SUNDAY PUZZLE — Brendan Emmett Quigley is in the pantheon of great veteran Times constructors, and today’s grid is absorbing and clever. I found it plenty crunchy — it took two sittings to completely finish — but bright and self-assured in a welcoming way. I hope nobody gave up on it before figuring out its fun gimmick. If you were on the verge, join us and prepare to be enlightened!
Puzzling Ways to Stay Busy While You Are at Home
We continue to list puzzle-related websites, books and activities to help distract readers while they are at home.
Nikoli, an online Japanese puzzle magazine, offers a wide range of gorgeous number puzzles that elaborate on Sudoku.
Paolo Pasco, the constructor, releases creative puzzles every other Sunday or so with lots of pop culture references, not all of them modern.
If you’re on the ’gram (sorry) you can watch David Kwong, the constructor (and magician), attempt to befuddle John Hodgman live on Instagram at 3 p.m. E.S.T. on Sunday.
Already mentioned earlier this week, you can get more Brendan Emmet Quigley puzzles too, if you dare.
Today’s Theme
Tl;dr (spoilers!)
Today's theme entries are two-part homophones that begin with the letter "A." One part is straightforward; the other part requires the addition of the letter "A" to its beginning for the cryptic clue to make sense.
I did get a little déjà vu when I solved this grid, after last weekend’s spoonerisms, but this is a different trick. I figured this out completely from crosses — it’s a great, clean use of homophonic puns, but since there’s no revealer and no instructions, I just stumbled around until a few entries filled in enough to make sense. So if you’re wondering what you’re missing, you aren’t missing anything!
There are seven theme entries, clued by cryptic riddles that end with a question mark, at 23A, 32A, 50A, 65A, 81A, 96A and 111A. They all follow the same formula, which is hinted at in the puzzle’s title, “Bring Your ‘A’ Game.”
As an example, let’s start with 32A, “Truism about unwanted sound?” You’re looking for a phrase that works as a definition for the whole clue, consisting of two same-sounding parts: A NOISE ANNOYS. Another one, requiring a little trivia, at 111A: “Geronimo, when his beard was just coming in?” If you know what tribe Geronimo belonged to, and you’ve ever watched anyone struggle to grow some straggly facial hair, then you know that this clue describes A PATCHY APACHE.
As you can see, we’re creating homophones — a set of terms that sound alike, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. One of the set is a word that requires the addition of “A” to satisfy the requirement. The first two examples had the “A” addition in the first instance of the pair, but that’s not a rule. At 50A — “Greatly dismay one of the Beatles?” — the solution reverses the terms and you get APPALL A PAUL.
(There are two more theme entries like this).
Tricky Clues
There’s masterful and smooth cluing through this whole grid; I was stumped more often than I was misdirected, although I wanted “rads” for REMS. I was so glad not to see many grim ingredients, BEHEAD notwithstanding, until I got to the TS ELIOT reference! But never mind that.
20A: As a gardener, I know bachelor’s buttons are cornflowers are centaurea, if you’re feeling fancy, or basketflower. BLUECAP is a new one on me, but I’ll add it to the glossary in my head; this entry was clued “Titmouse” in 1963, its last usage. These are wonderful flowers for a cottage garden, by the way, and very easy to grow.
22A: All of you who remembered the last appearance of BLUECAP, how about PENTODE, which makes its sophomore appearance after debuting in 1946? I’m sure some of you hotshots thought “diode, triode … ” but my mind went to Graham Greene.
63A: I don’t know, does this count as sneaky? “Auntie Em” has showed up four times in the Times puzzle, and that’s how I know her (I can hear Dorothy now); AUNT EM is a debut with some complicated crosses (CSI MIAMI and PLAN AHEAD, I’m thinking) so we’ll call it a necessity and move forward.
117A: This device is really common fill that debuted as an entry in 1962, charmingly, as “the ‘switchboard in the sky.’” I could only get TELSTAR on crosses; it’s still up there, if you were wondering, circling Earth in retirement.
I found a ton of names in the down entries, but nobody too obscure for me — everyone knows JON BON JOVI, whether from Jersey rock or “Sex and the City,” right? The rest of them, LARS, WYLE, VANCE, ADLER, FETT, etc., were pretty helpful; a couple were easy on crosses, ISAO and LEN. FRED made me laugh because I had just been thinking about a scene in “Portlandia” that’s resonating with me these days as I clank around among my four walls noticing all the clutter that’s accumulated.
Constructor Notes
Today we have notes about our constructor. In his print introduction, Will Shortz writes that Mr. Quigley has been making puzzles for the Times since 1996 (this is puzzle 170!), and that Mr. Quigley has also been playing in the Boston Typewriter Orchestra for 12 years, with great clatter and agility.
Need to shed some light?
Looking askance at a sconce? That’s all I got. Subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.
Trying to get back to the puzzle page? Right here.
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