3 ms·
to expand on other answers, a themed NYT crossword often has four or so entries that involve some sort of punnery or wordplay, and are not actual words or phras
by zem 6y ago
to expand on other answers, a themed NYT crossword often has four or so entries that involve some sort of punnery or wordplay, and are not actual words or phrases but can be deduced from a combination of a real word/phrase and the theme. so in this case there might have been other entries like
Pasta dish served at a burger joint: BIG MACARONI
Lose your temper at some pasta: BLOW A FUSILLI
etc.
- GrumpyNl 6y agoWe call them anagram puzzles, crosswords puzzles are for us other words with the same meaning.
- alisonkisk 6y agoIt's not an anagram, it was portmanteau (in this case, but other wordplay is seen too). Also, folks in the thread are ignoring Henry Hook, a famous UK constructor who used plenty of "non-standard" wordplay.
- zem 6y agohenry hook was american (and wrote american style cryptics, which are very similar to uk cryptics but have a few stylistic differences) also i'd say portmanteau clues (and rebuses) are standard wordplay for an nyt crossword, they just unfamiliar to people who don't do that kind.