| C | R | I | S | P | T | K | O | M | E | D | A | L | ||
| H | A | N | O | I | Y | E | N | O | R | A | T | E | ||
| U | N | C | L | E | P | I | T | B | A | S | E | D | ||
| H | O | R | S | E | R | A | D | I | S | H | ||||
| C | R | A | B | A | P | P | L | E | ||||||
| S | E | G | U | E | D | S | E | R | V | E | D | |||
| P | L | O | P | S | U | B | S | E | M | I | ||||
| L | O | O | S | T | O | M | A | C | H | G | O | V | ||
| I | T | S | P | I | R | A | N | H | A | E | T | A | ||
| T | E | E | N | A | G | E | D | I | L | A | T | E | S | |
| B | O | R | E | C | O | D | A | |||||||
| R | E | V | E | R | B | O | K | S | U | R | E | |||
| T | O | R | E | N | O | C | A | P | L | I | L | Y | ||
| E | A | R | L | U | N | I | T | E | T | A | M | E | ||
| E | D | Y | S | T | E | S | S | A | S | N | O | W |
| C | O | B | B | C | N | E | T | B | L | A | C | K | ||
| O | V | A | L | H | A | L | E | R | I | S | E | N | ||
| P | U | B | T | R | I | V | I | A | A | M | P | L | E | |
| A | M | Y | I | R | A | I | C | I | C | L | E | |||
| G | R | A | P | H | I | C | D | E | T | A | I | L | ||
| T | O | R | O | S | O | C | H | I | ||||||
| O | P | A | L | S | K | E | N | O | S | A | C | |||
| F | U | N | F | A | C | T | R | A | W | D | A | T | A | |
| U | S | D | Y | O | U | R | L | A | B | O | R | |||
| A | B | U | T | S | W | O | M | B | ||||||
| B | A | N | K | S | T | A | T | E | M | E | N | T | ||
| U | B | O | A | T | S | T | U | X | E | S | C | |||
| I | B | I | Z | A | H | A | R | D | T | R | U | T | H | |
| L | E | R | O | I | E | C | I | G | A | R | E | A | ||
| T | Y | S | O | N | E | L | S | E | E | S | P | N |
| B | A | A | C | H | I | P | R | A | S | T | A | |||
| O | L | D | F | A | D | E | R | A | P | T | O | R | ||
| L | I | M | B | O | R | E | D | O | N | T | A | P | E | |
| O | W | I | E | M | A | R | A | U | D | Y | A | W | ||
| T | O | T | A | L | L | O | V | E | R | D | O | N | E | |
| I | N | T | R | O | S | I | N | Y | O | U | G | O | ||
| E | G | O | L | H | A | S | A | S | T | A | N | |||
| B | L | A | C | K | T | I | R | E | ||||||
| D | E | S | I | T | I | E | T | O | F | E | D | |||
| E | M | P | R | E | S | S | S | I | M | O | N | E | ||
| B | A | L | D | S | P | O | R | T | L | A | R | G | E | |
| U | N | I | C | A | N | A | A | N | C | R | A | P | ||
| S | A | C | R | U | M | B | L | I | N | K | E | R | S | |
| S | T | E | E | D | S | B | O | C | A | A | D | E | ||
| Y | E | S | N | O | I | N | K | Y | L | E | A |
Is 2025 the year of the slashed-double-clue late-week theme? This is the fifth puzzle of the genre so far, and the second in two weeks! Ok fine yes three of those five themes have been my own puzzles, so this may just be a case of me trying to make 'fetch' happen. But still interesting!
This one came up in the same text chat that led to this puzzle. It's an admittedly similar concept, but I thought these finds were cool, and the 'blinking' down crossing component made it different enough. Shoutout to Rebecca Goldstein for her blessing for me to pursue it solo.
I had a playwriting professor in college who said that in every play you write, you should always include one element that's impossible to stage. That way, everyone involved is forced to be creative in bringing the play to life instead of operating by rote.
I submit a lot of puzzles with elements that are impossible to print — in this case, animated clues where the left and right halves become bolded in an alternating, blinker-esque pattern. Similarly, I wanted the circled squares in the grid to flash back and forth, left-right, while you were solving. The Times team put the kibosh on those this time (though I hear there may be a post-solve overlay), but it won't stop me from continuing to try to push the boundaries of the medium in the future.
More puzzles soon — of the non-slashed-double-clue variety!