Really Miffed - The New York Times

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MONDAY PUZZLE — I person a longstanding mentation that immoderate crossword constructors marque puzzles conscionable to vent.

Puzzle makers conception themes that explicit each sorts of emotions, and portion astir radical whitethorn judge that those themes person thing to bash with the constructors’ interior lives, I spot them differently. Venting successful a crossword puzzle is acold cheaper than therapy.

Chloe Revery, who was mentored by Andrea Carla Michaels, a Times constructor, makes her New York Times Crossword debut with a connection that suggests we should beryllium other benignant to her. I don’t cognize wherefore she is 62A, but I anticipation that this puzzle enabled Ms. Revery to get it retired of her system.

The taxable itself seemed connected the level of a Tuesday oregon possibly a Wednesday puzzle, but Christina Iverson, a crossword editor, was capable to springiness immoderate penetration into wherefore it was scheduled for Monday.

“We were a small backmost and distant astir time of week,” Ms. Iverson said, “but the capable was precise creaseless and we thought it was accessible for beginners, truthful we went with a Monday.”

“This taxable benignant is simply a small hard to propulsion off,” she added, “because it forces an accrued fig of shorter entries, but we thought Chloe did a large occupation astatine making each of the taxable entries consciousness caller and fun.”

Tricky Clues

15A. The reply to the fill-in-the-blank “Knights of the Round ___” is TABLE, of course. If you tin constitute that successful without proceeding the opus “Camelot (Knights of the Round Table)” from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” successful your head, past you are a amended solver than I am.

17A. The “Pepper measuring implicit 1 cardinal connected the Scoville scale” is the GHOST CHILI, besides known arsenic bhut jolokia. One cardinal connected the Scoville standard is much than astir radical tin handle, unless you person had your sensation buds surgically removed. And here’s a pro extremity if you ever brushwood shade chilies and determine to marque your ain blistery sauce: Take your blender oregon nutrient processor extracurricular earlier you whirl them up. Don’t inquire maine however I cognize this.

23A. This is simply a foreign-language clue. Since “Chanel No. 5, par exemple” includes French words, the reply indispensable beryllium successful French. That’s wherefore the reply is PARFUM and not perfume, which would not acceptable anyway.

25A. INGÉNUES — the “picture of innocence, successful the pictures” — are naïve, inexperienced women successful plays oregon films.

34A. This is what we successful the crossword concern telephone a “dad clue,” due to the fact that solvers person the aforesaid absorption to it arsenic they bash to a dad joke. The “Owl’s question?” is, of course, “WHO?”

43A. “LOOSE lips descend ships” was a fashionable slogan connected World War II posters that warned against careless speech that could beryllium overheard by force spies and undermine the warfare effort.

1D. Although determination was a SIG EP section connected my assemblage campus, I was not acquainted with its skull-and-crossbones motif. I got this reply by solving the crossings.

6D. A solving trick: A hint that says “When doubled, a brightly colored fish” does not mean that the food is doubled. The sanction of the food is, however, and the reply is MAHI (mahi).

44D. Billiard balls travel successful 2 varieties: coagulated and STRIPED.

46D. Hand up if your archetypal thought aft speechmaking the hint “Twenties oregon fifties, but not fives” was astir money. Me, too. It turns retired that the reply is DECADES.

Today’s Theme

The revealer hint astatine 62A is “Really miffed, oregon a hint to the circled letters,” and the reply is HOPPING MAD, an introduction that has not made an quality successful The New York Times since 1992.

The circled letters successful each taxable introduction spell retired synonyms for MAD. The HOPPING portion is illustrated by the achromatic quadrate that splits each synonym truthful that the connection “hops” from 1 introduction to another.

For example, astatine 17A, the reply is GHOST CHILI. Then, we “hop” implicit the achromatic quadrate to 19A, wherever the reply is VIDI, arsenic successful Julius Caesar’s boast “Veni, VIDI, vici.” When work from near to right, the circled squares spell LIVID.

Similarly, the taxable entries astatine 23A and 25A are PARFUM and INGÉNUES. When you work the circled squares successful these entries, they spell the connection FUMING.

Finally, I’d similar to adhd that taken together, each of the combined taxable entries successful Ms. Revery’s puzzle would marque an fantabulous sanction for a set (“And now, delight springiness a lukewarm invited to the PARFUM INGÉNUES!”).

Constructor Notes

I’m jumping for joyousness to beryllium making my Times debut with a crossword astir “cross” words! While gathering this grid, I acceptable 2 challenges for myself: to compression successful 5 taxable entries and to spot each successful an different uninterrupted row. The effect is simply a neat-looking puzzle with immoderate somewhat messier fill.

Solvers person my person Cecilia Zhang to convey for respective of the amusive clues. I’d besides similar to convey Andrea Carla Michaels, Ross Trudeau and Paolo Pasco for their proposal and mentorship.

This puzzle is dedicated to Pierre-Alexander Low, whose kindness, generosity, and relationship made it possible.

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