Crossword Themes: What’s In, What’s OutCrossword themes, like many other things, can come in and out of fashion. There are themes that we published frequently 10 years ago that we rarely publish any more because they’ve started to feel stale. Then, of course, there are the kinds of themes that have become staples and might never go out of style. Initialism themes, category themes, hidden words and rhyming words are the kinds of themes we’ll probably always run. But, when it comes to the staples, the editors are still looking for something about the puzzle that makes it feel fresh and stand out from others in the genre. One thing that can make a classic-themed puzzle feel interesting is a fresh revealer that reinterprets a fun phrase in a cute way, or the use of a fun and modern phrase. In this puzzle by Dena Verkuil and Andrea Carla Michaels, the phrase “YOU TALKIN’ TO ME?” is repurposed as a description of four familiar spoken phrases that use a name: WHOA NELLY, GEEZ LOUISE, etc. The puzzle also included the phrase BYE FELICIA, which we thought was fresh and modern, although to my dismay after doing some research, it turns out the phrase was first used in 1995. Another thing the editors are often impressed with is a really dense theme set, as long as it doesn’t compromise the quality of the surrounding fill in the grid. Nate Cardin is a constructor well known for his ability to pack theme material in a puzzle and still end up with a whistle-clean grid. Take this puzzle, for instance, which has six long theme entries whose first words all rhyme with INKY. STINKY TOFU, SLINKY DOG and KINKY BOOTS are among the lively theme entries. Besides being theme dense, the interesting letter pattern of NKY made this more competitive than puzzles that have more common letters like R, S, T, L, N and E (the “‘Wheel of Fortune’ letters”). Fresh revealers and phrases, unusual letters and puzzles that are packed with theme entries all can help make puzzles with common theme types stand out a little more.
Solve Friday’s Crossword on Easy Mode!
For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read the Wordplay column. Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us by email. Easy vs. HardIn today’s daily Friday puzzle, 34-Across has the clue [High concept?]. I like when a clue is a succinct, familiar phrase like this, but interpreted in a different way. For Easy Mode, I wanted to spell it out a little more: [What you’re “on” when you’re euphoric, metaphorically].
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 Easy vs. Hard is CLOUD NINE.
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