Letters – The New York Times

You are likely to come across, and resolve, the topic entries in random order – I certainly did. The first I knew for sure was the 42-Across, “Beer named after the founding father,” a SAM ADAMS which I assumed was just a harmless natural fill. This guide happens to be very close to the paired entry, which is 52-Across: “DST start time…or hint at 42-Across.” Nothing shocked me there. I got to 90-Across, “The Farmer’s Kids Club…or Hint at 97-Across”, and thought it should be”4 h. If the entry wasn’t five characters long, I might have tried HHHH; instead, I sat on it for a bit and tried 97-Across, “Secretive”. Because of some cross-character, I got this entry right: HUSH-HUSH. Or I realized, HUSH-HUSH – Those four H’s must mean something.

Because of the placement of OAHU, QUIT, and JACUZZI, I discovered 27-Across next. “A visitor to a website, in the language of analytics,” is a unique user. Its accompanying guide is 71-Across, “23 in series…or hint for 27-Across.” We’re dealing with “Letterplay”, so the series that comes to mind is inherently alphabetical, but what”W“(The 23rd letter) relates to the entry in 27-Across? Aha – A unique user with two U or a double U.

DOUBLE U got me in line with how to answer 68-Across: “Highest Credit Rating…or Hint for 25-Across.” This credit rating (for corporate bonds) is AAA, or TRIPLE A. What does that have to do with 25-Across, “Not Right?” Thank you, crosses! This only made sense when I reversed his design; The line may be “incorrect” or straight aT an aNGLE. There three times.

So what about 90-Across? “Quadruple” does not fit. The entry is four H. What about 52-via, “DST start time…”? This is TWO AM, referring to the Monday “AM” in S.A.m adA.ms.

There are two other examples – an excellent pair of puns at 89- and 115-Across, and a divergence at 54- and 118-Across – that make the boundaries of the numerical sequence. (that it approx sequence, anyway. It’s missing ‘one’ or ‘one’, and instead goes zero – two – double – triple – four – five.) This zero entry is an attempt at inversion. 54-Across, “Weightlessness…or allusion to 118-Across,” is ZERO G. 118-Across is “the call of baseball broadcasters on the field.” what are they saying? “from here?” In this case, the file More awaited statementthat, with zero G, reads, OIN OIN ONE.

Down to one last nerve?

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What do you think?