357 Sentences With "cluing"

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Cluing an audio crossword turned out to be not unlike cluing a regular one. from The New York Times
How easy or hard was it to learn the "rules" of cluing in the United States when you've been cluing cryptics for so long? from The New York Times
Another thing to note is the new cluing of the entry AARON BURR as the "Narrator of Broadway's 'Hamilton,'" as opposed to the old cluing as a famous duelist or founding father. from The New York Times
For me, the biggest cluing challenge was the E.T. entries. from The New York Times
As always, Mr. Steinberg's cluing is unassailable, clever and subtle. from The New York Times
Very straightforward cluing here, and nothing that was terribly difficult. from The New York Times
There is some lively cluing and general knowledge to know. from The New York Times
In cryptic cluing, the definition is usually the easy bit! from The New York Times
He debuts six entries and the cluing is mostly straightforward. from The New York Times
He debuts six entries and the cluing is mostly straightforward. from The New York Times
In particular, I like the attention paid to the cluing. from The New York Times
How could I not try to hone the cluing for the right day, after being one of the voices of wisdom on cluing in last year's Wordplay series "How to Make a Crossword Puzzle"? from The New York Times
ONLY TOO was another borderline-acceptable entry that required careful cluing. from The New York Times
Thanks to Will and crew for their usual improvements in cluing. from The New York Times
As Trenton mentioned, the highlight of the process was the cluing. from The New York Times
Global pop culture will save us all from repetitive cluing, folks. from The New York Times
I liked contributing something new to MAGOO cluing besides his eyesight. from The New York Times
Very straightforward and smooth cluing, although 66A confused me a bit. from The New York Times
Most of the cluing is straightforward, since the theme is not. from The New York Times
The hard part, believe it or not, is really the cluing. from The New York Times
The cluing is, if not difficult, clever and makes you think. from The New York Times
" 32A/33A: Nice "near" twin cluing, but read carefully: the "Org. from The New York Times
" 32A/33A: Nice "near" twin cluing, but read carefully: the "Org. from The New York Times
Today's cluing was tough, as one might expect on a Saturday. from The New York Times
He would make the grid and I would do the cluing. from The New York Times
I felt that the cluing on today's puzzle was fairly straightforward. from The New York Times
Cluing, on the other hand, is a frankly tedious business. 10. from The New York Times
It might also be the cluing, which is ramped up somewhat. from The New York Times
We worked on the fill and cluing over a few dozen emails. from The New York Times
Another possible minus is that it uses the "it" style of cluing. from The New York Times
I love cluing; it's a chance to get a little looser. 7. from The New York Times
But stay tuned, because the cluing is what really boosts this grid. from The New York Times
There is some tricky cluing, which adds to the challenge and entertainment. from The New York Times
Ahead, we're cluing you into what big trends you should expect this year. from Refinery 29
"Slate slate, for short" take two common cluing tricks and puts them together. from The New York Times
The cluing on Ms. Lucido's puzzle was on the gentler side, I believe. from The New York Times
Similarly, an obvious theme plus tough cluing doesn't give us much joy either. from The New York Times
It has a tight and surprising theme, strong fill and some lively cluing. from The New York Times
Fairly easy cluing, but here are a few that stood out to me. from The New York Times
It has a tight and surprising theme, strong fill and some lively cluing. from The New York Times
We were given the go-ahead to proceed with the fill and cluing. from The New York Times
In hopes of cluing them in, scientists have taken to showing them "panda porn." from The New York Times
In each puzzle, the solver is misled by a well established crossword cluing convention. from The New York Times
I do love the song at 32A, and the editorial team's cluing for it! from The New York Times
My initial submission had BUMPER CARAT in the grid, but cluing it was problematic. from The New York Times
TL; DR: Always think about the different ways words can be used in cluing. from The New York Times
On the positive side, I did like FAKE TAN, TANGELO and the trickier cluing. from The New York Times
This puzzle is a good example of how cluing decisions affect the solving experience. from The New York Times
And on Fridays and Saturdays, the cluing gloves are pretty much off, edits notwithstanding. from The New York Times
That brings me to Team Cox/Rathvon's cluing, which is a lot of fun. from The New York Times
As always, Mr. Blindauer's excellent work can be seen throughout the fill and cluing. from The New York Times
Obviously we are going to see some very cool cluing today, given our constructor. from The New York Times
And on Fridays and Saturdays, the cluing gloves are pretty much off, edits notwithstanding. from The New York Times
Cluing expertise is about more than just getting the difficulty right and brandishing puns. from The New York Times
The cluing today was typically Cox/Rathvon: genius, loopy and relevant to the text. from The New York Times
As for cluing, Will and Joel changed a lot for the better, in my opinion. from The New York Times
Adding to the fun of the theme and the fill was some very clever cluing. from The New York Times
Note: ERN and ERNE can have nonavian meanings and those will employ different cluing angles. from The New York Times
I had a great time finishing out the grid and cluing the puzzle with Erik. from The New York Times
The cluing was tough today, although I found a few gimmes that got me started. from The New York Times
Your reward for finishing is a very clean grid with some fun fill and cluing. from The New York Times
That's not for lack of excitement about the puzzle: I just really, really dislike cluing. from The New York Times
I liked ARACHNE and CAPISCE, but for me, this puzzle's strength is in its cluing. from The New York Times
I consider today's cluing pretty crunchy in general, but worth it for a nice passage. from The New York Times
I feel like going the vocabulary route here, rather than cluing LAX as the airport. from The New York Times
Speaking of cluing, I like the conversational tone that Will used for the theme clues. from The New York Times
And cluing into just how many teens are using e-cigs for cannabis is a start. from The Verge
That ramps this puzzle up to Thursday level, along with some tricky cluing outside the theme. from The New York Times
Solvers want to see the most sparkling of the sparkling fill, tougher entries and evil cluing. from The New York Times
It's a beautiful example of a Monday crossword: smooth solving, fairly easy vocabulary and straightforward cluing. from The New York Times
For new solvers, this challenge has pretty much zero cluing, and relies completely on pattern recognition. from The New York Times
I did really like the cluing for USB, YOU AND I, RNA, PAGE and several others. from The New York Times
The cluing is ramped up to 11, as evidenced, for one, by "Jet launcher" for GEYSER. from The New York Times
Because there's so much happening on a Monday, the cluing is gentle for the most part. from The New York Times
I contributed to the cluing as best I could, which was both difficult and a delight. from The New York Times
A great recent example would be from an Erik Agard puzzle: "Pool noodles" cluing MIND MELD. from The New York Times
Let's take a look at the cluing: 14A: Do you use MOT in your everyday vocabulary? from The New York Times
As much as I chuckled at the cluing angle here, I predict it will be polarizing. from The New York Times
This is another oft-used puzzle entry where a constructor's creativity comes out in the cluing. from The New York Times
Lots of good, crunchy entries, very little junk and some clever cluing kept me smiling throughout. from The New York Times
They built puzzles that could be solved incrementally, cluing-in the player by responding to failed attempts. from Vice
I also liked the au courant cluing of the Panama Papers to the crunchy entry TAX EVASION. from The New York Times
The wordplay conforms to strict rules in a cryptic, while looser cluing is allowed in a PandA. from The New York Times
Because you don't have to learn the conventions of cryptic cluing, Puns and Anagrams are more accessible. from The New York Times
But I really like some knotty wordplay in my late week cluing, and this seemed mostly definitional. from The New York Times
There's also more endearing and personalized cluing, I think, that marks a puzzle with the name Ezersky. from The New York Times
It may solve like a themeless, but this puzzle has fairly easy cluing, for the most part. from The New York Times
We shared the rest of the fill and cluing duties and are very happy with the result. from The New York Times
This is a sparkling grid, and the cluing lives up to the challenge set by the entries. from The New York Times
Tell me about any differences you noticed between cluing a cryptic crossword and an American-style one. from The New York Times
This is a well-made puzzle crammed with lively entries, it's very clean and the cluing is terrific. from The New York Times
The next entry in the acrosses is another container with a bit more complicated cluing (in my opinion). from The New York Times
That being said, crosswords should entertain and uplift, and generally speaking a light tone in cluing is desirable. from The New York Times
According to the puzzle editors, cluing a potentially unpleasant entry like LENI is a fine line to walk. from The New York Times
According to the puzzle editors, cluing a potentially unpleasant entry like LENI is a fine line to walk. from The New York Times
The cluing seemed tougher to me than usual for a Tuesday puzzle, and it contained little actual wordplay. from The New York Times
I liked the notion of cluing "21" with 21-letter phrases, allowing a meta-reference at the bottom. from The New York Times
This is Pawel Fludzinski's first Friday puzzle and I'd say his cluing is definitely up to the task. from The New York Times
WEINTRAUB: So there you have it, a sampling of suggestions and strategies for cluing theme and fill entries. from The New York Times
Various parts of the property were on lockdown, and no one from the resorts was cluing in the guests. from TMZ
This was a smooth and fun Monday outing, perfect for a beginning solver because the cluing is very straightforward. from The New York Times
Wordplay VARIETY PUZZLE — I found today's acrostic challenging, both in its cluing and the vocabulary in the actual grid. from The New York Times
And there is a lot of sleight of hand in the cluing, making for a very pleasant Friday outing. from The New York Times
I don't think the cluing was that hard today, nor were there lengthy or difficult terms in the excerpt. from The New York Times
There's a plethora of good fill here, and enough clever cluing and facts to learn to keep me happy. from The New York Times
Yet here she is, offering us a puzzle with an impressive number of really lively entries and tricky cluing. from The New York Times
Neil participated in every aspect, from theme generation to input on fill and cluing, despite his very tight schedule. from The New York Times
SATURDAY PUZZLE — Tough cluing today, as well as a formidable layout, made this grid intimidating to get started on. from The New York Times
Will chose what I suspect is the most benign, cluing PLEA BARGAINS = LAG + PEABRAINS as [Some compromises = Delay + dodos]. from The New York Times
As for cluing — I'm definitely getting better, as evidenced by fewer editorial changes this time around than ever before. from The New York Times
WILBER: For some, cluing can feel anticlimactic after the euphoria of wrestling all those letters into submission … er, position. from The New York Times
WEINTRAUB: As long as we're referencing cluing resources, one already mentioned in Part 1 of this series is XWordInfo. from The New York Times
I've written two books of baseball-themed puzzles and love the idea of cluing baseball jargon in a nonbaseball way. from The New York Times
Not a lot of overtly tricky cluing today, but here is a small selection of clues that caught my eye. from The New York Times
In his theme cluing, Mr. Trudeau has added a fun wrinkle that makes for a teasing little game as well. from The New York Times
It could just be me, but I thought the cluing was clear and smooth and the theme was relatively easy. from The New York Times
I guess I had Monday in mind when cluing this grid, totally forgetting to take the word count into consideration. from The New York Times
This is a Monday theme without any indication in the cluing, like question marks or italics or blatant "theme" labels. from The New York Times
I thought it was a jumbo Friday, at least, if not a Saturday, and a real trove of fabulous cluing. from The New York Times
It was a nice idea that also gave me the opportunity to push harder on the boundary of double cluing. from The New York Times
You won't find much ribaldry in this Damon Gulczynski grid, but there's enough interesting cluing to make the game worthwhile. from The New York Times
Some may know I call them "sea anemone clues," after a particularly egregious example cluing SEA (not in The Times). from The New York Times
I blame the fact that the grid lay completed for a few years before I finally got to cluing it. from The New York Times
Comparing what I submitted to what Will, Joel and Sam ultimately come up with is a great lesson in cluing. from The New York Times
The cluing is hard enough to give solvers a decent tug-of-war, but the puzzle is ultimately solvable. 21994A. from The New York Times
I avoid most controversial entries altogether, and I'm especially careful about cluing certain entries inoffensively (such as AFRO or HOMIE). from The New York Times
I avoid most controversial entries altogether, and I'm especially careful about cluing certain entries inoffensively (such as AFRO or HOMIE). from The New York Times
WEINTRAUB and WILBER: Before we really dive into the cluing, there are some things that all constructors need to know. from The New York Times
I moved quite slowly through great swaths of this puzzle, although as a whole the cluing was not too esoteric. from The New York Times
And the cluing is just right for a Tuesday puzzle, which probably has a lot to do with the puzzle editors. from The New York Times
The cluing is challenging and fun, and I found it to be an all around enjoyable entry into our solving weekend. from The New York Times
FRIDAY PUZZLE — Robyn Weintraub is quickly becoming one of my favorite constructors because of her lively grids and prowess with cluing. from The New York Times
Much of the cluing is straightforward (although not without humor!), and the theme clues themselves really couldn't be more bare-bones. from The New York Times
As far as the cluing went, I got CATEGORIES and ASSOCIATES toward the end, mainly because they were more general clues. from The New York Times
As always, I loved Sam Trabucco's style and got a kick out of his cluing and most of today's nine debuts. from The New York Times
One other asset of the theme is that they've placed their base phrases pretty far from the eventual things they're cluing. from The New York Times
Today's puzzle is a classic Sunday, a very clear concept, skillfully presented, with enough fresh cluing to send us tootling through. from The New York Times
The cluing is just hard enough to make you hunker down and devote all of your available brain cells to it. from The New York Times
Jeff did the heavy duty grid work and placement of the theme entries, and we both shared in filling and cluing. from The New York Times
As for cluing, my first impression is that Will/Joel eased up on the difficulty to help solvers better glean the theme…? from The New York Times
Warwick begins to sing before the plot reveals itself cluing the viewer in on the interconnected universe they are about to witness. from Refinery 29
As far as the puzzle went, I thought the cluing was lovely: mostly straightforward and smart, with a sprinkle of gentle humor. from The New York Times
I had, for example, "Lutz" for AXEL and "hit song" for HIPNESS; the cluing was perfect to send us down those paths. from The New York Times
"They're cluing in too that he's becoming a way bigger star than I think even he expected," said Kirk's agent, Nic Mayne. from The New York Times
I really enjoyed the onomatopoeia today in words like SNARF, HUM and TUT, and some unexpected cluing — ABACK, SPF, AIMS and others. from The New York Times
All in all, though, as long as I had the patience the cluing was skillful enough to be challenging but not inscrutable. from The New York Times
When I started the puzzle with SCHLUBBY, I had in mind cluing it as [Like many sitcom dads], but SITCOMMY precluded that. from The New York Times
Some of it has to do with the level of cluing, although solvers will still see mostly straightforward clues on a Tuesday. from The New York Times
She's a quick study; has a fun and witty cluing voice (see above); and thinks about crosswords like she's a constructing veteran. from The New York Times
I'm really happy to see the cluing of LEERS drift from "fact of life" gazes to something that is generally unwelcome. 33A. from The New York Times
The cluing today was replete with appropriate references, natural, nautical and northern — DOLPHIN, NARWHAL, POSEIDON, NIGHT SKY, UMIAK, TEMPEST and so on. from The New York Times
Even the littlest entries today had some sparkle in the cluing — I liked BEAU, BEER, DEBT and SUE, and there are more. from The New York Times
The rules are basically the same for cluing the cryptic crosswords of both countries, but cultural differences might be a stumbling block. from The New York Times
These puzzles are a peculiar species — they appear loopy and eccentric, but the rules behind the cluing are quite elegant and specific. from The New York Times
Kudos to Tinder product chief Jeff Morris Jr. for cluing us into this brazen creative theft: Amazon is now straight copying Allbirds. from The Verge
It's understandable, however, because cryptics generally use more common words and phrases as entries, while the wordplay is saved for the cluing. from The New York Times
Then the brass blasted out the opening theme, cluing in those who know their Wagner mainly from "Apocalypse Now" and Bugs Bunny. from The New York Times
The rest of the cluing was fairly easy, including the misdirected "Bull session?" for RODEO and "Address of Juliet's balcony?" for O ROMEO. from The New York Times
The theme for this one was hard to figure out, so I feel like the cluing was lively but kept relatively low-key. from The New York Times
For some reason Will left that piece of info out of the cluing … Almost finished solving but just need a bit more help? from The New York Times
Mr. Gulczynski has a really subtle, dry edge to his cluing that demands close attention and rewards quirkiness and a mental wordplay glossary. from The New York Times
On the plus side, there are some very crunchy, challenging general-knowledge entries, with tough cluing that might not be in many wheelhouses. from The New York Times
On the minus side, there are some very crunchy, challenging general-knowledge entries, with tough cluing that might not be in many wheelhouses. from The New York Times
No more the easy, straightforward cluing of Monday and Tuesday; few are the fill-in-the-blank clues that we can recall immediately. from The New York Times
I also considered cluing 110-Across as "This clue's 110-Across, for this clue," but I decided that would be a bit much. from The New York Times
But Will and Joel appropriately took the cluing up a notch, while still leaving the spirit of most of my original clues intact. from The New York Times
I noticed that Will changed up the cluing of the theme entries by adding bracketed hints and making a couple of them easier. from The New York Times
Speaking of listening, I felt that Team Cox/Rathvon was sending signals in its cluing today, but I couldn't really piece them together. from The New York Times
Wordplay THURSDAY PUZZLE — I look forward to puzzles with Erik Agard's byline, because the grids and the cluing are invariably stellar and fresh. from The New York Times
As a musician, I enjoy seeing the Estonian conductor PAAVO Järvi breaking up the cluing monopoly hitherto held by the Flying Finn Mr. Nurmi. from The New York Times
Dolores, cluing in the hosts to their own exploitation and lack of freedom, is both avatar of revenge and leader of the class struggle. from The New York Times
The phrase that Mr. Trudeau is cluing is SORRY NOT SORRY, a fairly recent expression that pretty much means what you think it does. from The New York Times
But it was the cluing that I enjoyed the most, and I was impressed with how many different areas of knowledge this puzzle covered. from The New York Times
In any event, I'm in the process of cluing a new puzzle right now, and I'll try to incorporate the lessons learned here today. from The New York Times
Regarding cluing, I'm generally a big fan of the editorial team's revisions — they know their audience and the types of clues that work well. from The New York Times
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. from The New York Times
On a similar note, I also think it's important to maintain a neutral voice in cluing, especially when it comes to potentially controversial entries. from The New York Times
Today's cluing felt a bit on the easy side to me for a Wednesday, but that might have been done to accommodate the quip. from The New York Times
She emailed with this grid and I was so impressed, I immediately got up from a nap to help with the tweaking and cluing. from The New York Times
My personal summer project is to learn more about the cryptic style of cluing, so I was on the look out for these tricks. from The New York Times
And above all, most of this is stuff that you know; you just don't know you know it, because the cluing is Saturday-level. from The New York Times
So much of the cluing has been edited and toughened up for a Saturday, and possibly to help disguise the rebus a bit more. from The New York Times
But Mr. Shortz is correct in that PandAs have a much wider range of fun approaches to cluing, and they have their own rules. from The New York Times
From a cluing standpoint, the visual of the vertical line of M's is nice, but the constraint makes some of the clues sound stilted. from The New York Times
A tip of the hat to the editing team on the cluing, as always; I especially liked their clues at 30- and 52-Down. from The New York Times
Wordplay SATURDAY PUZZLE — A tough one by Patrick Berry today, and the cluing is ramped up to what one would expect in a Saturday crossword. from The New York Times
But it forced some unwieldy and convoluted cluing, so I'm glad Will and company changed Potok to NOT O.K., which was very O.K. to me. from The New York Times
There was a lot of fun in the cluing today — I loved the ones for BAT, BEE, AVATAR, ROTTED, INNIE and TOMORROW (ruefully), among others. from The New York Times
On a Friday, it's O.K. to pull out the stops and use those tricky clues, although there's a definite line between Friday and Saturday cluing. from The New York Times
I can only take credit for about a quarter of the cluing, and Will's clues are, on average, a lot tougher (and better) than mine. from The New York Times
It's Friday, so we get to throw away the theme convention and enjoy a more open grid, with longer, more exciting entries and devilish cluing. from The New York Times
"VW" in the passage threw me at first; then, thinking I was clever, I assumed "VW bus" and created problems in the cluing for myself. from The New York Times
The first draft had a bunch of grand ideas — like running the puzzle on January 21, with "1/21" cluing DATE YOU ARE SOLVING THIS. from The New York Times
This is a lively, well-filled grid with a minimum of junk, clever cluing and just enough tug-of-war to keep this solver happy. from The New York Times
No great insight into clue construction here, just a basic example of how each constructor brings a different point of view to the cluing process. from The New York Times
Not long after, A.J. McLean and Nick Carter catch a ride, completing the fivesome — and cluing the girls in that they're part of a staged gag. from People
With phone and tablet-based AR, the challenge is cluing users into the fact that these features exist, while also making them more worthwhile than gimmicky. from TechCrunch
I've always preferred gridwork to cluing, so it's a nice affirmation to see that I'm getting more on track with variety, difficulty and length of clues. from The New York Times
Because of the homophonic cluing constraint, I repeatedly had to redo completed areas when I couldn't get them to work with the rest of the grid. from The New York Times
It's only Mr. Deeney's second Saturday puzzle for us, and his fourth over all, and he has an idiosyncratic cluing style that I like a lot. from The New York Times
This is not a debut, but back in the 1960s cluing referred to a "quick pull on reins" — either way, I'd never heard the word before. from The New York Times
Mr. Piscop sharpens our pattern recognition abilities with each construction, which I think is crucial to solving normal crossword puzzles, especially when the cluing is difficult. from The New York Times
The vocabulary can be ramped up a bit, the cluing can be made slightly more opaque, or the theme can delay that gratification you're looking for. from The New York Times
Wordplay SATURDAY PUZZLE — A challenging and fun one by Peter Wentz, with a mostly clean grid, nine debuts, lots of lively entries and some great cluing. from The New York Times
Do a little gossiping on Sunday, as the sun will gently harmonize with power planet Pluto, cluing you into secrets that you can use to your advantage. from Vice
When they're not showing off their vocabularies, they are cluing entries in ways that are positively evil, both aided and abetted by Will Shortz and Joel Fagliano. from The New York Times
I like a theme set where all of the requirements (letter additions, sound changes, cluing, etc.) are the same, because it just feels more elegant to me. from The New York Times
Erik Agard is back with a puzzle that not only debuts a whopping 93 entries, but also contains a lot of really good stuff and devious cluing. from The New York Times
This was a very smooth solve, and the cluing was what one might expect for a Monday, so I don't think you'll need me for this one. from The New York Times
Ordinarily, as regular acrostickers know, Team Cox-Rathvon leaves a trail of bread crumbs in its cluing that makes us slap our collective forehead when we're done. from The New York Times
The second was cluing the theme: how to best indicate the chain (with each word overlapping in two different phrases) and the looping aspect to the solver? from The New York Times
The cluing of this Saturday puzzle, which is supposed to be harder than the rest of the week, is a collaborative effort between the editor and constructor. from The New York Times
Maybe cluing an entry like that as "One of many in orientation?" might be more fun, because it can also misdirect a solver to a school orientation. from The New York Times
I also found some little spots of skillful misdirection, like the cluing for SODA, ANTE and VIA, and I liked the use of both CLAMMY and EELY. from The New York Times
I thought the cluing for the passage was of moderate difficulty and solved pretty smoothly after hazarding DICK TRACY, LIVE WIRE and NAOMI OSAKA all at once. from The New York Times
To me, this puzzle alone was dear enough to my heart, and I was this close to cluing it up indie-style and posting it on my site. from The New York Times
Even though he had to use a tiny bit of crosswordese here (for me it was just SAAB, as clued), he pulled off legitimate phrases and decent cluing. from The New York Times
When I finally got around to cluing the puzzle, I loved riffing on the conventional "Part 303, Part 2, ..." that appear in crossword clues from time to time. from The New York Times
I found the similarity in sound between mustered and mustard amusing, and contemplated using the clue "Mustard, say?" as a playful reinterpretation of the ", say" crossword cluing convention. from The New York Times
Aside from the cluing, I think the design here helped heighten the challenge; solving any of the four midlength stacks didn't help me much with the other three. from The New York Times
There's nothing helpful in the cluing, either for the author, who appears at 22A this time, or the three-part, grid-spanning quotation at 250A, 210A and 216A. from The New York Times
My cluing was intended to be top-to-bottom tough, endeavoring to have as many never-before-seen clues as possible, with as much wordplay meanness as possible. from The New York Times
At this point, the J.A.S.A. folks who make these puzzles are pros at all the aspects of construction, but the group clearly has a knack for clever cluing. from The New York Times
I'd say cluing U.S. puzzles is much easier overall, but the emphasis is on a desire to making sure the clue set is varied, inclusive and factually correct. from The New York Times
I had no idea what a SAMISEN was, and although this demonstration might not be in the vein of the term's cluing, it's a wild and impressive display. from The New York Times
The entries have to be words or phrases that a majority of solvers will know, for the most part, and the cluing has to be smooth and straightforward. from The New York Times
We spent the next half-hour discussing the rules of cluing (tenses and parts of speech have to match, what misdirection is all about) and finished the puzzle together. from The New York Times
As far as the cluing went, I had to walk away from this puzzle a few times until some answers surfaced from the murky regions of my younger mind. from The New York Times
We had a tough time cluing HANGMAN, but the editing team came up with the superb clue [Bad choices in it might cost you an arm and a leg]. from The New York Times
I quickly turned to John for help with the idea, and together we got the M-E-O-W letters to work without too much glue and awkward cluing. from The New York Times
Seriously, I love making crosswords because I find grid construction to be a fun and satisfying problem to solve, and theme development/clever cluing to be nice creative outlets. from The New York Times
This is a very nice debut with some lively fill and cluing, and enough fill-in-the-blanks to make this a Wednesday puzzle that new solvers could handle. from The New York Times
Here Will and Joel went along with cluing AHA (at 10-Down) as "So THAT'S the story here!" as a small bit of Easter egg humor for observant solvers. from The New York Times
The thing is, the cluing took quite a few unexpected turns and there were a few instances when I wrote in an answer just to have to write over it. from The New York Times
After finishing the fill however, an "Uh-oh" moment struck me during cluing, when I realized that Americans rarely used EVEN STEVENS to mean "balanced," but instead used EVEN STEVEN. from The New York Times
Mr. Haight offers us a set of five two-word phrases that have absolutely nothing to do with underwear when Mr. Haight isn't dealing with them, and cluing them punnily. from The New York Times
The cluing on this puzzle was sprightly and very balanced, especially when you consider that its maker has probably lived about 98 percent of her life in the 21st century. from The New York Times
The cluing in today's puzzle is on the gentle side for a Thursday, I think, probably to give solvers a chance to check their sanity with regard to the theme. from The New York Times
As Mike pointed out to me, some words, like AGA, have appeared in the puzzle many times, and its a challenge to come up with new ways of cluing them. from The New York Times
We've seen this cluing trick before, and we'll likely see it again, so it's worth committing to memory: When you see a fraction or a ratio, don't do the math. from The New York Times
I think that the cluing was a bit gentler in general today because of the rebus elements, but here are a few that might have slowed down your solving flow. from The New York Times
What gives Mr. Ockman's puzzle a boost, other than the cuteness of the theme, is the cluing, which tries to take somewhat mundane fill and give it a solid backspin. from The New York Times
One of my favorite things to do in cluing is to clue an outside entry on theme, but subtly so solvers wouldn't notice until they were done with the puzzle. from The New York Times
Many things contribute to your cluing style: The degree to which you balance basic definition clues, wordplay-based clues, general knowledge clues, in addition to sprinkling in humor and slang. from The New York Times
As I went along filling and cluing it, I was afraid that not all the joints being hinge joints, like their arrangement seemed to indicate, would be cause for rejection. from The New York Times
I did not fly through this Tuesday puzzle, but looking back over it I think the difficulty I encountered was in some of the cluing, all of which I liked. from The New York Times
Monday puzzles are easy in the sense that you are likely to be able to solve them based on the information and knowledge of cluing rules that you already possess. from The New York Times
When she sings, "Wish I could say thank you to Malcom / 'Cause he was an angel," she looks upwards, presumably towards Heaven...but maybe she's also cluing us into his whereabouts? from Refinery 29
There was a lot of good cluing in today's puzzle, but the one that nearly made me do a spit take was 38 Across's "Bush native to the South," for JEB. from The New York Times
Will Shortz and the team did a great job with the cluing, but I'm happy to see a couple of my favorites make the cut (I'm particularly fond of 18-Across). from The New York Times
A "Real stunner" might be an attractive person, but as the week goes on and the difficulty of the cluing increases, we need to start thinking of other kinds of stunners. from The New York Times
Mr. Trudeau, who is all about the food like I am, says: This puzzle originally had DREAM WORKS as a revealer, which the editorial team vetoed because it made cluing tricky. from The New York Times
I'm sure that people will get tripped up by some of the little guys today: I had "lox" for EEL (and am still aghast at its cluing) and "top" for SAT. from The New York Times
There are many fun things about getting a puzzle published in The Times, but perhaps my favorite thing is the long-distance cluing tutorial I get from seeing the final product. from The New York Times
Some other musings on changed cluing: As submitted, PEÑA NIETO was clued as [Obama's Mexican counterpart], which was true back in May 2016 when the puzzle was written (how time flies!). from The New York Times
It wasn't till I was cluing it that I noticed that I had accidentally made a cross directly above the crypt, which brought back memories of touring crypts below cathedrals in Europe. from The New York Times
Might have gone for a little more zing were I building this puzzle today, but at the same time, the relative lack of crosswordese allows for a lot of nice cluing opportunities. from The New York Times
I found myself significantly misdirected more than once today, which might have been just me, but Mr. McCarty's counterintuitive cluing added a fun, intriguing little something to the challenge of a Saturday. from The New York Times
" We can't all be DeVoses and we can't all be Lulu the Labradoodle, so in this hopeful new era of sensitivity I think we should start cluing this entry as "Working dog. from The New York Times
I was interested to see that the editorial process set the cluing at a rather easy level; for The New York Times, it seems like a Monday or Tuesday puzzle to me. from The New York Times
Imagine how it feels to see ONO — a perfectly cromulent entry, but very common — for what feels like the millionth time, and having such slim pickings when it comes to cluing choices. from The New York Times
I had very little trouble with the cluing here and was able to sally forth with filling in blanks using letters from NORTON, EARTHWORMS, ED ASNER, GARFIELD, ROACH MOTEL, DISNEY and ELEPHANT. from The New York Times
I tried to be as silly as possible with the cluing of the theme answers, but some were a little too "out there," so Will changed a few to tone down the silliness. from The New York Times
I would like to personally and publicly extend my thanks to Will Shortz and Joel Fagliano for re-cluing the entry FALSIES so that we are discussing eyelashes and not, well, you know. from The New York Times
I thought today's cluing was pretty inventive and maybe a bit challenging for a Monday, and counted two "naticks," which happen when two names cross — like LARA at 249A and VIJAY at 27D. from The New York Times
It is as close to being four independent mini-puzzles as you can get, and this fact needs to be taken into account in the cluing so that solvers can gain a foothold. from The New York Times
The cluing for these entries is also tennis-centric; most are straightforward, a couple are humorous, but I'd be surprised if you could get any without knowing a little bit about the sport. from The New York Times
I did find the cluing pretty difficult over all, nothing much to speed through — small sticklers like ORLE and MASER, and some more obscure names like ARLEN and AMAHL, seemed to be everywhere. from The New York Times
I liked the idea of cluing the flipped form instead, because, in addition to the solving curveball, it allows you to showcase both versions without having to dedicate double the grid real estate. from The New York Times
I woke Loren up from her long nap with a surprise "COMPLETED BLACK ICE PUZZLE!" email so that she could work her linguistics major magic on the tweaking of fill words and cluing. from The New York Times
Then, if you really get into it, you'll start to pay more attention to the construction of the puzzles, and what sets one apart from another, besides the general nature of the cluing. from The New York Times
Hmm … my best advice for cluing the Scully character, especially for a Tuesday, is not to do a deep dive for "X Files" trivia, like something the character did in a specific episode. from The New York Times
Also on the seventh, Venus sextiles Mars, cluing you in to some talent or character trait that's really working for you, even though you previously may not have been so aware of it. from Vice
Even so, I liked some of the cluing, like "Head of the army?" for LATRINE (I know; I'm 12), "Heavy metal venue?" for STEEL MILL, "Solo pilot?" for HAN and "Fowl language?" for CHEEP. from The New York Times
For young children, both constructors did a good job pulling from all eras for their vernacular cluing — the one thing I saw that might nonplus was OWE, as Venmo giveth, and Venmo taketh away. from The New York Times
To be fair, cluing ALI as the boxing champion would be too easy for a Friday, but there are many ALIs out there, and it's nice to see the constructors and editors branching out. from The New York Times
Wordplay VARIETY PUZZLE — Puns and Anagrams may look like your average crossword puzzle, but once you delve into the clues, you can see that some of them use a kind of cryptic crossword cluing. from The New York Times
Our cluing was helped by a simple shell script James wrote, called cross, which let us see all the past Times clues for any entry we were considering (basically a worse version of xwordinfo.com/Finder). from The New York Times
This solve felt fairly smooth to me, punctuated by some really appealing cluing — I loved the clues for ILIAD and INHERITS, and GAG ME and AS IF hit me right in the generational sweet spot. from The New York Times
These days I'm putting less emphasis on using flashy debut entries in the grid, and putting more emphasis on producing a smooth (if less flashy) grid that allows for challenging wordplay in the cluing instead. from The New York Times
I loved the crossing of RBIS and RIBEYES (I had never made that connection); I liked the cluing for EPEE and ACAI; and some of the proper names were wonderfully evocative (OSCAR ARIAS, CORNETTI, RURITANIA). from The New York Times
My original cluing for the INBOX/OUTBOX revealer was to treat them as a unit (emphasizing the visual nature of the stacking), but hopefully solvers will still get the picture in the puzzle's current incarnation. from The New York Times
We know enough about Mr. Chen to know that any puzzle of his will have pro-level cluing (by the way, this is his centennial grid with us, if you want another event to commemorate). from The New York Times
I think a lot of puzzles now look for the flashy modern answer, but to me, something like ELEPHANT or CONTINENTS can be just as good, just because of all of the fun cluing possibilities. from The New York Times
Joel Fagliano, the creator of our Mini crosswords and other packs, returns with a cleverly misdirected theme that takes popular websites and CRASHes them into each other, whilst cluing them punnily to give them surface sense. from The New York Times
If you find yourself struggling with the vagueness and trickery of Saturday-level cluing, fear not: Here are a few helpful tips to increase your level of solvitude and cope with clues that seem impenetrable: 1. from The New York Times
This is all to say, I've learned by now how rewarding a concerted cluing effort can be … and how much the results can elevate the puzzle no matter which day of the week it falls on. from The New York Times
The cluing, which might be mostly the puzzle editors's work, is not only cranked up to offer a good tug-of-war between puzzle and solver, but hits a very satisfying variety of topics as well. from The New York Times
On the other hand, Dr. Diehl introduces eight entries and fills his grid with some fun stuff, so while you are struggling, take some time to enjoy the fresh entries and the tightness of the cluing. from The New York Times
When cluing is this silky, I can putter through a grid and not get the joke until pretty far along, and that was certainly the case here — I think it clicked around the fourth entry I solved. from The New York Times
You could have solved those first three entries none the wiser, especially if you're not drawn to the neon lights, to the drama, to the biz, or maybe you just found yourself distracted by the sharp cluing. from The New York Times
There is one standard that I don't talk about much, primarily because it has nothing to do with the theme or the fill or the cluing, and it would probably seem, well, odd to most of you. from The New York Times
What I like about the theme cluing is that the constructors and the editors were able to disguise the country mash-ups by mashing up countries that share at least a bit of proximity to each other. from The New York Times
The original theme idea was a little too complicated for a Tuesday puzzle — I had the same theme entries, but instead of cluing them straightforwardly as in the published puzzle, I clued them in an unconventional manner. from The New York Times
Second, while I am a fan of Jon HEDER of "Napoleon Dynamite" fame, I was fascinated to learn that the only other cluing used for HEDER in past New York Times crosswords is as a Jewish school. from The New York Times
Mr. Walden is known for his tough cluing and his ability to come up with entries that can make you feel that perhaps you have a lot more to learn about the English language than you thought. from The New York Times
The voice of a puzzle can also shine through its cluing, and though I don't have a ton of favorites from this one, I am glad to see that my clues for ELEGY, WHIZ KID and SIXES survived. from The New York Times
Mr. Kalish debuts 10 entries that I thought were really entertaining (BWAHAHA, I'VE CHANGED, NO PRESSURE, PERP WALK and BIG PHARMA were my favorites) and the cluing has enough GRAY AREA to keep solvers guessing for a while. from The New York Times
Mr. Madison, who used to be the constructor for the Buzzfeed crossword, has a distinctive style of cluing and filling, but he and the editors have kept his former (according to his notes below) "freewheelingness" in check here. from The New York Times
It looks so much like a regular puzzle — standard 15 x 15 grid and ordinary cluing — that if someone was looking over your shoulder as you solved (and didn't notice the huge title) they'd think you were nuts. from The New York Times
Stu Ockman isn't wildly prolific (not that there's anything wrong with that), but his history indicates a leaning toward grids for the end of the week, and a deviousness in cluing and expansive vocabulary to go with it. from The New York Times
Wordplay FRIDAY PUZZLE — I thought this was a fun Friday puzzle from a young contributor, with a handful of millennial neologisms — DRUNKDIAL, PITY PARTY and, yes, MANKINI among them — and some unusual cluing for old answers to boot. from The New York Times
If, by chance, someone has never heard of either of the actress OLIVIA MUNN and the character DANA SCULLY in the upper right of our grid, be gentle when cluing the Across entries, like where MUNN crosses NYE. from The New York Times
Normally, the cluing in a Diagramless puzzle is made fairly easy because most solvers (and by "most solvers" I mean "me") find it too hard to decipher tough clues in addition to counting squares to find the next entry. from The New York Times
All three divisions get increasingly difficult cluing for the same puzzle, but the rarefied A division is for the top money — first prize is $5,000 — and the three solvers, Mr. Feyer, Mr. Agard and David Plotkin of Gainesville, Fla. from The New York Times
I didn't have to look any up to solve because of Wednesday's generosity with cluing and crosses, but I did check them in the stats and feel no shame, they're all either rare or new clues for these names. from The New York Times
The sun meets Venus on October 26, cluing you in to some very important insight about which direction you want to go—this could also be an outstanding day to tackle themes regarding work and how you are perceived. from Vice
It took me a while to parse that Mr. Bajcz was taking two-word phrases that end in and begin with the S or Z sound, eliding them and then cluing them in a punny way on the new phrases. from The New York Times
You can read more about the history of the naming of our beloved OREO here, and you can click here to see how the cluing of OREO changed around 1993-1994, which is coincidentally when Will Shortz became crosswords editor. from The New York Times
As Mr. Adams notes below, I was a bit concerned by the entry 7D, HE/SHE and its cluing, but I was excited that there might be a possibility that the crossers for these film titles related back to them. from The New York Times
This was a dense Sunday, and it's been a bit of a week, so things did go on autopilot here and there, but I really liked a lot of the cluing for little guys like ALI, AORTAS, NAE and SEGUE. from The New York Times
For his second time at bat in this venue, Mr. Koppy seems to have a good sense for what makes entertaining fill, and the editors made sure that the cluing had just the right amount of "tug" for a Thursday puzzle. from The New York Times
Along the way, I also changed the revealer from FULL HOUSES to the more natural-sounding FULL HOUSE, which opened up better cluing options, and aligned the three circled areas vertically to create a more ordered feeling for the grid. from The New York Times
We see a lot of puzzles stuffed with neologisms and 21st-century slang, so I was joyously struck by a more gritty and retro feel today in the entries and the cluing with references to pop culture from earlier eras. from The New York Times
These are the limits in today's grid; once you've overcome any anxiety or grade school flashbacks, all of the ratings are certainly surmountable, and the graceful cluing makes the themers a lot of fun to guess at while you solve. from The New York Times
Wordplay VARIETY PUZZLE — The last time a Puns and Anagrams puzzle ran in The Times, the editor Will Shortz gave us a handy lesson on the wide variety of cluing that solvers can find in PandAs, as they are affectionately called. from The New York Times
There are few really devious cluing tricks (You can learn more about those by reading our "How to Solve The New York Times Crossword" guide), and you can get from the clue to the answer in a fairly uncomplicated manner. from The New York Times
On a less objective note (although I'm sure I missed a few other stats, feel free to berate me in the comments), I was really gobsmacked that this puzzle managed to include all of those interesting aspects without being contorted in its cluing. from The New York Times
If you're a horror fan like moi, then you should be particularly elated by the news that a TV show based on The Purge is in the works — and now, Entertainment Weekly is cluing us into exactly what the series will be about. from Refinery 29
The class is a lot more clever than I am; our first drafts at cluing often read like cryptics (mine read like TV Guide), so I'm glad to see a lot of the double clues and references shine through, even on a Wednesday. from The New York Times
That's the thing about the late-week puzzles: You have to work to get the clues and the entries might be a bit tougher, but you will generally be rewarded with entertaining fill and cluing that you won't see earlier in the week. from The New York Times
And then there was balancing them in the grid, coupled with finding some neat way of cluing the set ... I remember there being some pain in coming up with a final set of entries, but I feel good about the set I managed. from The New York Times
Sometimes even themeless puzzles have a motif, like a lot of trivia or pop culture, and today was a day for great misdirects in the cluing — some I mention elsewhere, but clues for DECREE, CATERERS, ATTICS, ACE and EMAG were all showstoppers. from The New York Times
I believe creating and cluing them with one group in mind, whether they are older folks like me or younger solvers who have quite different vocabularies and interests, makes some unhappy but minimizes some opportunities to learn from each other's generational knowledge base. from The New York Times
I made this a couple years ago, forgot about it for about a year, found it in my files one day, sent it (grid only) to Will and Joel, got the O.K., and then procrastinated on cluing it for another six months. from The New York Times
As a solver, I dread lucking into the theme this quickly, but Mr. Paleos successfully reeled me in for the entire ride with a lot of tricky and clever cluing, as well as some samples from the candy drawer that I'd never actually heard of. from The New York Times
One of the nontheme entries, SALT DOMES, has a clue that is really the only way you can tell that this is a Byron Walden puzzle ("Halite formations that might be oil reservoirs"), because Mr. Walden is known for his difficult über-intellectual cluing. from The New York Times
Despite all that, the fill in the final product isn't bad, in my opinion, with only a few entries I wish I could have eliminated (KTS, IT A and I MET, you know who you are ...) One other tricky aspect of this puzzle was cluing. from The New York Times
On the contrary, the cluing is fairly straightforward and, while the constraints imposed by the theme give rise to a good amount of gluey fill, there's not a lot here that you can't get by calling on general knowledge or by working the crossings. from The New York Times
The cluing conspicuously betrayed a scientific theme, but I found it difficult today to really break into the grid; I was able to fill in NEWFOUND and SLIDE SHOW, and then got a bit stuck and had to really think about things for a while. from The New York Times
There's a definite vibe that this could be the beginning of a beautiful partnership There wasn't much vanilla fill to speak of today, and the jubilant aura around the cluing for this puzzle makes me think that the writers' room must have been a riot. from The New York Times
Mr. Shortz wrote the piece to clarify that PandAs had a method for cluing beyond just puns and anagrams, and that they are a type of puzzle that stands strongly on its own, as opposed to just being somewhat similar to a cryptic crossword. from The New York Times
I don't want to give out too many spoilers but I got super stuck on 673A, ELSA LANCHESTER, and 80A, MICHELLE YEOH, and I thought in about every case the constructors did a great job vaguely cluing the crosses to give this grid a Sunday feel. from The New York Times
For one thing, whether you realize it or not, if you have been faithfully solving the puzzles through most of the week over time, you have already been learning the language of crossword cluing: The end-of-the-week puzzles simply make things a bit trickier. from The New York Times
One of the things I really like about Ms. Burnikel's early week puzzles is the flow: They remind me somewhat of Andrea Carla Michaels's grids, where you can start typing or writing and not stop until you're finished, because the entries and the cluing are so smooth. from The New York Times
Based on their notes below, it sounds to me as if this one was constructed with the intention of it being a bit harder, but that the puzzle editors changed the cluing and part of the grid, ultimately easing it up to be a Tuesday grid. 31A. from The New York Times
I can usually rely on filling enough short crosses to get one long answer on a Friday, which then leads to more fill, but I struggled with many common filler words because of difficult cluing, including ETAS, AMIS, DO IN, SOPS, ETDS, AM I, SRS and more. from The New York Times
In my very mainstream opinion, the entries at 221D, 26D, 26D, 81D, 11D, 65D, 14D, 74D and 48D are all very popular sugar delivery systems; with the straightforward cluing, it was possible to guess a few without crosses, and deduce several with a few letters on the board. from The New York Times
The hybrid structures recall one of the election's many ironies, that on the campaign trail Trump cited his Atlantic City casino ventures as examples of how he does business — essentially cluing us into his intentions to profit from a failing business and let the loss fall on others. from Hyperallergic
Mr. Newman, who is the editor of the Newsday puzzles (including the Saturday Stumper, purported to be one of the hardest crosswords in the business), is known for his pristine, sparkling fill and devious cluing, so it was a delight to see his byline on my Friday puzzle. from The New York Times
Wordplay FRIDAY PUZZLE — When you see someone refer to a puzzle as "crunchy," it usually means that there is a good helping of fresh or lively entries and a buffet of tough cluing, and that it is generally a grid into which you can really sink your teeth. from The New York Times
The class is currently led by Natan Last and Andy Kravis, who teach the attendees about the parts of putting together a puzzle — theme development, grid design, filling and cluing — and then the class creates one that is sent to the crossword editors Will Shortz and Joel Fagliano for evaluation. from The New York Times
Even though the puzzles build in difficulty from Monday, partially solving Saturdays will give you insights that will serve you on easier days, as well as a feel for the change in cluing that can make an easy little filler word on a Tuesday a fascinating headscratcher on a Saturday. from The New York Times
Cluing a 140-word puzzle is always a big job, but on this one, I think I wrote something like 90 percent of the clues on the first sitting, and then spent several days trying to think of a good clue for MISSPELL, which seemed ripe for a fun clue. from The New York Times
Allow the taste of the fun cluing to envelop your senses: "Shot blockers" does not refer to hockey or any sport, it refers to lens covers; "Net game?" has nothing to do with basketball, but with ONLINE POKER; if you are "Not on base?" you are not looking to steal, you are AWOL. from The New York Times
Playing with team names is not novel, of course, so I tried to get as tight a theme as possible, getting one entry from each of the four major sports (sorry, Major League Soccer, I wasn't ambitious enough to cram in five theme entries) and cluing each entry with the "Coach…" motif. from The New York Times
So if you combine this with everything that went on, it&aposs pretty clear I think that what they did was they made a scheme that allowed them to perpetuate the investigation without cluing Trump in on exactly what the investigation was about, and that&aposs why they told him he wasn&apost a suspect. from Fox News
This is the only puzzle I have ever made where I thought my cluing had anything whatsoever to do with the puzzle being accepted — I had to change part of the fill and lots of my clues got changed, but Will and his team decided to use my two theme clues word for word. from The New York Times
As a trade-off, a constructor will usually make the clues a little easier to nail down (although I thought that today's cluing was really challenging), and you're given the option to peek at which square in the top row you start filling in your first entry, which can really help get a solver going. from The New York Times
It's clued as a nod to the 2017 Pixar film, "COCO," although my first thought, other than the designer COCO Chanel, was of the avian character from "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends," who laid plastic Easter eggs when she got excited: As far as the cluing is concerned, I would imagine that more people know about the Pixar film. from The New York Times
Either way, this was a clean, silky smooth puzzle with enough misdirection to challenge me as I knocked the rust off my vacation pen (I had to edit my first four entries, thank you very much), and plenty of the very dry, but gentle, wit and subtle self-references that make Ms. Weintraub's cluing so distinctive. from The New York Times
I particularly liked TEAM U.S.A., "AT" SIGNS, MAY I SEE, SLAYS (used in a fairly modern sense), SUPER BOWL M.V.P., MT. POCONO, HUG IT OUT, PRESSES ON, JDATE and JLAW, SETH ROGEN and SAN FRANCISCO, I thought that Mr. Vigeland's cluing was fair and that there weren't too many really twisty clues, but some of them go back pretty far. from The New York Times
This was my first New York Times submission ever, so I was truly stunned when I got the "yes" from the editing team (well, after a quick reconfiguration of the northeast corner!) Since I write crosswords nearly exclusively for my non-puzzle obsessed classmates, my cluing tends to skew easy and modern, so thanks to the team for upping the difficulty level. from The New York Times
This is evident in today's Puns and Anagrams, which is Mr. Ezersky's second to be published (his debut PandA is here.) Not only does Mr. Ezersky use a variety of cluing types, which one would expect in a PandA, but the topics he covers are fun: solvers will encounter board games (L SEVEN for "Battleship"), animals at the zoo (OCELOTS), Egyptian goddesses (ISIS) and even made-up campaign slogans for rock stars (ELECTRIC). from The New York Times
I loved the double cluing for "Maybellene" and the sound-alike answers, CHASED and CHASTE, although I will admit that I had to listen to the song to get to the answers: Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon have to piece together parts of some quotes in order for them to work as an acrostic puzzle, but it's the history behind the lyrics to Mr. Berry's song JOHNNY B. GOODE that I find really interesting. from The New York Times
I also liked seeing TALKING HEAD, DEADBEAT, SPANISH MAIN, DOUGHNUT, FUNHOUSE, LAPCAT, BAD DAY, TEA ROSE, KEYPAD and FIRE UP. The cluing is particularly lively today and my favorites include "What you might get a distorted picture from?" for FUNHOUSE, "Scoring low on the excite-o-meter" for MEH, "Show authority?" for TALKING HEAD (think "authority that's on a show"), "Unpaid interest?" for HOBBY, "Ring for dessert?" for DOUGHNUT and "One who gets no credit?" for DEADBEAT. from The New York Times
My other favorite clues include the other question mark clues at 17-Across, 10-Down and 34-Down, as well as the clue for 57-Across, as to my knowledge, this is the first time such a cluing angle has been used for ESSENES, and I think it's an interesting piece of trivia (a crossword has to have at least some trivia, right?) I hope you enjoy the puzzle, vast expanses of white space and all. from The New York Times