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MONDAY PUZZLE – No, your eyes are fine. We’ve all seen it too: the crossword puzzle looks a bit strange today, doesn’t it?
Here’s why: Most of the grids in the American-style crossword tradition — a phrase I like to say with the tip of my bowler hat and a twist of my cane — are square to facilitate their rotational symmetry. But this puzzle constructed by David Liben-Nowell is a rectangle. (When I opened it, my first thought was that it looked like it had come through a pasta press. I don’t own a pasta press, but I’m sure that’s the right analogy.)
However, apart from the unusual height, this is standard for a Monday puzzle. It’s simply stretched to mimic the shape of its subject – which happens to pay tribute to one of my favorite foods. Do you want to know what it is? Read all about it below in a note from one of our puzzle editors.
“Once in a while a designer will send us a particularly oddly shaped grid to fit the theme of the puzzle,” wrote Sam Ezersky. “Although we wouldn’t normally allow that to happen, the shape here adds visual appeal: the 12-letter answers fully extend and stack on top of each other to create a PEANUT BUTTER sandwich. It’s a thoughtful touch that complements an already thoughtful, original theme idea.”
Today’s topic
How do you take up your topic? Roasted or unroasted? Whole grain or white? Diagonally, with the crust cut off or whole?
These are all acceptable ways to enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carefully constructed from carefully stacked themed entries in Mr. Liben-Nowell’s grid. Both 16-Across and 57-Across are SLICES of BREAD – also known as “sandwich top” and “sandwich bottom”.
Between these two entries, we get the filling: a “fruity sandwich ingredient” (31A) that is RASPBERRY JAM, and a “savory sandwich ingredient” (45A) that is PEANUT BUTTER.
When I ate this sandwich for breakfast every day before school, my tradition was white bread with the crust cut off and strawberry jam (gasp!). Now I’m taking my peanut butter with blueberry jam and tossing it in the crunchiest sourdough I can find — and that’s how I know I’ve grown up.
Tricky hints
14A Raise your hand if you’ve ever placed the H in the wrong place in the word PIRANHA. (You can’t see my hand, but it’s up.)
55A. We all have a favorite conspiracy theory to pitch at parties. In my opinion, the AUK, a sea-dwelling “penguin double”, was invented solely for its suitability as a crossword filler word.
3D The word AERIALIST is as impressive to look at on paper as the achievements of such a “trapeze artist”. I mean just look at the vowels that rotate.
6D “Ocean Voyager” could refer to either a vessel or its passenger. Here it is the passenger who is imaginatively referred to as the SEAFARER.
8D It may seem strange to say the verb WOVE in the past tense – at least it is to me – but in the context of loom work it is the preferred form. (The verb that describes physical movement, such as weaving in and out of traffic, actually has different word origins! Hence its past tense is “woven”.)
17D. Am I the only one who got an A here by mistake instead of an E? While BRIER seems more closely related to the etymological roots of “spiky plant in a thicket,” I often see the spelling “briar” in place names, such as at Briarcliff Manor, NY
47D. Etymologists don’t know exactly how TOP-NOTCH came to mean “The very best,” but the folk etymologies surrounding it are intriguing, including one that suggests fathers used it to express their approval of their daughters’ suitors that they held up a candle. top notch” to keep it burning longer while the couple meet.
solution tip
verb or adjective?
If a clue appears to use a past tense verb, proceed with caution: the correct answer may depend on whether the verb is actually a past participle, formed from a verb but functioning as an adjective . Some examples from past puzzles:
In the May 29 crossword, we saw the clue “Half Evenly” at 35-Across, which resolved to IN THE HALF. “Bisected” is used as an adjective. Had “Bisected” served as a past tense verb, the answer to that clue might have been “Halved” instead.
Some verbs sound the same in all voices and tenses. For example, the clue phrase “Put away” might refer to an adjective describing someone who has been locked away or CAPTIVE. It could function as a past tense verb, as in “we put away” or “ATE,” a pizza. Or it could be a present tense verb referring to putting away or storing an object. A search for the clue phrase on XWord Info reveals how many ways it can be interpreted, so look alive.
Notes to the Designer
The core of this topic became clear to me in early 2022. After spending many hours going through lists of the best sandwiches in the world, I landed on what is perhaps the most classic sandwich of them all after seeing the effect the very unclassic 12×19 grid shape could produce. (I’ve wrestled with the highly controversial question of whether the PB should be above or below the J for a very long time.)
Maybe it’s because I stick to the rules so much the rest of my life, but I always get that little bit more excitement from puzzle ideas that break one of the standard crossword rules. (It takes a little nerdy generosity to call “repeating an entry in a puzzle” an act of rebellion, but there we are.)
And I’m thrilled to finally have a Monday; I’ve been trying to write good starter-of-the-week puzzles for years, but I’ve always struggled to find topics that are both interesting and accessible. I have a ton of rejections for this effort and an even greater respect for the designers in week one for making it look so effortless.
Would you like to submit crossword puzzles to the New York Times?
Note: The submission deadline temporarily ends on July 3rd and will reopen on July 17th. The puzzle editors are reviewing already submitted puzzles during this period, so you may hear from them while the submission deadline is closed.
The New York Times Crossword has an open submission system and you can submit your puzzles online.
Check out our How to Make a Crossword Puzzle series for tips to get you started.
Tips Ahoy!
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