{"id":373818,"date":"2026-10-15T11:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T11:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/373818\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T11:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T11:58:44","slug":"hurry-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/373818\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hurry!\u2019 – The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

THURSDAY PUZZLE<\/a> \u2014 Today we have a terrific debut from McKay Fritz, who has pulled off a doozy of a Thursday trick that\u2019s subtle enough to look as if it might not even exist until \u2014 whammo! I was looking sideways at the whole thing for half of my solve, wondering why so many clues seemed a little sloppy. So consider me hornswoggled.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Theme<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a terrific novelty to the presentation of this grid. Most theme puzzles contain sets that are visually identifiable to solvers because of either the arrangement of their entries or an uncommon clue feature like italics or brackets. Today\u2019s theme is asymmetrically placed and appears in entries of varying lengths. The clues do share a trait, but it\u2019s so common that solvers must be forgiven for reading over it until they solve the revealer entry at 55-Across, buried in the lower right corner of the grid.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the traditional region for a revealer entry, since it\u2019s the last place solvers reach as we work from the top down and left to right. I usually go even further and avoid a puzzle\u2019s revealer, hoping to figure out a theme on my own. This time, I accumulated only a few examples of strange fill and a growing sense of desperation. I noted 1-Down, for example, as slightly off: [_____ breathers] solves to DRAGONS. This doesn\u2019t make sense, but I also couldn\u2019t put my finger on what was needed here. [Sure ____], at 20-Across, solves to GUARANTEED, which works as an answer for \u201csure\u201d but oddly without any additional words in the clue.<\/p>\n

I reached two crossing entries in the lower left corner, 64-Across and 46-Down, and something clicked. [Cease ____], at 64-Across, solves to TRUCE, which almost works as a definition of \u201ccease,\u201d on its own. HEARTH, at 46-Down, is clued as [____ place], and then I realized what all of these clues had in common. It\u2019s explained at that revealer, 55-Across: [One way to start a race \u2026 or a hint to understanding seven clues in this puzzle]: FIRE BLANKS.<\/p>\n

In other words, each fill-in-the-blank clue can be completed with one word: \u201cfire.\u201d 1-Down, [_____ breathers] becomes [Fire breathers], for example. DRAGONS makes more sense now, since they\u2019re \u201cfire breathers.\u201d That makes [Ceasefire] the clue for TRUCE, and [Fireplace] the clue for HEARTH.<\/p>\n

Did this theme burn you, too? I think it was easy to be lulled by these types of clues. I still don\u2019t know how I didn\u2019t catch on to all those missing \u201cfires,\u201d though.<\/p>\n

Tricky Clues<\/p>\n

4A. This was chewy musical trivia for me, at least: The [Key of Joplin\u2019s \u201cMaple Leaf Rag\u201d] is A FLAT. This piece was an instant hit<\/a>, known for its blistering pace and complex syncopation. I can hum it<\/a>, but I had no idea of its key.<\/p>\n

28A. [What \u201c!\u201d is used for, in coding] is a reference to NEGATION. In many programming languages, the exclamation point basically means \u201cnot.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

21D. [Eavesdrop from afar, maybe] sounds like some kind of tech surveillance or wiretap, and I got a kick out of the right answer. It\u2019s READ LIPS, which I guess you can do from afar (but not from too far).<\/p>\n

50D. This clue and the game it refers to are all Greek to me: The [Card that\u2019s the source for \u201cblue mana\u201d in Magic: The Gathering] is the ISLAND card.<\/p>\n

Constructor Notes<\/p>\n

This is my debut! I\u2019m a copywriter by trade, and I love movies, music, reading, running and cuddling with my cat Spud (when he\u2019s not being a lunatic). I\u2019ve loved words and puzzles since I was a kid, so my eventual crossword obsession was a foregone conclusion. Shout out to my little brother, who gifted me a New York Times Games subscription back in 2023 and began my journey to constructing. Also want to shout out the fine folks behind the Ingrid app who make construction so accessible. And, finally, a shout out to my wife: I love racing you in Connections!<\/p>\n

Improve Your Crossword Solving<\/p>\n

Work your way through our guide \u201cHow to Solve the New York Times Crossword<\/a>.\u201d It contains an explanation of most of the types of clues you will see in the puzzles and a practice Mini at the end of each section.<\/p>\n

Need a little more help? Subscribers can take a peek at the answer key<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THURSDAY PUZZLE \u2014 Today we have a terrific debut from McKay Fritz, who has pulled off a doozy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[44226,41568,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-373818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-crossword-puzzles","tag-games","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}