NYT Crossword Answers for Dec. 22, 2023

Jump to: Tricky Clues

FRIDAY PUZZLE — What do you get when you cross the man who debuted the phrase “Why, you little … ” in the New York Times Crossword, back when colorful phrases were less common and a woman known for her finely tuned ear for lively entries?

You get a unique Friday puzzle by Brooke Husic and Brendan Emmett Quigley that’s filled with all sorts of interesting entries, some of which you will know and some you will not — but you will find that you’re happy to learn them.

This is Ms. Husic and Mr. Quigley’s first Times collaboration, and it’s not an easy one, but you expected that, right? It is a Friday puzzle, after all. It is also entertaining and clued very cleverly.

Just keep going — that’s my advice. Take breaks, but don’t forget to return to the puzzle. I had to sit with this crossword for two days, on and off, in order to finish it. That’s unusual for me. I think it’s because Ms. Husic’s and Mr. Quigley’s grids appear in other venues much more often, and those venues have voices that are different from the Times’s.

It was refreshing, to be honest. I’ve been solving the Times Crossword for a long time, and I’m used to its overall way of doing things. I can tell what tricks and wordplay are being used before I write anything into the grid. Solving the Times puzzles that cross my desk is almost a no-brainer at this point, and I’m not bragging. I try to solve other crosswords, but my time is limited, so when I encounter a puzzle with a completely different voice, it can feel difficult.

But it’s also exhilarating. It’s a new challenge, which is a great way to prepare for the Saturday puzzle. I hope to see this sort of collaboration again soon.

Tricky Clues

1A. The clue “Numbers can be read in this” contains a hidden proper noun. The Book of Numbers is the fourth of five books in the TORAH.

16A. If you “Make it up?” you are concocting a story or a plan. But if you RISE, you have made it to an “up” state.

18A. This “Bed cover” is not a duvet. It’s SOIL, the cover for a garden bed.

48A. My mother always says that I could use a “Little bit of make-up?” Thanks, Mom. This clue is not even about the lipstick she thinks I should wear. It’s about a bit of someone’s physical makeup. The answer is ATOM.

54A. “Cloverleaf cluster?” refers to the roundabouts on highways, and the clusters are INNS, because there always seem to be groups of them just off those roads.

3D. “Parts of tables” does not refer to legs or a top. It hints at a table on a spreadsheet, and the answer is ROWS.

8D. Ah, “Meeting extender.” Everyone loves meetings, right? (I kid.) And everyone’s favorite part, without a doubt, is when someone asks a question just as everyone else is getting up to leave, and the REHASHING of things we’ve already discussed takes place.

24D. This “Acrylic finish?” is not a sealant, at least not with the question mark in the clue. When a clue contains the word “finish?” it is often hinting at the last letter of the other word. The “finish” of acrylic is the letter CEE.

36D. This clue requires you to look at your puzzle carefully. “One of three in Fiji?” is the DOT over the lowercase letters i and j.

49D. Do not feel bad if you found yourself counting on your fingers for this one, and don’t assume that the clue refers to the English alphabet. The “Preantepenultimate letter” is the letter fourth from last. In English, that would be W. The answer in this puzzle is the Greek letter PHI. Fun fact: The propreantepenultimate letter is the fifth from the end.

Constructor Notes

This puzzle was made on ___. Brooke suggested we ____. After reading that, Brendan passed out on the fainting couch and said that The New York Times would just ___ if we did that.

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