SHORTZ: If we like a theme well enough, then we look at the puzzle’s fill. CALL NUMBER is maybe my favorite theme example, because both key words in the answer are used playfully in the clue. Here, PUZZLE PIECE is still about a PUZZLE, although here it’s changed a little from a jigsaw puzzle to a crossword, so there’s a little twist there. SHORTZ: In an ideal puzzle, all the key words in the answer are not referred to in the clue. For example, TENURE TRACK has nothing to do with a song, which is good. One other asset of the theme is that they’ve placed their base phrases pretty far from the eventual things they’re cluing. And here, the synonyms are all placed as the last words, which allows the solver to have some expectation - O.K., the next theme answer is going to involve some synonym of “song” at the end and another word at the beginning. One thing we’re always looking for when we’re reviewing themes is whether or not the idea is handled throughout the puzzle in a consistent and clear way. My least favorite of the theme entries is definitely MACBOOK AIR, because AIR is a rather unusual term for a song.įAGLIANO: Yeah, what I think is done well in the theme is the parallelism. But I’m liking the theme better now that I’ve seen the clues that Robyn Weintraub and Brad Wilber wrote to go with it. SHORTZ: Well, when I first saw the theme, honestly, I wasn’t sure it was my cup of tea.
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