NYT Crossword Answers for Aug. 24, 2023

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wordplay, the crossword column

You’ll be head over heels for Robin Yu’s puzzle.

By Deb Amlen

Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues

THURSDAY PUZZLE — I know what you’re thinking, especially if you came here for help before finishing Robin Yu’s crossword. You’re thinking: Why, of all things, are there Pac-Men in my puzzle? Is this some sort of promotional crossover?

The answer is no. Mr. Yu’s puzzle is not a crossover, and those aren’t Pac-Men. They are very clever indicators that some of the answers need to be read in a certain way. And when you do, I hope you’ll flip for this very creative theme.

Limber up, please. We’re going to be doing rolls, flips and any other gymnastic exercise you can think of that involves rotation. We are doing this is because Mr. Yu’s theme answers are not your basic Across or Down entries.

The revealer clue at 34A reads “Temporary, controlled power shutdown … or a hint to reading four of this puzzle’s answers,” and the answer is ROLLING BLACKOUT. I know this as load shedding, the name used in South Africa for the method of managing dwindling energy supplies, but that wasn’t right. And, for the life of me, I couldn’t think of the term used here.

That’s OK, though. I was able to figure out the individual theme answers, which jump-started my memory.

The ROLL in the revealer refers to the fact that we need to perform a loop-de-loop when reading the answers, and the BLACKOUT means that we need to picture the black, three-quarter circle as a substitute for the word OUT (A black OUT).

In the example below, the clue for 2D is “Suddenly fell through, as a plan.” At the end of that four-letter word is a white arrow in a black circle, rolling back to the last letter. Finally, there is no clue for 20A.

I solved enough of the northwest corner to know that the answer to 2D was WENT, and eventually wrote in THE WINDOW at 20A.

Confusing, right? Don’t stop now — we’re nearly there.

The answer must be read as follows:

WENT (2D) + OUT (in the black circle) + THE WINDOW.

WENT OUT THE WINDOW.

Let’s do one more. At 53A, the clue reads “Activities that relieve psychological stress.” There’s no clue for its partner, 55D, and we have that black shape again.

The answer to 53A is EMOTIONAL + OUT (the black circle) + LETS (55D), or EMOTIONAL OUTLETS.

Not so hard once you’ve gotten used to all that rolling, is it?

17A. The “Key worker?” in this puzzle is one who works with keys. “Locksmith” doesn’t fit, so these must be piano keys. The answer is PIANO TUNER.

24A. The “reps” in “House of reps?” are not politicians; they’re the number of times you might perform an exercise at a GYM.

41A. A kiosk that sells newspapers is a newsstand, which is one word. The clue “News stand?” refers to a guest writer taking a strong and informed stand in a newspaper. The answer is OP-ED.

51A./3D. There are two “green” clues in Mr. Yu’s puzzle, and they each have different meanings. At 51A, the “Green standard” has nothing to do with environmentalism and everything to do with golf: The answer is PAR. At 3D, the “Green booking” is an ECOHOTEL.

10D. TIL (Today I Learned) the word VTUBER, an animated, digital avatar that is manipulated through motion capture on the Twitch platform. The avatar can represent the creator or a character the person creates.

21D. “Something that’s designed to be buggy” is a WEB. Notice that I didn’t say the WEB. The internet was not designed to be buggy, though that’s sometimes hard to believe. The answer refers to the net used by a spider to catch its next meal.

Hello, Crossworld! I’m delighted to be back in The New York Times — it’s always an honor to be a part, however small, of the crossword’s decades-long history.

The core conceit of this crossword came readily from the revealer — in a way, with the pieces ROLLING, BLACK and OUT, the theme practically wrote itself — but I sat on the idea for months as I couldn’t fill the grid cleanly. The construction is surprisingly involved. For example, the cheater squares are thematic, so using extra cheaters is a nonstarter. Twenty failed drafts later, I cut the number of theme answers from six down to the four you see now. It’s still not perfect — I can only offer my sincerest apologies for DONC — but I hope the puzzle was enjoyable nonetheless!

For the clues, 42A is my favorite by a mile — discovering this angle for an otherwise boring -ER word was nothing short of a miracle — and I’m very grateful that the team agreed. I also like 24A, 41A and the team’s laugh-out-loud 21D. I love wordplay and always try to include as much of it as possible in my clues (knowing many will be cut): 17A was originally “Worker concerned with strike action?,” 44D was “Tailor for swift?” and 45D was “‘Call me,’ maybe.” Sometimes I need to remind myself I’m not writing for a Saturday!

Finally, I almost can’t believe I’m introducing VTUBER to The Times! Crosswords are a great place to share a glimpse of one’s interests with others, and flourishes like these, I think, make them uniquely human. If this was unfamiliar, I hope you found the crossings fair — and learned something new, too!

Christina Iverson, a puzzle editor, will send a weekly Friday crossword with more accessible clues right to your inbox if you sign up for the Easy Mode newsletter. This extra bit of goodness is for those who would like to try the Friday puzzles but have heard all about how hard they are.

Take a look at the difference between the regular and easy-mode clues below. The links are a small sample of the clues from the Friday puzzle. When you click on them, you will see the version that will run in the regular puzzle as well as the easier version.

(Warning: The following are spoilers for the Friday puzzle.)

26A.

Friday clue: "Rulers' divisions?"

Easy-mode clue: “Sections of a historical timeline”

59A.

Friday clue: "Portmanteau in 2010s fandom"

Easy-mode clue: “Portmanteau for fans of a 2000s teen idol”

37D.

Friday clue: "Places to rub elbows?"

Easy-mode clue: “Places for elbows on planes”

Not so tough, right? You can definitely solve Friday puzzles. You may just need some practice before you’re conquering them on your own.

To sign up for the Easy Mode newsletter, click here.

The New York Times Crossword has an open submission system, and you can submit your puzzles online.For tips on how to get started, read our series “How to Make a Crossword Puzzle.”

Almost finished solving but need a bit more help? We’ve got you covered.

Spoiler alert: Subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.

Trying to get back to the main Gameplay page? You can find it here.

Deb Amlen, the crossword columnist and senior staff editor of Wordplay, believes that everyone can learn to solve the Times crossword. She is the author of the humor book, “It's Not P.M.S., It's You.” More about Deb Amlen

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