Growth spurts – New York Times

52 a. Silly silly error here caused me some panic. For “release, as a trailer”, I thought “unlatch” would do the trick instead of UNHITCH. This means that the “historical quinoa farmers” in 53D would be “Andean”, rather than INCAS, living in the Andes, which seemed like a stretch, but possible, so some of the other entries (including the subject entry in 7-Down) make me Straight.

102 A. This is another first-time entry in The Times. The “twentieth-sided figure” is ICOSAGON.

115 A/118 A. When a theme resides in the lower entries, there is room for some interesting elements in the cross-sections, such as this sun and snow combination. Puzzle 115A, “Reasons for wearing socks after vacation”, has been solved for SANDALTANS. San Daltans? Oh, Tans sandals! For some people, this is it Accolade. “Resort package that may include a lift ticket,” the guide on 118A is the ski package.

120 a. Another entertainment reference? No – “Who catches the waves?” They receive airborne information – they are antennas.

12 d. This is a new puzzle entry, but it is In the dictionary. “One gets rid of his entire stake” turns into selling, rather than “stop” or “exit” (both of which are familiar to me).

76 D. The “______ Honors (Annual Comic Book Awards)” is named after Eric Carle, who illustrated “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” among other books, and He founded a museum of comic book art In Amherst, Massachusetts, in 2002.

Creator Notes

Mike: Adam and I first connected after I saw him on screen with a new baby in 2021 online American Crossword Championship. I had a new baby at the time, so we started brainstorming parenting topics. We didn’t hit it right away — Miko and Henry are now in toddlerhood (along with their younger siblings!) — but I’m so glad we finally did it. All credit to Adam for the topic idea; His objective mind never stops working and never disappoints!

Adam: Mike is a silly topic kingIt was urgent to cooperate with him in his element here.

As always seems to happen, the first six features came together quickly, only for the 43D to elude us for weeks. And then another weeks when the editorial team said our original entry – “Impressive tennis shot by anti-hero Dr. Seuss?” = The amazing GRINCH ACE was very extended.

Some other fun candidates:

“Odyssey’s top poet and school supplies are on the line?” = Winning chalk Homer

“Bartenders?” = Coaches choose VIN

“I won the raffle held by the creator of ‘Hamilton’!?” = Len choose my number

And even though Mike disagrees, I wanted to refer to the Latin chest trend as “an Argentine obsession with waxing chest hair?” Alas!

Incredibly, shrinking?

Subscribers can Take a peek at the answer key.

Are you trying to get back to the puzzle page? here.

What do you think?