Jump to: Today’s theme | tricky clues
Thursday Puzzle — If you solve puzzles like I do, the next thing you should do after looking at the grid is to look through the clue list. Like me, you may have had a moment of panic when you saw the score for Ricky Cruz’s Clue.
It’s been a while since I’ve tried to read music, and even in the prime of my pre-rock-star teenage years, I wasn’t very good at it. Therefore, the chances of solving this crossword seemed low.
How wrong I was! Perhaps Mr. Cruz’s puzzle is easier to solve for those who understand the notation, but it is quite solvable even if you don’t. Once you have an entry for one theme, the other themes will also be placed in their proper positions. You may suddenly find yourself humming.
Today’s theme
Please note that The Times’ publishing system is different from the puzzle editing system, so images of key signatures cannot be reproduced. The placement of these elements is at the beginning of the clue, as indicated in brackets below.
Mr. Cruise’s theme consists of four different words or phrases that are recast as if they were played in a specific key.
For example, at 30A,[key signature] Court athlete, commonly known as “BALLERINA”. Its signature indicates A’s key. We all know that ballerinas are athletes, but they usually don’t dance on the court. However, if you insert a space after R and N, it becomes BALLER IN (key of) A.
That’s pretty smart, Mr. Cruz. Let’s try something different.
The answer to clue 61A is[Key signature] During “time for scraping fallen leaves”, the leaves fall flat. It definitely happens when you trip over a pitchfork. In this case, the phrase is reconsidered as FALL IN G FLAT.
tricky clues
1A. From the “Don’t Overthink This One” category is the “Frequent Flier?” jet.
29A. “Stand in the studio” is not a command to pose for a painting. In this puzzle, “stand” is a noun and the answer is EASEL.
54A. Today I learned (TIL) about SLOFIE. slow motion selfie video. To summarize: We have smartphones that can record someone spilling soup on their shirt in slow motion, but we still don’t have a cure for cancer.
56A. “Texter’s Uncertainty Signs” is IDK, which stands for “I don’t know.”
65A. “Suppose you made a semicircle?” You steered a semi-truck in a circle.
10D. Isn’t this beef jerky? But it is disgusting or disrespectful behavior.
Constructor notes
I’m excited to be back at the Times again, especially with this puzzle! I’m sure the solver will behave differently depending on the format you use, but I hope the experience is pretty much the same. I’m also sure that this puzzle is more likely to excite people who can identify key signatures, but it’s still designed to be accessible even for people like me who aren’t skilled at reading sheet music. .
The process of creating this was very easy. I used the usual tools to search for entries ending in IN_ and then looked for entries that were interestingly variant from a solution perspective. It was surprisingly difficult to find a suitable entry ending in IND as the choices were very limited. I had to use INC at the end of one entry, which left MONSTERS unconverted, but the themed entries are arranged in such a way that they get more interesting as they go down the grid, and I’m happy with the result. I am.
There are some fills that I wouldn’t use if I were making this puzzle now, but that should fit into any publishing schedule. I’m very proud of this puzzle and I hope you all enjoy it too.
Don’t Fear Friday: About the Easy Mode Newsletter
Puzzle editor Christina Iverson will send weekly Friday crosswords with more accessible clues to your inbox when you sign up for the Easy Mode newsletter. This little bonus is for those of you who want to try out Friday’s Puzzle but have heard a lot about how difficult it is.
See the difference between normal mode and easy mode clues below. The link is a small sample of clues for this Friday’s puzzle. Click on them and you’ll see the version that runs on regular puzzles and the easy version.
(Warning: The following contains spoilers for Friday’s Puzzle.)