Zachary Spitz’s puzzle is a Thursday treat.
THURSDAY PUZZLE — As a ’90s baby, this puzzle evokes memories of staying up nights until 10, trying to catch the start of “Curb your Enthusiasm” or, on a weekend, trying not to pass out before midnight for “Saturday Night Live.”
This is Zachary Spitz’s sixth puzzle for The New York Times. His first five were published between 2015 and 2018. Despite the hiatus, Mr. Spitz has remained in excellent form. Full of great clues, this puzzle was a joy to solve.
Tricky Clues
10A. Chuck is a cut of BEEF that includes the shoulder blades, the neck, and the upper arms of a cow. Chuck roast has become popular with the rise of Mississippi Pot Roast in Reddit’s slow cooking community.
14A. The comedian J.B. Smoove plays LEON Black, a fan favorite character on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Mr. Smoove has also appeared on the sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris” and worked as a writer on “Saturday Night Live.”
19A. To humblebrag is to make a seemingly modest comment in an attempt to draw attention to one’s admirable qualities. So when complimenting a humblebragger, a person might say, “I TRY.”
24A. To “Pull a UIE” is to make a U-turn.
51A. Cheri OTERI was a regular cast member on “Saturday Night Live” from 1995 to 2000. She appeared frequently with Will Ferrell in the Spartan Cheerleader sketches.
58A. Kelly CHOI is a television personality based in New York. She has appeared on “Secrets of New York” and “Feed Me TV” on NYC Media, a broadcast network that is part of the mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
60A. A CARTOONIST is a person who draws cartoons for a living, so in this puzzle “drawing lots” means drawing pictures often as opposed to making a chance decision. This is the first time since 1975 that this answer has appeared in the New York Times Crossword.
4D. A modern feature-length movie can take up multiple 2,000-foot reels of film. Shorter films will be mounted on only ONE REEL. During the silent film era, a “one-reeler” was a comedy that ran approximately 10 minutes.
6D. I had SNOW CAPS here, but that was quickly proved incorrect by the crossers. SKI SUITS are warm outer layers meant to be worn on the slopes.
44D. “Dental pointers?” refers to CANINES, our pointy human teeth, instead of instructions for good dental health.
55D. With so many TV clues in this puzzle, I thought “Pond film” was meant to be a piece of wordplay. Instead, it just refers to pond SCUM, the algae that accumulates in stagnant water.
Today’s Theme
Before we take a look at the theme, you might need this article about how to enter more than one letter in a square. Mr. Spitz’s puzzle includes a rebus element, with four circled squares each accepting the letter T, the letter V, or both.
The grid offers us eight theme answers and a revealer: five Across, and four Down. I like to work backward from the revealer, if I can. At 38-Across, we have TV SPOTS, with the clue directing us to the four circled squares in the grid. Oh, so that’s why we have the opportunity to write both T and V into that circled square. They are spots with the letters “TV” in them.
But that’s not all. Let’s take a closer look at one of the circled squares. At 34-Across, we have the clue “Separate from all the others, say.” The word “separate” is the key here — it can be used as a verb, which would make the answer REMOVE, or it can be used as an adjective (meaning “apart from”), which makes the answer REMOTE. Looking at the crosser at 27-Down, we have the clue “Give five stars, say.” This can mean to RATE something, or to give something a RAVE review.
How neat is that? Mr. Spitz has created a Schrödinger puzzle, with four pairs of entries that can be correct whether you use the letter T or the letter V.
Crossword clues will often ask us to use a different definition of the same word, but it’s uncommon for them to ask us to pair different words with the same definition. I love this theme, as it takes what we’ve come to know about crosswords and turns it on its head, making for a fresh experience in an excellent grid.
Constructor Notes
I’m excited to be published again after a three-year hiatus! This puzzle came into existence after a pandemic-induced revisit of my old theme ideas and a brainstorming session with my parents and siblings. PSA: Please get vaccinated as soon as you’re able to.
The Tipping Point
Almost finished solving but need a bit more help? We’ve got you covered.
Warning: There be spoilers ahead, but subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.
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