuesday puzzle earlier this month :)

@bigdippertiger Great question! Only Sunday puzzles get titles, which often do provide a hint at a puzzle's theme. While many Thursday puzzles have a theme revealer, or a clue-answer pair that hints at the trickery, not all of them do (like this one!). I understand wanting a disclosure, but many solvers prefer the mystery. Still, the best way to anticipate a tricky crossword is to look at the calendar. Thursday is almost always the day of the week for unconventional puzzles that use rebuses, twists or other curveballs to keep solvers on their toes.

@Grumpy Guilty as charged. Thanks for letting me know, next time I'll get it right! I have too much respect for Looney Tunes to not report on them with 100% accuracy.

@Karen Totally understand the frustration, rebuses can be tricky! To answer your question, you enter J, A and M in the extra square for the puzzle to make sense — JAM completes the Across answers and creates a "jam-packed" treat for the Downs. If you're interested in learning more, I've linked a guide to rebuses below. Happy solving! <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/crosswords/rebus-crossword-puzzle.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/crosswords/rebus-crossword-puzzle.html</a>

@Catherine Agreed it's a tricky one (it's Thursday, after all), but as a note: You are always welcome to look at the answer key! To quote Will Shortz: "It’s your puzzle, do it any way you want."

@Alexandra Dixon That's a great question. How many clues the editors change varies from puzzle to puzzle. I did ask the editors about this puzzle specifically though, to ensure I credited Katie Hoody with the correct clues. I can say that just about every interesting, misdirecting or "sleight of hand" clue, as you call it (I like the phrase!), was from Ms. Hoody. I'll also add that a changed clue doesn't necessarily mean the original wasn't good. Most people love to write clever, misdirecting clues; but they can't be the entire puzzle, or else it's tough for the solver to break in. You need some answers that clued a bit friendlier, and that's taken into consideration when editing a puzzle.

@Peter I didn't catch that! Nice find, and glad you enjoyed the puzzle.

@Rachel Thanks for the puzzle! Also love that your mom dropped in to say hey. We gotta add a "Constructor's Parent Notes" section to the column.

@Tom Now I'm curious too! According to XWordInfo (a great resource if you're interested in answer frequency), NYT has appeared 47 times in the New York Times Crossword.

@Barry Ancona Not at all! I don't consider it a fault of puzzle construction, just an uncommon entry that I thought others might also have difficulty with (though reading these comments, I may be in the minority of not knowing about NO SEE UMS). Either way, whenever there's word I don't know, I'm always glad to learn it. It's a major reason why I solve in the first place! Still, thank you for this reminder — that is important to keep in mind when we're analyzing crosswords.

@James E Welcome to the party! Glad you liked the puzzle

@Lewis Looks like my “higher than usual” guess was a lowball! For the uninitiated: in crosswords, a pangram is when the grid contains every letter of the alphabet. A quintuple pangram is a pangram, five times over. So, a puzzle with (at least) 5 A’s, 5 B’s and so on. Wild stuff.

@Elena Congrats! Love seeing all the support from the Wordplay community.

@SBK in TO I was referring to GO BANANAS / SPLIT DECISION, but this is a great catch too. Good eye!

@Grant Great question! Anecdotally, I know co-constructors who have divided the labor this way before, so it's definitely not unheard of. Just like solving a crossword, there are many different ways to build one. Glad you enjoyed the puzzle!

@Michael Dover By penalizing icing, the defending team can't easily stall the game by sending the puck to the opposite side of the rink over and over — they're forced to actually regain control of the puck and bring it to their opponent's side of the ice (which makes for much more interesting hockey).

@Cherry Sure thing! Each of the starred clues are missing its last letter. For their answers to make sense, we have to suss out what that last letter is. For example, 5A's [*Dallas Cowboys stat] solves to TEXAS, because the clue is missing the letter E at the end. The Dallas Cowboys stat*e* is TEXAS.

@HeathieJ Adding to the chorus of sending good vibes your way! Glad you enjoyed the puzzle.

@Lewis Best of luck! Wishing you a speedy recovery.

@A. Young TIL! Thanks for sharing. I think it's fascinating when misunderstandings or misuses of words end up coining new ones, or even changing their meanings. "Literally" being used as an emphasizer (and effectively taking on the meaning "not literally,") comes to mind as a well-known (and maybe controversial) example. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally</a>

@Mackenzie That first entry going from M to L definitely adds another touch of trickiness for top-down solvers. I also thought we might be shifting letters one notch back in the alphabet.

@Lisa Gotta love her Tempo tantrums :)

@Ms. Billie M. Spaight GO BANANAS was the theme of Monday's puzzle (which also featured SPLIT DECISION). Though SBK in TO astutely pointed out that QRCODE(s) also appeared as a themer of Tuesday's puzzle as well!

@Classic Hip-Hop Fan That's a good question, and probably a tough one to answer. Solve times are going to vary across tournaments, and even puzzles within the specific tournament. The fifth puzzle at A.C.P.T., for example, is typically very difficult. But if you're considering attending a tournament, I'd definitely recommend it regardless of your solve time. The vast majority of attendees are there to have fun and meet other puzzlers. When I talk to my friends who aren't into puzzles, I sometimes compare crossword tournaments to running a marathon — most of the runners are doing it for the sense of accomplishment or because they enjoy it. I say sign up and have fun, and if you see me at one of the larger ones, say hey!

@Anna Always love how the brain still stews on the puzzle if you put it on the back burner.

@Peter Someone has already posted this, but I'll confirm that this clue is referring to vocal runs, where one syllable is sung across multiple notes.

@E G Keep at it! You can read the column before, during or after your solve, and remember that there's nothing wrong with looking things up. The more crosswords you do, the more you'll see the same entries appear again and again. Five answers will turn into 10, then 15, and so on. It takes practice to be sure, but as you know from the Minis and Midis, it's a great feeling to complete it. Happy solving!

@Dana Scully Congrats! Here's to many more.

@Stefan That's a great reminder that solvers shouldn't be afraid to guess. Even if it's wrong, it might be right-ish.

@Francis DeBernardo You're not alone in that — it's generally preferred for "hidden word" themes to span two words, regardless if it's a rebus. Sometimes it's unavoidable though. For what it's worth, pinpointing the rebus in MAGNETIC STRIPE did take me some extra beats, because I thought it was called a strip, not a stripe (though it looks like both are used).

@cib I raised an eyebrow at this one too, but it's correct. From the good folks at Merriam-Webster: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sauna" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sauna</a>

@wuhsinman Welcome to the party!

@Jim I can only speak to my own (limited) constructing experience, and while this is frequently intentional, sometimes it is just luck — some solvers make associations and fill in answers I never would've considered when cluewriting.

@Petrol So many TILs here — this is great stuff! Love the nickname Ethel for a ligature. Thanks for sharing!

@kkseattle That's a very fun way to know Sun YAT-SEN, and an excellent example of the subjectivity of Naticks! For me, SHOWER BEER was the gimme and Sun YAT-SEN was an unknown.

@G. L. Dryfoos Think of "waffles" as a verb! If you're waffling, you might be saying uhs, ums or ERS.

@Henry Welcome to the party, come back soon!

@Hevani Congrats! Glad to hear you had fun. They're definitely tricky, but with practice you'll be a pro in no time.

@Aidan Deshong Great find! Well done

@Andrew Nice work! Way to keep at it 💪

@Lewis Thank you! You're right — I had incorrectly counted SQUARE UP as a debut, but it has appeared before (way back in 1960!)